A full day of driving on Tuesday from our home in Breckenridge to the Cowboy Homestead cabins in Torrey Utah. We have a week to explore Utah’s state and national parks with our friends Laura and Rick.
We chose the Cowboy Homestead cabins because they were fairly close to Capitol Reef National Park. Our cabins were cute, fairly remote with all the amenities we needed for two nights. We especially enjoyed watching the dark sky light up with stars, planets and the milky way from our front porch.
We met up in the late afternoon, had a nice dinner at Red Cliff restaurant in Torrey and then headed into the park to watch the sunset from Sunset Point. It’s a panoramic point looking into the Capitol Gorge. The views of the sun setting weren’t spectacular but the reflection on the cliffs facing the sunset were amazing. We clamored around the rocks till it was almost dark and headed back to watch the stars. There was an equestrian ring on the ranch right behind our cabins and they had some serious floodlights on until after 11pm so that wasn’t exactly a dark sky.
Our one full day in Torrey was devoted to exploring just a small fraction of Capitol Reef National Park. There were very few people in the park – it just doesn’t get the crowds that nearby Bryce and Zion get.
The four of us rode in Bill’s truck which worked out great. Our first hike was to Hickman’s bridge which isn’t a bridge but a natural arch which Utah is full of.
After a stop at the Gifford historical house for some fruit pies and ice cream we drove the Scenic Drive to find the trailhead for Capitol Gorge hike which is a hike at the bottom of the gorge (no water in August) through some wide slot canyons up over boulders to the water “tanks” which are small water ponds. It was a nice hike but got quite warm in the mid-day sun.
After a short afternoon rest we headed back into the park to watch the sunset from an even better vantage point – Panoramic Point. It was literally 20 steps from the parking lot and had 360 degree views. It was cloudier than the previous night so we didn’t get the red reflection on the cliffs but we were treated to a wonderful canvas of colors as the sun went down. We had brought our wine and appetizers and toasted our good fortune.
A late dinner of grilled bubba burgers back at the cabin and lots of funny stories ended a perfect day.