Capitol Reef Arrival, Cedar Mesa Campground, Red Canyon, Thanksgiving Dinner - Turktacular 2016

  • Updated: November 24, 2016
  • Post By: Matthew Hengst

November 24th, 2016

After last nights aborted attempt to camp near Elsies Nipple we'd ended up at the Sunglow Campground above Bicknell sleeping on a thin layer of snow.




Breakfast was a chilly affair as the campground didn't get sunlight until fairly late.  We were happy to be in the Jeep and driving as soon as we'd finished.


The terrain shifts dramatically as you reach the park and red rock dominates the landscape.





We went to a few overlooks and read some signs on the way to the visitors center but they were mostly underwhelming.



The visitors center was closed due to the impending holiday.  There was a campground just down the road which we visited for water and bathroom use but it felt a bit too busy for what we were really looking for in a basecamp.


We debated our options considering how much daylight we had left and the temperature decided to go try and locate a bit more firewood.  We had a single bundle with us and I'd waited too long the night before during the storm to get any at a gas station.  We thought maybe we could find something in Torrey.

There was nothing open back there.  We tried Torry, Loa, and Bicknell and the only things actually open were the resorts with the rest being shut down either for the holiday or for the season.  We even tried begging wood from one of the resorts and trying phone numbers at some of the closed RV parks before finally giving up and heading back for the park.  We decided to head to the east side of the park towards the Studhorse Peaks area we intended to climb the following day.  We only had a few hours of daylight left and finding a nice place to make thanksgiving dinner was a high priority.


Things become a little less colorful once you get east of Fruita and initially the drive south along the Notom Road Scenic Byway didn't impress.



It improves the further south you go.  On a whim we stopped by the Cedar Mesa Campground expecting to find it packed.


Instead we found we had it to ourselves.  And that it had excellent views.  We decided we were home at least for tonight.


We picked the last campsite on the right which was a bit less protected but had views in almost every direction and a great platform for a tent.

We had a little extra time and did a quick hike toward Red Canyon which starts at the end of the campground.  Sadly due to lack of time we barely made it into the canyon before turning back.



We did end up with company a little after dark but they set up at the far side of the campground and were generally pretty quiet.


Kristen went all out planning the dinner which included turkey and gravy, mash potatoes, green beans, and stuffing for dinner with a pumpkin pie for dessert.




The only bummer was our single bundle campfire which only did a middling job of keeping us warm.  (There's no wood collecting allowed back there)  Fortunately we did have several bottles of champagne which helped to warm us up just a bit.

And tomorow we were finally going to get back to hiking!

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