Weather: Sunny and in the 60's
After leaving Moab, we took a 3 hour + drive to Torrey, Utah to see Capitol Reef National Park. As we entered the town we saw signs for "open range" with a picture of a cow on it and we soon figured out why... within moments Roberta had to slam on the brakes as cattle blocked the roadway. We crept along the road as most slowly moved to the side. Rounding the bend we saw a seemingly endless line of multi-colored cattle. Cowboys, real cowboys and cowgirls too, cracking whips and herding the cattle down the dusty desert road. We took as many pictures as possible, trying not to look like tourist or a bunch of creeps.
We got to Capital Reef and took what turned out to be our favorite hike yet. After a steep initial climb up the mountain we took off running down the trails inside the canyon. It was an amazing impromptu run after an intended hike but we got caught up in the excitement of exploring our surroundings. We peaked down a crack in the mountain which I then decided to go down while Roberta opted to sun bathe on a rock "like a lizard" my option turned out to be one of the coolest things I have down in a while...
At the start of the crack it was easy for me to straddle the two sides and walk down about 10 ft up it. As I made my way down the seemingly endless path I was forced to climb higher while the crack continued to get wider. I was able to make most of the way using small pockets for grip but then the crack really widened. At one point I was 20 ft in the air and fully horizontal pressing as hard as I could through my feet and hands to slowly shuffle further into the crack. It was an adrenaline pumping experience and I wish I could have snapped a few photos from my perspective.
So awesome.
When I returned we continued on, and finished out a 6 mile hike with more scenic views. I continued to seek rocks to climb, at one point I climbed myself into trouble and was forced to leap 5 ft over to another rock both of which were about 20 ft in the air. I did this with little more than a few scraps, and of course making sure Roberta was looking the other way.
That night we stayed at the Cowboy Cabins Homestead which allowed horses but no dogs so we smuggled Simon ET style (he wore Roberta's hoodie) -probably a bit excessive but certainly entertaining. At the ranch we saw more stars than I ever knew existed (and then watched the end of a fantastic World Series game 6).
It was a good day.
-Mike
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