Sunday, March 22, 2009

Last weekend in our quest at backcountryadventurestours to find new and exciting routs into Utah's back country we wound up in capital reef national park. On our way down to the area we made camp Friday night in Cainville a notorious dirt bike riding area. It is an amazing place where nothing seems to grow leaving a ride almost anywhere desert landscape of rolling clay mounds that tapper up to long sharp spins ending in Cliff faces. We camped at an old air field above the dirty devil river. The next morning we headed through the scenic by way towards the reef. however unlike most all tourist who stick to the main paved roads we found a dirt road that turned off a few miles before the park entrance and headed into the back country of the park where most have never been. Our first stop was to see how high up Mount Ellen we could climb before we ran in to snow. The road wound through the broken sand stone cliffs as it make its way ever higher in to the foot hills. soon we left the maze of cliffs behind and started to make our way into the pines that grew ever taller as the elevation grew. We finally found snow around eight thousand feet and were forced to turn back as the roads grew deep with snow and mud. As we turned to go the view of Capital Reef was before us. As we gazed on the wall of sand stong the name took on new meaning as you could see most of the Reef extending for a hundred miles before us like the great barrier reef in the ocean this wall separates the rugged country into parts very impressive to see. After leaving the Mt Ellen behind we spent the next half of day driving beside this giant wall of white sand stone skirted by jagged red and purple teeth until we reached the famous burr trail and headed in to Bolder Utah thus ending the solitude of the back country and finding our selves in civilisation once again.