Thenaturalmedic Adventures
Hello there, and thanks so much for joining us here! You are probably wondering what this podcast is all about? In this podcast, we will talk about all sorts of outdoor adventures, but primarily, for now, we will focus on hiking and backpacking. No other outdoor adventure is so accessible to so many people! So please join us as we talk about how to hike/backpack and learn how to hike any length trail from your local neighborhood parks to those long trails such as the Appalachian and others worldwide! Remember... "in every walk with nature; one receives far more than he seeks... - John Muir " See you on the trail!
Thenaturalmedic Adventures
Risk, Reward, And The Quiet Beauty Of Utah’s Cathedral Valley
A quick scout of Cathedral Valley shows how to judge the Fremont River ford, when two-wheel drive is enough, and why timing and weather call the shots. We pivot for cattle, grab a geocache, and map a smarter return for the whole loop.
• locating the ford and reading warning signs
• confirming water levels with the visitor center or phone line
• choosing high clearance and gear selection through the river
• identifying washouts and bentonite hazards after rain
• planning a flexible route with turnarounds and alternates
• geocaching stops and photo-friendly viewpoints
• saving the whole loop for stable weather and more time
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If you have any questions or comments about the park or the road, feel free to send that message...
Hi there. I'm in Capitol Reef National Park on the outskirts of Torrey, Utah. On the west side, you have Cainville and Hanksville. I'm looking at this sign right here. The sign is the river forward for the Cathedral Valley. Cathedral Valley is a 56 and a half mile drive on the east side of the park. Some really interesting formations, hiking trails, etc. But you need a high clearance, four-wheel drive vehicle, and you have to drive through a river. But if you want to see that, keep watching. Well, I think my hat's appropriate. Back roads. Definitely a back road here. You look at the warning signs, it says flood area, road impassable for most vehicles, travel at your own risk, which must have been from a different time because I just drove through it. Spoiler alert, I drove through it, no problem. I'm gonna drive through it one more time so you can see it on the video. This is the Fremont River. There's a rocky ford here. We're just gonna drive through it. Here we go. Woo! Yeah. Yeah, baby. I'm gonna go up, up, up. Oh yeah, we made it. I can definitely see how they might be a little tricky going through there. Two-wheel drive vehicles. I didn't even put it in four-wheel drive. Two-wheel drive high clearance vehicles should make it through, no problem. Make sure you check the river level at the visitor center or on the phone number before you do it. Unfortunately, there's some cattle being driven up the road, which is kind of blocking the road, so I can't really get up there. Gonna go the other side, closer to Caneville, and see what's over there. Hope you'll join me. Hey, if you're liking this video, make sure to give it a thumbs up. Fly. And uh that way it gets out to other people and other people can see it on YouTube. Thanks now. Back to the video. Well I showed you the Ford earlier. This is the actual entrance on the BLM side. Cathedral Valley. It goes down this road here. My vehicle's more than capable of doing it, so I don't have the time to do it today. But you see the wash right there beside the road. I think you have to come across that. Lots of places to stop along the way. This would probably take me a day and a half to do geocache right on top of this rock. See it? And there's my truck. We're not that much further down the road. I'm gonna go for one more cache down here. And probably turn around and go back into the park and do Hickman Bridge. Well, one of these days I'll do a full video on Cathedral Valley doing the whole thing. Right now I just kind of am strapped for time because I gotta go to my next destination this evening, which is to go to Bryce Canyon and Goodachrom Basin State Park for the next couple of nights. But isn't this beautiful out here? Definitely a different kind of beauty. Just gonna give you a long, slow pass here. You can see the wash over there. At one point, the road, it's like right next to the wash. It looks like it might crumble off at any moment. But I'm sure this would be a great uh overnight or a couple day trip that I'll do in the future. Well, that's about it for Cathedral Valley for today. I will definitely want to do this in the future sometime when the weather is good and I have plenty of time. So stay tuned for that. If you enjoyed this video, make sure to like, subscribe. That way you don't miss for further episodes and things going on. Thanks for watching as always. If you have any questions or comments about the park or the road, feel free to drop those below. Until next time, I'll see you on the trail.
