Capital Reef National Park

Yesterday was the first time that we've had to change our plans due to weather. You may have heard on the news that southern Utah is experiencing flash floods. The problem for us is that the places where you want to be to get the most interesting views (canyons and gulches) are exactly the places that you don't want to be before, during, or immediately after a rain.

So, for Monday we chose a route that was forecast for the least likelihood of flash flooding. This was a 125 mile loop, 75 miles of which was dirt roads. The first half of the loop was really spectacular... amazing rock formations.




The road wound down into a gulch that ran for miles.




Once again, the camera really doesn't do this justice.

When we reached the half-way point, we had to decide if we wanted to continue on or turn back. We really wanted to finish the loop, but we could see the storm clouds gathering in front of us. A gentleman at the visitor center warned us that the dirt road turned to mush with a little moisture, and the every low point could turn into a raging torrent during a rain.

In the end, we decided to continue on and finish the loop, keeping our eye on the storm in front of us. Our objective was to get out of the canyons before the run-off hit, and hopefully reach the paved section of the loop before the dirt road turned into a quagmire. Our truck has four-wheel drive, but I would prefer not to be in a position of needing it 50 miles from pavement with no trees to hook a winch to. Not that we had a winch anyway.

The last 10 or 15 miles was a race against time. Somewhere along the way, we picked up Ford Expedition behind us. Even though we were both in the same pickle, I was somewhat relieved to see them back there (misery loves company).

The heavy rain hit us only about a couple of miles before we hit pavement. Fortunately, even though the red dirt looks just like red Georgia clay, it didn't turn into the slippery muck that I expected when wet.

In retrospect I don't know what I was so concerned about, since there was a tow service only 30 miles away in Hanksville.

Not to mention Wayne County's finest on-call to respond in the event of an emergency.