Many of the national parks are being loved to death.  The infrastructures just can’t handle the number of visitors.  Parking is limited and shuttle buses are becoming mandatory.  Capitol Reef is not one of those parks.  There’s not even a manned booth to collect your money when you enter, instead there’s a self-pay kiosk.  The busiest park is Great Smoky Mountains, it draws over 10 million visitors per year.  Grand Canyon does 5 million. Yellowstone and Yosemite over 4 million.  Zion over 3.5 million and Capitol Reef will be lucky to do 750,000.

If you decide to visit Capitol Reef be sure to bring plenty of supplies.  Torrey, the gateway to Capitol Reef has a population of only a few hundred people, and no grocery store. Bring your own fresh fruits and vegetables, because you are not going to buy any of that here worth eating.

I’m pleased to report R was with us the correct amount of time, four to six nights is acceptable and everyone had a blast.  The heat wave was a drag, everyone better get used to it because it sure seems like it’s the new norm, but we worked our way around it.  The only other slight negative was we all got the shit bit out of us, not by mosquitos, but some other pest that was just relentless.  Oh yeah, and I almost ruined my iphone when I slipped and fell into Sulphur Creek.  I don’t want exaggerate but I could’ve gone over the falls. Thankfully after a few hours the phone dried out and all the functions began working.  The big tragedy of the trip, R broke his favorite martini glass!