March 12, 2018 Utah

Day 4: Monday March 12, 2018:

Wow, what a day today was.  We got up this morning, had a nice breakfast and got on the road a little before 8am.  Our first stop of the day was Capitol Reef National Park.  

We called an audible last night and decided to take the Hickman Bridge Trail (1 hour out and 1 hour back).  

It was REMARKABLE – one of my favorites ever.  It’s an out-and-back but a tiny loop at the end that the sign recommended we tackle counter clockwise.  We accidentally went clockwise and it was better because we snuck up on the backside of a massive arch and could barely see it until we were underneath it.  And it just kept revealing itself and revealing itself.  It was massive!

We then drove to the Visitor Center and did our business and against the scenic 16 mi round trip drive.  We drove ¾ of a mile down the scenic drive road and had a picnic of PB&H sandwiches then got back on the road to Great Basin NP.

It was a long and desolate but beautiful drive to Great Basin.  At one point we saw a road sign that read "No services for the next 113 miles".  I don't think I've ever seen a sign like that before.  When we were about 100 miles outside of the park, we saw this beautiful big white dog on the side of the road and realized that he was a sheep herding dog, herding hundreds and hundreds of sheep that were wandering into the highway.  

We had to stop for them!  It was amazing.  Nick looked up the dog and it appears to have been a Great Pyrenees.  He was all by himself so I don’t know how he got dropped off and picked up but wow.  We pulled into Baker around 4:30 but it was actually 3:30 because we just crossed into the Pacific Time Zone.  Rather than check into the motel, which I’d been warning the kids for weeks, was going to be one of the worst places we’d ever stay, we drove into the park and were overwhelmed with how beautiful it was.  

At the Visitors Center, we “rented" snow shoes ($10 donation) and then drove up the scenic road to the north and parked at the Upper Lehman Creek Campground (because all the roads beyond that point were closed off due to snow).  Then we put on our snow shoes and trekked through the camp grounds at a 7,700 foot elevation.  It was certainly a first for all of us.  It was so very much fun. 

Afterwards it was time to check into the “crap hole” motel and low and behold, this place is spectacular.  It’s owned by a young couple from NYC and during the busy season they run a restaurant called Kerouac’s.  It’s an old road side motel with a courtyard in the middle.  There’s no places to eat at all and the town of Baker has 68 people.  But Nick brought a camp stove and after he and Grant threw the baseball in the middle of street while Ryan and I had “happy hour” with cheese and crackers and listened to the cows moo, he cooked up some chili mac and beef stroganoff, which the kids have been calling “Stangeoff”. 

Courtyard on the Stargazer Inn. Four rooms total, we were in the back left

We all decided that today was our favorite day of all and I was definitely anticipating this being the worst day of all.  What an amazing trip this has been.  Truly amazing.  Oh and we’ve found all but 12 license plates. 

The only bummer of the day is that it’s a little cloudy outside and considering this place is called the “Stargazer’s Inn”, I was hoping to see some of the greatest stars ever. 

Right now, it’s only 7:30 here but I’m admittedly exhausted. The kids have been stupendous and so much fun. Grant was really not looking forward to Great Basin and really didn’t want to go on “one more hike” but he loved snow shoeing. 

So who’d go back to:

Capitol Reef:
Nick: Probably not:
Grant: Maybe
Ryan: Yes
Barb: Probably not

Great Basin:

Nick: Yes, if we could camp (the campsites are gorgeous)
Grant: Easy yes
Ryan: Definitely yes
Barb: Definitely yes, in the summer when the trails are opened.  I wouldn’t do the cave tour again.