1151 October 2, 2024 Torrey, Utah

I drove downtown for my morning walk and then met Tim at the gas station.  We filled the RV with diesel and then hooked up the Jeep to tow.

Today we left HRT Campground.  This is a newish place with lots of tiny houses for rent.  They have this one RV site that we were lucky enough to snag for the 6 days that we were in Moab.  The owner works really hard.  We saw him out and about early in the day and late at night.  His effort shows.  This was a great place to stay.  Tim and I always admire and appreciate hard workers!

No trip is ever complete without a trip to Arches National Park…but we did not go.  When we were here 5 years ago, it was not uncommon to see 100 cars waiting to get into the park…at any time of the day.  When we went, we got there at 5am.  We still found the parking lots and hiking trails crowded.  This year, the park implemented a timed entry system.  This seems to have alleviated the long waiting lines at the gate.  We did read that it could take 1 ½ hours to get to the first parking area.  That did not sound like fun!  We didn’t go.

We went north out of Moab on 191 all the way to 70.  We went past that wacky rest area.

The ride on 70 was lots of grey and sandy desert with scarce vegetation.

We went west on 70 to 24S.  When we arrived at about the same latitude as Moab, the landscape became more varied.

We took 24W, a scenic byway.  Here the rock formations rose in interesting patterns and colors and shapes.

We stopped at the Capitol Reef National Park Visitor Center.  We talked to a ranger about the available 4WD trail options in the park.  We walked out with maps for the Cathedral Valley Trail and Loop the Fold.

We arrived at the campground in Torrey at about noon.  We knew we wanted to do two overnight RTT trips and we only had reservations for 3 nights.  The host helped us to make a plan so that we could stay an additional 3 nights. 

Later in the afternoon, Tim took a bike ride into town.  He came back with a few ideas for this evening.  We started at the Ella Place Cidery.  The owners here had just gotten in from crushing 4,000 pounds of apples.  They plant, pick, crush, and make their own ciders.  They have a small gift shop where they sell product.  They also have a tasting room with ciders and other beverages and snacks.  I enjoyed a plum cider and Tim had a Utah stout.  We ordered a bacon jam bento box with assorted cheeses and olives and crackers and of course the homemade bacon jam. 

Ella Place was an outlaw.  She hooked up with Sundance Kid.  Butch Cassidy and his gang rode through this place and even stayed for a while. 

We browsed in the Chuck Wagon Market.

We drove to El Charro Negro food truck and ordered our dinner.  We took our meal to the town park and enjoyed a picnic.  We watched a group of men and women playing volleyball. 

This evening, we will pack and prepare for our first overnight adventure to Cathedral Valley.