Our sweet boondocking spot on Beas Lewis Flat, ten minutes outside of Capitol Reef National Park.

The Bureau of Land Management (BLM) is proposing to construct a new campground on the famous Beas Lewis Flat dispersed camping site. Honestly, I hate to see this boondock spot come to an end, but it’s probably for the best. We were astonished to see how crowded it was compared to two years ago. It’s kind of out of control. The BLM document states: The need for this action has been identified due to high camping activity and sanitation concerns due to disposal of waste and gray water in the project area. Additionally, the desert environment has endured degradation due to user created camping and foot trails. People! People! People! What a continual source of disappointment.

When we pulled in, our original spot was taken, so we kept on driving until we felt it was an appropriate distance from the nearest unit. There’s an unwritten rule when boondocking about how close you should be to your neighbor. It’s not cool to horn in on a spot. Once we got set up in the wicked cold wind, a guy in a white truck and utility trailer drove by scouting spots. He left, but a few minutes later came back on his e-bike. He politely asked if it would be alright if he set up between us and the fifth wheel. We told him yes, and we all introduced ourselves. His name was Chad from West Virginia.

As dusk set in, a couple of girls and two dogs squeezed in between us and Chad.  And to our east, at least at an appropriate distance, a guy and his TikTok’n woman set up.

We ended up spending two really cold nights and one full day at Beas Lewis. The generator we’d been hauling around came to good use!

Capitol Reef is our favorite National Park in Utah, mostly because it’s the least crowded. It also has an incredible hike in Sulphur Creek. We skipped it this time because of the weather. Instead we opted for the Navajo Knobs hike. A ten mile, five hour hike. If you enjoy hiking, put this one on your list. It was magnificent!

The girls and their dogs who horned in on us.

Beautiful fall color at the Start of Navajo Knobs.

The ascent starts immediately. It ended up being nearly 2,4000 feet of climbing.

Awesome rock everywhere

It’s hard to see, but above the shadow in the middle of the picture is Hickman Bridge.

A video of the Rim Overlook narrated by yours truly. When I start loudly saying god no, god no it’s when the other couple asked us if we were full-timers!

The circled point is the Navajo Knob where we eventually summited.

Straight up

At the top, in the distance you can see the San Rafael Reef.

Relaxing at the peak. We were surprised how warm it got and we lucked out with no wind.

A silent video from the top.

A wardrobe change for the hike back.

And down we go!

If you have a fear of heights you might not want to do this hike, a lot of the trail was on the edge.

Fremont River