Adventures in both slot canyons and BLM camping
My odd little campsite outside of Capitol Reef National Park may have been within a stone’s throw of somebody’s house (okay, a loooong stone’s throw) but nobody bothered me at all. It wasn’t too cold and the wind died off for good around midnight.
I poked my head out of the topper about that time, to see if I could get any starry night photos, but the sky was pretty much totally overcast. Bummer. Well, maybe next new moon I’ll be somewhere where it’s really dark… and the clouds will cooperate.
I woke to a sunny and calm morning. By the time the oatmeal was done I was in shorts, a t-shirt, and a jacket. I ditched the jacket (in my pack) for the hike up Cottonwood Wash. Since I didn’t know how much scrambling I’d have to do, I left my good camera in the truck and only brought my phone. And even then I only took a few pictures.
Guess I’ll have to rely on my descriptive skills, then.
I hiked my first slot canyon in 2016 – Little Wildhorse Canyon, which was only a couple hours’ drive away. I had so much fun that after LWC, slot canyons were all I wanted to do.
I’m pretty sure I didn’t hike another slot canyon until Cottonwood Wash. So you might say I was really looking forward to this hike.
While it wasn’t Little Wildhorse Canyon, Cottonwood Wash was still a good hike! The first mile is through a dry wash, probably about 20 feet wide. A little boring but still pretty. Pretty flat, too. After a mile the trail narrowed and the riverbed went from sandy and flat to large boulders you’d have to scramble over.
Or you would, if you opted for that route. There’s also a bypass route that hangs to the left of the riverbed. I took it, not realizing that there is no way off this bypass route for a good 1/2 mile or so. The bypass gains in elevation and looked to be a good 30 feet above the boulders (complete with a steep dropoff), while also being slanted and incredibly narrow. Oddly, there were cow prints along this section of the trail. Some of them were from when it was wet and muddy, as the prints were deep. Some skittered close to that dropoff and I kept looking for evidence that a cow just, you know, fell off the edge or something. Cows are pretty big (generally around 1,000 lbs) and while I’m no expert, I didn’t think they were the most graceful of animals.
Apparently these bovines were smarter than the average cows. I found no evidence of any cow carnage.
Anyway. Following the bypass trail actually turned out to be a wise decision. If I’d stayed in the riverbed, my hike would have ended at a 20-foot-high shelf of rock. The bypass trail went right alongside the top of that shelf and I was able to rejoin the riverbed.
For the next mile I made my way between open stretches of rocks, large boulders, and a couple of narrow sections.
The trail ended at a 35-foot-tall slab of rock about 3 miles in. On the whole I’d say Cottonwood Wash was a pretty good hike, suitable for beginners, but not as fun as Little Wildhorse Canyon. I don’t know that I’d hike it again, but only because there are two other slot canyons along Notom Road – Burro Wash and Sheets Gulch – and I’d want to try one of those next.
After my hike I headed back into Capitol Reef. I wanted to hike to the top of Cohab Canyon, to see if I could recreate this picture, taken back on my first visit to the Park in 2016:
But the clouds took over the sky by 2pm. And even though my 6-mile hike was pretty flat, I felt tired. Or maybe it was just the knowledge that the Cohab Canyon trail gains about 400 feet of elevation in the first 1/4-mile. Either way, with the sky not cooperating, I just wasn’t in the mood.
After lunch (chips and a small tub of guacamole) in the cab of the truck, I figured I’d take a picture of the Gifford Homestead‘s barn. I’ve seen this iconic image in photo galleries and on Instagram and wanted to have one for myself. I’m weird about photography, I guess. I love it but I’ve never had the desire to go pro. I just want pictures to put up on the walls of my house. Memories of the places I’ve been. When I see another photographer’s really great shot, I don’t want to buy their image as much as I want to try and recreate it for myself. Does that make me weird?
See that overcast sky? It was a little too uniform to be interesting. I like this picture but even as I was taking it I grumbled about those stupid cars in my photo. Then I realized that one of those stupid cars was, in fact, Taco Negro.
Guess I need to work on my Photoshop skills.
I didn’t bother waiting for sunset – those clouds looked like they were going to hang out for a while. The wind had picked up, too, so I went back to my campsite on the east side of the Park. As expected, it was unoccupied, but this time the hills did little to keep the wind out.
With no sun I felt chilly as soon as I arrived. I crawled into the back of the truck early with my entertainment (book, journal, laptop) and food/water, and then struggled to stay awake until 9pm.
It’s funny, the first few days of camping solo, I tend to like the cozy atmosphere of the back of the truck. But eventually it stars to feel a little coffin-y in there. I was definitely looking forward to meeting back up with Michael in just three more days.