Visit to Capitol Reef National Park – October 2018

Tuesday October 9: It is 32 degrees this morning here at Beas Lewis Flat Road outside Capitol Reef National Park, but it is not snowing and the blue sky shows off yesterday’s snow on the mesas. I make coffee and then go visit my brother Rollie for a few minutes.

Snow on the mesa
Snow in the mountains

After breakfast, Clifford and I make a trip to the nearby town of Torrey to pick up our mail. We stop at the market; it doesn’t have much, even for a small town, but there is a bakery in the back, so the bread is good and fresh. We get water and propane, and then we stop at the Visitor Center to use their wifi to check email and post photos on FB.

Back at camp, I make tuna sandwiches for a picnic and clear a seat in the Suburban for Rollie and Ninja, and then off we go to Capitol Reef National Park.

Heading to Capitol Reef National Park
Capitol Reef Visitor Center
Iconic formation at the Visitor Center

After a stop at the Capitol Reef Visitor Center, we drive through the campground, reminiscing about camping here in December of 1997. The scenic drive takes us to several view points…

Rollie takes photos along the scenic drive in Capitol Reef National Park

and then we rush back for the ranger program at the Fremont Petroglyph Site. We learn about the Fremonts, the Native Americans of the area who began incorporating farming into their hunter and gatherer lifestyles about 1,300 years ago.

We then drive to the east side of the park to explore BLM dispersed camping outside the park boundaries. Although we find several places that could be used, we like our spot on the west side of the park the best.

Driving to the east side of Capitol Reef Park
Formations on the east side of Capitol Reef

Back at camp, I make “breakfast” for dinner, play cribbage with Rollie, do the dishes, and then tidy up. Keeping tiny homes (RV’s) neat and organized makes living in a small space comfortable, especially when being full-time or nearly full-time nomads as we are.

The end of a jam-packed day

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