This was my first venture into Capital Reef National Park
The Unofficial Alpine Meadows Ski Report
Produced by Andy Wertheim
Tahoe/Truckee Realtor
Email: andyw@sierra.net
Office website: www.tahoeriverfrontrealty.com
Hello friends,
This was my first venture into Capital Reef National Park beyond the main highway that passes through the park. Seeking accommodations near the park (a last minute thought) we discovered that most motels and campsites were booked. Camp spaces in the park are on a first come, first served basis, and early morning arrival is highly suggested, especial over holiday weekends. Our options were to camp on BLM land, not always a bad place to camp, or take a small basic cabin the middle of a RV park. We soon learned that arriving at an RV park on the first night of a holiday weekend was really a bad idea. We located our clean little cabin and discovered it was nicely located next to the pool that was filled with happy screaming children. Next to the pool was a large grass area filled with children and parents running wildly or throwing baseballs to each other. This was not the quiet camping experience I envisioned while dreaming of warm nights under the stars. After a nice dinner at a local restaurant, we returned to our cabin and listened to guests arriving, who slammed their car doors, backed RV’s into spaces, and generally made noise until after midnight. Sleep was a difficult to achieve on this holiday night. The next nights were not bad as most guests had unloaded their vehicles and parked their RV’s. The weather was also cool and very windy, so many children were not in the pool or running wildly outside. You might want to think twice before reserving space at the Thousand Lakes RV park, in Torrey, Utah, especially if you are not driving an RV. The next morning we headed for the Visitors Center and spoke to a couple of very knowledgeable and helpful rangers who directed us to a slot canyon a few miles away.
Burros Canyon turned out to be a great morning hike leading us from the open desert into a mile long narrow canyon that often was just wide enough to squeeze through walking sideways. The walls of the narrows were plenty tall. We encountered a few boulders along the way that required simple rock climbing moves to scale so that we could continue the journey. Eventually we stopped by a pool of semi deep, icky water that no one wanted to wade through. Our next adventure was dinner. A local, who was a BYU graduate that served us the evening before, suggested that we might find a certain Navajo Taco at a real locals place in the adjoining small town of Bicknell. All the towns around Capital Reef National Park are small rural towns that appear to be populated by ranchers.
We drove to the town of Bicknell and soon found the Sunglo restaurant. It did not look like much from the outside, so we slowly drove ahead wondering if we dared step into the place. We made a u turn and drove the place again continuing on to another more presentable building down the street. Fortunately, this place of business was closed. We mustered our courage and drove back to the Sunglo where we stepped through the door into a time warp. The place was a real 50’s-60’s café. It was packed with locals, many of whom looked like ranchers out for a Saturday night feast with the family. We settled into a booth and checked the menu. I remembered that the owner of the RV park was somewhat startled when I asked about this restaurant. He looked at me strangely and said that it was really a local’s place, as if a vacationer from California would not find it acceptable. However, he quickly added that they had the best homemade pie in the area.
I do not know if the pies were the best in the area, but they sure were different from anything I have ever seen. The menu included Pickle, Oatmeal, Pinto Bean, and Buttermilk pies. The place was packed with people and they just kept arriving, one after another. I think we were the only non-locals in the place, but that was great. I really like experiencing the local scene and this really was a local scene. The owners did not appear to have enough help and thus ran low on menus to pass around, but no one seemed to care. A group sat down in the booth next to us and ordered dinner ending with a request for coffee. The server, a young girl from the local high school of 185 students, sadly told them that coffee was not available this night as they were out of cups. This cracked me up. After a good nights sleep, we awoke to a cool morning and sat eating cereal on our little picnic table in front of the cabin. Along comes a neighbor who turns out to live in Huntsville, Utah (a small town near the Snow Basin Ski Area). He tells us his life story including his brush with death after being trapped in a mud slide back in 1983, and his current divorce headaches brought on by a mean mother-in-law. He owns a lot of native artifacts, armor from the day of the knights, and hunting trophies. All of these are on display at his museum in Huntsville. Drop by on your way to Snow Basin and say hello to Craig Peterson. He talks a lot so, give yourself plenty of time to visit with him. We finally headed off to hike up to Cassidy Arch, a large red rock arch in the park. This offers great views and a good up sloping hike. After lunch we hiked to Hamilton Bridge, another point of interest in the park. There are many hikes and backpack trips available in this area, unfortunately our time was limited and we were only able to try a few. Lower and Upper Muley Twist and Halls Creek are supposed to be excellent one or two day trips. Surprise Canyon was also mentioned as a good day hike. These hikes are south of the visitor’s center and require an hour or longer drive to the trailheads. Some require, or may require, a car shuttle. There are also many short side points of interest to check out in this park. We stopped to visit a wall of Native American petroglyphs etched into the sandstone walls by the Fremont Indians.
My group of friends wanted to stop for a fancier dinner on our last night of the trip. Instead of heading for the interesting local hangout, we sat down at the Diablo Café, a nondescript building on the outside and with a southwestern décor on the inside. We soon discovered why this restaurant has been named the "Best Restaurant in Southern Utah."
The food was above excellent, the staff friendly, and the atmosphere pleasant.
Open April - October. Liquor, beer, wine available. Specialties include: Pumpkinseed Crusted Trout, Chipotle Baby Back Ribs, Painted Chicken, Vegetarian Torta, Rattlesnake Cakes and Sinful Pastries. This is a five star restaurant located in the small desert town of Torrey, UT. Do not miss the opportunity to stop and have a meal at Chef Pankow’s eatery. Well, that is it for a trip to
red rock country, now we are heading back to Tahoe. Does it sound like we ate our way through Utah on this trip? The views, the day hikes and bike rides into various sections of the three parks we visited were all five star. Angel’s Landing in Zion is a must do hike, any hike down into the hoodoos at Bryce is like a trip into fairyland, and the day hikes into narrows and up onto the bluffs in Capital Reef offer an opportunity to taste the geological wonders of the southwest.
Enjoy your day. Andy
