6 Sept-1 Oct 2020. Canyons and Waves – Part 1

6 September – 1 October. Canyons and Waves – Utah/Arizona Adventure.

First one of our friends suggested a May trip that got us thinking about how beautiful the Utah/Arizona border area was. Because of Covid, that trip got cancelled. Then, because of Covid, our long trip to Canada got cancelled. Then, low and behold, after five years of playing the “Wave” permit lottery, we finally got selected for a permit for that hike. So, we created a month long adventure to enjoy the Utah/Arizona area and end up with our hike on the “Wave”.

6 September – James M Robb State Park. We frequently pass this Colorado State Park on what used to be an island in the middle of the Colorado River as we travel down highway 70 near DeBeque Canyon. We thought we’d give it a try for our first night of this trip. It was very hot, but really nice. Seemed to have good river swimming, too.

James Robb campground in the DeBeque Canyon (along the Colorado River)

7-8 September. Capitol Reef National Park. Then we headed on down to Capitol Reef. Those of you who have known me for a while know that this is where I broke my arm (hiking) ten years ago. I was much more careful this time! Unluckily, the smoke from the California fires seemed to be catching up to us, but here are a few pics. We enjoy driving along the Capitol Reef Scenic Drive (canyon), even got out and did a little hike. We were lucky enough to meet up with some fellow XP Campers, Kurt and Anna, and spend some good times with them.

Fruita Campground at Capitol Reef. Room for two XP’s here!

Driving down the scenic drive – the lack of blue skies just dulls all the colors!

See those little stairs? That’s the beginning of the hike.

View of the Scenic Drive from the hike – you can see how smokey it is!

The next day we all headed off to Notom Bullfrog Basin road and hiked The Headquarters slot canyon. The road is along a “fold” in the earth and there are several slot canyons in the area. Kurt and Anna are geo-cachers, so we were able to track down a treasure out in the middle of nowhere. Then we headed up the Burr Trail Switchbacks, did a little off-roading and hiking at the Upper Muley Twist trail, and then on to some beautiful view areas along Burr Trail.