Blogs from Torrey, Utah, United States, North America

Driving West of Hanksville on Utah Hwy 24 I was riding by the Fremont River on Mostly BLM land. About forty miles West of Hanksville I entered Capitol Reef National Park, where my pics started. Up high in the Fremont River Canyon the Mormons established the settlement of Fruita (in 1880) where the conditions were right for their fruit orchards. I made a stop at the Fruita Schoolhouse built around 1896, and renovated with a new roof around 1912. To get my pics inside the school I held my camera lens directly against the glass windows. Nearby were the fruit orchards (apples, peaches, pears, etc) planted by the Mormons. In contrast to the very strict rules by the National Park Service about taking anything (even a rock or pine cone), they usually keep one marked orchard ... read more

May 28 We awoke this morning to sunshine and a welcome relief from yesterday’s bad weather. The snow on the bikes on the back of the trailer was gone. David took Red over to the dog park and I followed shortly after with Dottie. The dog park was right next to a pasture that contain a herd of Angus cows and a bull, a black horse along with a couple dozen ducks. There was a pond and a little duck house where the ducks played and spent the night as well as fed. The dogs loved the dog pen here because they loved watching the pasture activity through the fence. The pen was large too, probably 3000 sq ft so we could easily throw the ball for Red who enjoyed that and we could try to ... read more

I drove the Utah scenic Hwy 24 from Hanksville to Torrey to see the Capitol Reef NPS (National Park Service) and to set me up for my camp in the Boulder Mountains. For most of the ride on Utah 24 up to the top of Capitol Reef NPS the hwy followed the Fremont River; but mostly hidden from my pics with its nearby vegetation. From Hanksville there was interesting geology, then the Fremont River formed a nice canyon. This was a nice uphill drive up the Fremont River Canyon. Then I entered Capitol Reef NPS and there was not the usual fee collection nor the handout pages of silly NPS rules. The Fremont River Canyon got taller with more vegetation. Then I got to the defunked Mormon town of Fruita with several miles of a real ... read more

Geo: 38.2989, -111.418On Thursday we drove up highway 12 to Torrey, Utah, and highway 24 on into Capitol Reef NP. We checked out the visitor center and then hiked about 2.5 miles into the Cohab Canyon and then about 2 miles along a ridge top on the Frying Pan trail. We then backtracked to the trailhead and drove to the Cassidy Arch Trailhead and hiked the 3.5 mile trail to the arch. Enjoyed remembering the Cassidy Arch trail from our visit 10 years earlier. Gained and lost over 1,000 feet in elevation a couple of times on these trails.On Friday, our last full day of the trip, we did one last short 4 mile hike on the Chimney Rock Loop trail. This one had a gain/loss of around 600 feet passing a ridge with views of ... read more

A DAY OF CONTRASTS Leave Salt Lake City 1.5 millions people Contrast: Austin's Chuckwagon Motel: here we come! Yee ha! Location: Torrey, Utah. Population 182. Claim to fame: 2nd stage of Utah's premier cycling race Tour de Utah. But why stop here? No particular reason, other than we are making our way south and found on the map the neighbouring Capitol Reef National Forest. To recap this day of contrasts: Usual: on the road by 9, ends up being 10. Contrast: Earlybird gets the worm! We actually managed to get up at 5 am and be on the road by 5:30, to beat the predicted 100 degree heat. No snooze button temptation today! Contrast: NO interstate! After the nudiustertium's navigation debacles, I was charged with finding a route to this quaint, tree-lined one street town avoiding ... read more