Seconds With Steff

Hanksville might be a little town, but our cabin at Duke’s RV Park was one of the nicest rooms I think I have ever stayed in. The bed was incredibly comfortable, the linens were super thick and soft, and the towels were so fluffy I am seriously considering calling the manager to ask where they get them (there were no tags… I checked). And again, cheaper than their motel… Who would’ve thought?

After waking slightly before the 6:30 alarm, Hunter and I got everything together, got some gas and ice from Hole in the Rock, and were off to Capitol Reef National Park with more pics of the Bentonite Hills.

As we drove into the park, I stopped for some of the historic Mormon settlement buildings and petroglyphs. Hunter even spotted deer to the right of the petroglyph panel.

Before going further, there are a few things to know about Capitol Reef: 1 — There is a ton of hiking to the north of the Visitor Center. 2 — To the south of the Visitor Center is the historic district of Fruita, which leads to the Grand Wash hike with Cassidy Arch and the scenic drive. I have A LOT to say about this experience, but I’m saving my full commentary on Capitol Reef until I’ve had the chance to reflect on all five parks together. There’s something about seeing them in sequence — the contrasts, the surprises, the way each one reveals itself — that deserves a proper analysis. So for now, I’ll stick to the story.

I had noted that the Gifford House opened at 8 o’clock, but that was apparently incorrect. They opened at 9:00, so with 10 minutes to wait, we took some pictures of the blacksmith shop and spoke to a really lovely woman who was waiting early with us. She informed me that despite all of my planning and research, the one thing I neglected to see was that on the National Park Service website, the scenic drive had been closed for the last year due to major repairs — and that yesterday, literally only yesterday, they reopened the road to the Grand Wash trail!!! WHAT!?!?!?! I have been planning this trip for over a year, and the road has been closed this entire time, and somehow I missed it? But then she followed up with, “They’re actually opening the road — the entire road — at some point today.” So instead of going to the Visitor Center on our way out of the park, Hunter and I headed there… but not until we got our pie!!!

Let’s talk pie… I took a minute to look around the little store and then went to order the pie after my new friend was done, and the man behind the counter says, “We have an apple pie ready for you.” I said, “Great! How did you know?” He goes, “Oh no, he got it.” I wanted an apple pie. I’m like, oh, that’s all sorts of fantastic — so I’m super proud of him! Like honestly, super, super proud of him! We grabbed a picnic table to eat our breakfast apple pie and oh… my… gawd… OK, here’s the thing: my grandma made the best pie in the world (I’m sure you think yours did too… that’s very nice, but mine really did!). Her filling was teeth-cracking sweet, but my siblings always gave me a hard time for not loving her crust. I’ve never been a crust fan — like ever — which is funny because I’ve never met a carb I didn’t like. I’m sorry, Gram, but today… that crust… and apples… and crumble topping… it was absolutely freaking delicious. But holy crap — crust — oh my God, oh my God, I can’t even begin to describe… I just… I literally… no words… so delicious, so delicious. PS — We had the cherry pie for lunch. Peach is left for tomorrow’s breakfast.

After demolishing our pie, we headed back to the Visitor Center, where the ranger confirmed that the road partially opened yesterday and would open all the way at some point today, but she didn’t know when… but we were good to do our Grand Wash hike. So we hopped in the car, and when we made the left to get to the Grand Wash trailhead, I noticed that the road closure gate was wide open! I had a good feeling. We hiked farther than I thought we would, and when we were done, the scenic drive was, in fact, open.

The drive itself is incredible, and I am so glad it was open! The road is built on a fault line, much like the road that separates Capitol Reef and Arches. To the left, the land is hilly where it was lowered, and to the right, the land is mountainous where it was pushed up. It’s a marvel to stand in between the two sides and see it so clearly at The Slick Rock Divide

When we got to the very, very end of the road — which ends on a dirt trail called Capitol Gorge Trail — I got out of the car, leaving Hunter doing his Capitol Reef work. We were the only car in the parking lot, and I was only steps away when I heard the rumble of thunder. The one thing that is stressed by everyone — from park services to any decent YouTuber — is to take flash floods seriously, so I hustled my bustle back into the car so fast that Hunter thought he had done something wrong and said he was sorry.

After about a 30-minute drive down the road, we made a left onto Scenic Byway 12, an All-American Road. We talked about this the other day. There are scenic highways and byways all over the country, but to be an All-American Road takes something extra special — and 12 happens to be a two-for-one special.

And on this road, it was reconfirmed for me that no matter how much I research or look into things, no matter how much I plan or prepare, it never fails that I completely miss something. Last summer with Pacific Coast Highway, I wound up going up and down two mountains with hairpin turns everywhere that I had no idea existed. Well, I found myself today not only going up and down a mountain I didn’t know existed, but in the middle of the Dixie National Forest, where — not dissimilar to The Sidewinder — there were free-ranging cows. But then suddenly, the road turned into switchbacks sans guardrails. What is going on? And to quote a favorite movie… “We’ve got cows.” It was pretty, but oi!

Finally, we arrived at Bryce Canyon National Park, no worse for the wear — but I’m tired.

As we pulled up to the tollbooth to hand over Hunter’s National Park Pass and ID to the ranger, Hunter decided to announce, “You’re talking to a Park Ranger.” She then explained she was a park ranger, and he asked her name, to which she replied it was Jennifer and asked his name. He gave all three of his names. I genuinely didn’t know what was happening. It was just like last summer when we were in Disneyland at Galaxy’s Edge, when he had an entire conversation with Rey about her outfit. It was unbelievable — except that there was a line of cars behind us, so we had to move along.

After checking in, we went to dinner at a buffet that I weirdly was looking forward to, and it was absolutely fine. Ruby’s Inn has actually been here longer than the National Park Lodge, and I really wanted to stay there, but the inn itself was blacked out for tonight. So instead, I settled for the buffet and got a picture of Hunter going up by himself to get seconds. It was a small but nice moment.

We went across the street in search of shirts with the Mighty Five on it, because the one they had in their gift shop was kind of just OK. Hunter decided to have another conversation with the cashier there, who was a lovely woman — and that was exciting and odd and wonderful.

After the Jennifer experience, I had told him if he wanted to talk to a park ranger, I could make it happen. So when we arrived at the Visitor Center, I told him to talk to the park rangers who were manning the very quiet desk, as it was already later in the evening. He literally went up to them and said, “Do you have any Mighty Five T-shirts?”

No, Hunter — these are park rangers. Like Jennifer. You can ask them any questions you have about the park. You can ask these ladies about the shirts, gesturing to the women who worked the retail portion of the store next to the rangers. He then asked, “Do you know Jennifer?” And I just said, “He was quite taken with her.” He went to the ladies and said, “Ladies, do you know where there’s a Mighty Five hoodie?” It really was quite a lot of moments. We are now back at the lodge, getting our stuff together for the evening, because Hunter has agreed to wake up for sunrise at 6:50, since we are literally maybe 50 steps away from the rim of Sunrise Point.

Oh, and also, we got browned butter chocolate chip cookies from Gifford House this morning, and they need to stick with pie. The Brown Butter Cookie Company in Cali has the best!

Unreliable Summary — Pie, a closed road, and cows.