Capitol Reef

Utah

We were supposed to be boondocking here for 3 nights on the site of a former pioneer homestead called Fruita because of the orchards they planted, which are still going today.  It was too late to pick the fruit (a shame as I sure had the rolling pin!) but we found a lovely spot tucked in amongst the cottonwood trees which were shedding the last of their pretty yellow leaves. The Fremont river, responsible for gouging the mighty canyons we’d be seeing over the next few days, gurgled happily.  It smelled glorious, all damp and autumnal.  One very stupid turkey came calling (hello?  November?) In short, everything was wonderful.

And of course, at 4 in the morning everything crapped out.  Again.  No heat, no fridge, no power.  Because Boondocking For Absolute Morons has yet to be written, we’d covered our bases by calling the dealer and the manufacturer and thought we understood the principals involved.  Well, Dan did.  I glazed over after they started talking about inverters and converters, BTUs and how the kneebone’s connected to the thigh bone - something like that.

This time we did everything right!  I swear.  After another series of frantic gas station phone calls, it was determined that our dealer-installed batteries were probably faulty and would not get us through another night with both fridge and heat.  The hugely expensive generator could only be run for two hours in the morning and afternoon - just long enough to charge the stupid batteries. There was nothing for it but to do a quick drive through Capitol Reef before saddling up and heading to our next stop Moab, where we might be able to find an RV repair place.  

So, back to this remarkable place.  Yes, we’re in the middle of a high plateau and desert, many hundreds of miles from an ocean but, as the ever-fascinating Bob recounts, those early pioneers had some seafaring experience and decided that the great fin walls of these spectacular “water pocket” canyons acted as a barrier in much the same way as coral reefs.  Hence the name.  I can’t decide if this shows imagination or not.  

We drove down part of the wagon trail they created which was the only way through this part of the land and in use right up until the 1960s.  Photos are woefully inadequate and even the video can’t do justice to the sheer scale of the cliffs, but here goes.

I almost wept at having to cut our stay short in this incredible place.  Damn those batteries, damn that dealer, damn, damn, damn.