NOT THIS YEAR! It was 80 degrees when we left home but we met a cold front in Cheyenne, WY. Day 2 of driving we were in long pants and fleece sweaters! In Capitol Reef National Park we actually had one day in the 80s and three days in the 70s but the rest of the trip it was lucky to get into the 60s!
This trip we decided to rent an RV from Cruise America to see how we liked that style. Last year we had rented a Pleasure Way class B (van conversion) so we wanted to do some comparison. Look for more information about the RVs on another blog entry to come!
Capitol Reef National Park is one of our favorite places in the whole country. The campground is a green oasis in the middle of towering red and gold canyons. Trees abound throughout the campground which is almost surrounded by historical fruit tree orchards. A small river runs right by the campground too. The trees are full of birds - with lots of robins singing their delightful song.
A small Mormon homestead next to the campground has been turned into a museum and shop. A few years ago the local jellies and pickles for sale were supplemented by 6" pies, breads, and scones. We have learned to end our hikes with a shared pie!
As you can see, Hutch and Gromit were eager to dig into the strawberry-rhubarb pie but we managed to eat it all ourselves!
We walked up to the visitor center a couple of times to check the posted weather reports. It was obvious that cooler temperatures were on the way - and if Capitol Reef was going to be in the 60s, our planned stops in Natural Bridges National Monument and Monticello would be even cooler. While the RV had a small (somewhat noisy) furnace, we couldn't run it constantly and didn't want to run it at night. So we changed plans and headed to Moab knowing it would probably be warmer there. Besides, we could stay in an RV park with water, electricity, and WIFI! We headed to Canyonlands Campground right in the center of Moab where we could walk to the grocery, visitor center, museum, and bakery.
Instead of heading into the very popular Arches National Park, we took what has become one of our favorite hikes into Hidden Canyon. The trail head is a couple of miles south of Moab's downtown and the trail begins with rocky switchbacks right up the Moab Rim. The initial climb scares off tourists so it is usually just a few locals on the trail. We did see three people carrying their mountain bikes up the switchbacks so they could ride all the way back down to the Colorado River.
Just as we approached the 'dead' tree, I stated that there was a cactus in bloom next to that tree two years ago... and John said, "It's still there!"
Then we headed down to the Needles section of Canyonlands National Park. Our intention was to stay in the park's Squaw Flat campground and we knew it always filled early. There were two sites available when we got there but neither was flat enough for the RV. So we headed to the privately owned Needles Outpost. We parked the RV in a site with NO shade which would have been awful in most years but gave us great views of the Needles and the storms rolling in.
The next day we managed to get a great site right by the trailhead in Squaw Flat. Each of the next two days we waited until blue sky appeared, then started our hikes. However, each day more storms came in and we did some hiking in the rain! Because we didn't HAVE to be hiking in the rain like many of the backpackers with permits for specific dates, we kept our hikes short. Entertainment was watching other hikers departing or returning, especially in the midst of downpours.
Finally, we woke to blue skies on our last day in Canyonlands. After a short loop hike above and behind the campground, we headed to Green River and then Salt Lake City to return the RV.
The weather story continued as we drove home with stops in Grand Junction and Vail. Downpours and even snow were interspersed with just plain gray skies. We deliberately took an extra day visiting friends in Vail and Thornton just to avoid heavy rains and winds across Nebraska. That plan worked well as the ONLY sunny day in the last week was our last day of driving from North Platte to Wayne.
