TORREY

I decided to break the drive up with a hike. We have done Lower Calf Creek Falls before, and so we decided to check out the seldom-visited Upper Calf Creek Falls. These falls are a little shorter but the lack of crowds make it worth it. With the temperature well into the 90's, the clear cool water felt extra cold and refreshing.

Just to the right of the falls is an excellent example of soft-sediment deformation in the Navajo Sandstone. Despite being deposited in very arid conditions (imagine a sea of sand dunes like in today's Sahara Desert), there were small ponds and lakes in low points between the dunes. It is this saturated sand along the steep margins of these ponds that would slump and deform giving us occasional "swirlies" in the usually uniformally cross-bedded Navajo.

How can anyone not love snakes? Absolutely fascinating. This was a fairly small Gopher Snake sunning himself on the shore of the splash pool. Gopher snakes are important constrictors that help keep the rodent population down. Their tan and brown blotchy pattern, a habit of rattling their tail (even though they have no rattle), and their hissing or blowing often lead people to mistaken them for rattlesnakes and needlessly kill these docile snakes.


Above: desert varnish on the walls of Calf Creek.
This was the second time we stayed at the "Cowboy Cabins," which is a few miles south of Main Street in Torrey. In the left center portion of this photo you can just see the 4 cabins near the fertile bottom of the Fremont Valley. Boulder Mountain looms in background.

Adjacent to the new cabins is this charming 100-year-old pioneer cabin and several relics of that era.


We started day 2 of the trip with a hike up to the massive Hickman Bridge in Capitol Reef.
Above: contemplating erosional features near Hickman Bridge.

After working up a sweat, the natural thing to do was go for a dip in the always cold and frothy Fruita Falls.

I exhausted myself trying to get back into the secret cave behind the falls but the current was a little too strong this day.

We had lunch in historic Fruita beneath these huge ancient Cottonwoods.

After lunch, we were off to the orchards to pick apples and peaches.

Day 3 started out at Goblin Valley. My original plan was to hike a bit through the narrows of Little Wild Horse Canyon, but it was raining pretty steady so we decided to just poke around in the hoodoos for a while.
Let your imagination run wild...

Near Goblin Valley, there is this nifty little pictograph panel if you know just where to look.
Returning back to Torrey, we drove through town to see what has changed. The former Knudsen cabin (above) where I spent many summers is nearly unrecognizable with all of the additions and new paint job.
I remember playing softball behind the then-abandoned and boarded up Torrey School House back sometime in the late 80s. It's now been restored into a fancy-schmancy bed & breakfast complete with large suites and botanical gardens.
With Sue and the kids relaxing back at the cabin, I snuck out for a quick bike ride to Beas Lewis Flat.

After burgers and ice cream at Slackers, we drove back into Capitol Reef to check out the sunset at the Goosenecks of Sulfur Creek.


Next year the plan is to hike down the bottom of Sulfur Creek gorge - a deeply entrenched canyon with waterfalls, pools, and narrows.
Chimney Rock (far left) and the "mummies" (dark red band of eroded mudstone across the center) are composed of the Moody Canyon Member of the Moenkopi Formation.

Looking east from Sunset Point toward the "reef."
An excellent trip, and I'm already planning things for next year. I think this is destined to become a Knudsen Labor Day tradition. Who's in for next year?