Posts Tagged ‘Capitol Reef National Park’

Canyoneering – The Wives, Capitol Reef National Park, UT

Saturday, April 12th, 2014

Capitol Reef National Park - CMC Canyoneering
Colorado Mountain Club Canyoneers

Michael Readies for the Rappel into Wife 3
Michael Rigging his Rappel into Wife 3

Becca on Multi-stage Rappel #3
Becca In Middle of Multi-Stage Rappel

Jill's Peek-A-Boo
Jill Playing Peek-A-Boo!

On Saturday, I led a Colorado Mountain Club canyoneering trip to explore The Wives of Capitol Reef National Park. There were three other CMC trip leaders in the mix, so we were bound to have a successful day.

Thank you to Bluu Gnome for the beta and insightful comments regarding these canyons! The beta from bluu Gnome, waypoints, maps, etc, is spot on!

After scouting out the area the day before, I determined we should start with Wife 3 and then do Wife 5.

We weren’t able to locate the top of Wife 5, as the terrain was a bit confusing and the GPS point for the top was either entered wrong or I forgot to enter it! After hunting around a bit and having a lengthy discussion about the weather, we decided to go for Wife 4 instead.

As four of our most proficient members descended into Wife 4, the rest of us scrambled down to meet them at the end. The weather at the top looked a bit sketchy, so this strategy made sure that they could travel down canyon faster and the rest of us could be outside the canyon in case something happened.

Reunited at the bottom of the Wives, we headed back to the campgrounds. We got lucky with the weather in that it never rained, more than a few sprinkles, and the cloud cover moderated the temperatures. Later that night, we enjoyed a camp fire, with Michael strumming his guitar, and conversation flowing almost as freely as the brewskies.

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Day Hike & Family Spat Diverted – Chimney Rock Loop Hike, Capitol Reef National Park

Sunday, May 26th, 2013

CMC Hikers at Chimney Rock Trail Head
On a rest day from canyoneering, we decided to hike the Chimney Rock Loop in Capitol Reef National Park. It was a great little 1.5 hour hike with pretty views.

Chimney Rock Jumping

Chimney Rock Panorama

After the hike was over, we ran into a guy who was hanging out by the side of the road with two touring bikes. Turns out he and his twin brother (whom we saw hitch hiking earlier) were on a trip cross country when they got in a horrible spat. One brother called the other brother a fetus in front of a food worker at a sandwich shop and that was the last straw.

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