End of Tour at Capitol Reef National Park

These past few weeks have been really busy ones for us.  And also kept us here minding the campground. We have been worried about John, our co-host.  He ended up spending a week in the hospital and I am so happy to say that now he is doing much better!  So that in combination with the cooler temperatures at night and not wanting to tent camp (sorry.....not investing in a pair of down sleeping bags LOL) we were ok to stay here and mind the campground.  We did sneak in a couple of day trips though.  Fall has been so pretty here!

The campground is glowing yellow!

Behind the campground you see these rock walls. Finally got closer to them. Pretty tall! Used to keep the livestock in. Built by the misbehaving boys!

The Capitol Reef horses. Used for rescues if needed.

Closer look of a wall.

Looking down on the Fremont River.

The Henry Mountains are located just east outside of the park near Hanksville.  The Henry Mountains were the last mountain range to be added to the map of the 48 contiguous US states. The mountains are also home to approximately 350 American bison, one of only four free-roaming herds in the United States.

Cool hole in the rock.

The Henry's are just a little rougher looking.

We ended up turning around. Road got really narrow with this big old dually. Straight shot into the valley and Hanksville.

Inside of Wolverton Mill.

Wolverton Mill in Hanksville. Originally used in the Henry Mountains for gold mining.

We decided to take another drive back to Fish Lake National Forest, but drive a new route from there to Salina and Richfield. Other campers were coming back and showing us their foliage pictures with snow. We caught some beautiful sites and there was still some snow!

Pretty colors!

Great reflection!

Still some snow!

A lot of aspen leaves have fallen, but check out the remaining snow!

Johnson Reservoir

Another great time was when Jari and Greg, who we volunteered with at LBJ National Historical Park, stopped by for a visit.  The weather was a little tricky while they were here. We got to experience waterfalls again on the cliffs by our RV.  Some of our campers got trapped in Capitol Gorge when it decided to flash flood 3 times in one afternoon. Mercy!

Check out the waterfall!  You have to look quick as it only lasts maybe 15 minutes!

Happy hour with Jari and Greg!

Again we have met so many enjoyable campers here that we hope our paths will cross again some day. Flo and Dean kept us laughing every time we visited. Campfire friends from Switzerland, Notta and Urses had a great story.  He came across from East Germany before the wall was built. He never knew what happened to his father, sounds like he assumed he may have been killed by the Russians. He said they were poor but he had the happiest disposition. I sure count my blessings everyday when I hear other folks' stories.

This teddy bear pom is the best kind of camper to have! Ha!

In the afternoons when the campground was full and we had down time, we took some hikes mostly to get some good shots of the ever changing fall foliage.  It is just downright colorful and pretty. The cottonwoods have all turned yellow and when the wind blows it looks like gold dust around here.

Sunrise on our last morning of work.

The full moon rising behind the mountain on our last night of being in the park.

We will miss our co-hosts Trish and John when we leave here Saturday. Tom and Peggy will take over for us for the next two weeks and we wish them luck. Ron is super excited to get on home so we can get his shoulder surgery scheduled. (Not!) The next few months we will be out and about with family and friends in our old hometown of Sweeny, Texas, catching up on things, spoiling grandkids, hopefully catching some fall festivals and Christmas camping, depending on how Ron is recuperating. We plan to make a few stops at some of our National Monuments on the way home. There are still so many in this area that we haven't visited. Before we left, Trish made us dinner!  And a few friends stopped in to say good-bye!

Peggy, John, Trish, Ron and Tom.

We will miss Ranger Michael!

We were so lucky to get to work with great law enforcement - Mike and Brenda. Christy was our volunteer coordinator.

So, until next time!