Capitol Reef backroad adventure
I took my parents on the 2-wheel drive dirt Cainsville road to explore the remote Northern part of the park, the Cathedral Valley. It was stunning. Mom was concerned that the dirt road was a little rough for her and would make her back or neck hurt. But I kept asking if we could just go a little further to see what was around the bend, until we finally made it to the Cathedral Valley.
It was a gorgeous overcast day with occasional light sprinkles. Mom was already scared of the washes we had to cross because she heard how dangerous they were in flash flooding, but there is no sign of flash flooding and the roads and washes are all dry. I know that there are two main dirt roads that go to the Cathedral Valley and then return to Fruita area that are open. The Cainsville Road and the Hartman Rd.
I also see on the map there are two exits from the northern park that head to main roads. One is marked closed in Winter, but I think hey it’s end of April, winter is over. So to make it easier on my parents, I think we’ll take one of these northern exits. We see the Temple of the Sun and the Moon. We see incredible rock formations. I see a sign that says exit to I70, so I think that’s the exit to the north and we head off down that road.
We head towards the Baker Farm, and then we start climbing from desert to alpine and aspen forests. And I can see that we have to climb up the mountain to get out. We had crossed to out of national park land into Fish Lake Forest Service land. Everything looks dry, no puddles, and we still haven’t gotten to snow, but my tires start flipping shit. And I was what is that noise, but we keep climbing. We go up switchback curves that have a steep drop off, but we keep going.
Suddenly I start to slide, I’ve lost all traction. The road has turned to mud, though it still looks dry. We can go no further. I have to back up to a wider area to turn around and we slide the whole time, as back into the hillside to then slide and face the other way on the road. We still have no traction. And we have to return down those steep ass switchbacks.
I’m now terrified. I want to throw up. But I’ve got my mom who can’t walk in the back who by the way is clueless about what is going on because she’s playing on her iPad, and my Dad is trying to coach me through the slide back down the mountain. He tells me to stay as close to the mountain as I can, which I’m doing while trying to miss rocks and trees. Also, we are sliding sideways with the backend constantly trying to come forward. Dad tells me to step on the gas to try to keep the backend behind us, and I’m like no I’m not adding any speed to this slide. I’m trying to go as slow as possible.
We final make it back down the mountain, and survive the terrifying slide down the mountain. I’m so relieved. Dad is so relieved, he really thought we might slide off the mountain. We head back to the intersection in the park to find another why out.
This little side quest has added a couple of hours to our adventure. I get some reception in a higher valley, and I can see on GPS that I did not go down the Pole Creek Road which is listed as an exit except for winter, so we followed GPS to take us out. We get to the Pole Creek Road, and head out of the park. Again we start climbing. And we even saw some Elk!
I hear that damn noise again of my tires slinging mud, and I’m like oh shit! But we don’t have a drop off by us this time, and we are now driving into snowpack. And my dad says, the roads probably frozen so we should be fine. And it’s all great until we come around a curve and the road is blocked by snow.
This side quest did not include danger, but we are again turning around heading back to the park to commit to either of the two roads I know for sure are open through the Cathedral Valley. We decide to go on the Hartman Rd. Even though it is a 4-wheel drive high clearance road. I’ve got my Sequoia! It’s a different route than we came in. The reason it’s 4-wheel drive is the wash crossings are more rocky and steep. The road is otherwise a nice dirt road.
Now these two side quests have added serious time to our adventure. At the intersection of Cainsville and Hartman roads we have 29 miles to get back and it’s now 8pm. And these are dirt roads we are only going 10-20 mph on. But we venture on down Hartman Road, and see incredible fin rock formations and other beautiful things before the sun goes down.
And after the sun goes down the jack rabbit come out and keep running in front of us. Which does not help the situation that my mom who is not very mobile and can’t squat in the woods, needs to pee! We had headed out at 12:30 pm, and now it’s after 9 pm, so she’s done a great job of not needing to pee, but that’s can only go on for so long.
I’m trying to figure out ways on how my mom can pee in the middle of no where. I thought we can have her sit on a rock and just pee. But I realize she can just stand in the door of the car and use the door and frame to support her. So we stop in the middle of the road and do just that. She’s worried she’s going to pee all over herself so we have her undress from waste down! And she pees!!!!
I said I was I could get a photo of this moment, and dad says yes it could be our Christmas card, and mom screams, DONT YOU FUCKING DARE! Dad helps mom get cleaned up and dressed again.
And we continue on. Mom says she’s embarrassed, and I said oh hell no, this is an accomplishment. We figured out how to make it work! We figured out how to get my disabled mom to pee in nature. We did what we needed to do!!!! This is a time of celebration! And we continued on.
It is so dark out now that the rocks seem to glow like we are driving on the moon and it gets really barren. But finally we cross a vehicle that looks like it’s pulled over parking if you know what i mean, and I say to mom, look we are closer to civilization! Then we drive down a hill and there are cottonwood so I know we are near the river which goes through Fruita.
And we drive around a curve right to the river bank. Now, the Park Ranger said there was a river crossing, so this is not shocking. He said it was 10in deep and needed high clearance to cross. What is shocking is that on the other side of the river there isn’t an exit.
Also at this point of time, my mom has decided to pay attention. And she completely panics that we are about to drive across a river. I’m trying to tell her that this is what the ranger said, but she’s not listening and completely hysterical. Saying we are going to die. Asking me to call 911 (no reception) Why don’t I have On Star?
So I’m trying to figure out how to cross this river with my mom panicking and I’m getting triggered. I’m not scared but getting very frustrated and pissed.
I see there is rocky bank to the left that is level and just a trickle of water, so I drive down that so I can see if the crossing is down there, but all I see is a steep hillbank not for crossing. So now I have to reverse off the riverbank and onto the road.
It’s pitch black, and my backup camera does not capture a lot of detail. So I’m backing into boulders and into trees. So I’m trying to maneuver around backwards with my mom hysterical.
And all I can think is I don’t want to get stuck here. So I think I can fix scratches and dents on my car, so I get real aggressive with my backing, and go over the boulders and through the trees but I make it back to the dirt road.
Now I don’t know what to do. I know the main road to home is just on the other side of the river crossing. I also know it will take us 5 hours to go all the way back around to avoid the river crossing. We are not in danger. I’ve got plenty of gas. We have food and water. The danger of the day has passed and was on that mountain of mud. I keep thinking im missing something. We are on the main dirt road. So I drive back up the dirt road to see if I missed a turn, but I see nothing.
Mom has taken a Xanax and is starting to stop freaking out, but I’m still pretty frustrated. So we drive back to the car with the fogged up windows and honk and ask for help. A few minutes later they respond and open the door, and ask if we are okay. I say we are, but can’t find the crossing on the river to the other side. They tell us we have to go right and drive up the river to cross.
So I turn around and head back. My mom is still not happy but I’m really not up to driving all the way back around the park to get out. So we get back down to the river, and dad grabs my flashlight and jumps out of the car while it’s still moving. And I yell at him what is he doing, and he says looking at the river. I tell him to get back into the car but he keeps going, and now I’ve got to worry about him falling. And he’s muttering about how we’ve got to look at the river before we cross.
Mind you, I wasn’t going to just turn right and drive up the river. But I was going to drive to the river’s edge, and back up so I could angle my headlights up the river so I could look for the crossing. Much brighter than the flashlight my dad had. I see the crossing. It is 40 yards up the river to the right.
I yell again to dad to get back in the car now that I see what we need to do. He’s trying to break a stick to check the water depth. I’m yelling at him the ranger said 10 inches deep, there hasn’t been enough sprinkles to raise the water. Finally he comes back and we go to cross the river.
Mom says right before we go in, I love you all. I cant swim. And I say no one can swim in 10inches of water, you have to stand. And I drive across with the water not even coming up to my running boards.
We make it across without issue and drive out to the Highway 24 and we get back to the trailer at almost midnight. But, we have survived our Capitol Reef adventure. I don’t plan on taking my parents on this level of adventure ever again, and I will confirm which roads are open before I do another adventure like this again. But we made memories that I’ll always cherish and I’m glad we did it.