Cohab Canyon

We spent the morning moving into the campground and getting the RV set up. Good thing we got here a little after 9 as there were only 3 spots available. Since the park is in a hole, so to speak, there is no cell signal. John tried our booster but there was nothing to boost. We will have to drive into town periodically to post this blog and to retrieve email & phone messages.

We met a van load of senior women parked next to us. John was their hero as they had a flat tire and he was able to air it up for them. These 5 women with an average age of 72 (the oldest is 87) go hiking together in Boston and decided to take this trip to Utah. They flew into Salt Lake City, rented a mini van with a roof tent on top. 2 slept in the van, 2 slept on the roof and one slept in a tent on the ground. They’ve been doing this for almost a week and this was their last stop. Such a fun group - I envy them for having this time together.

The Fruita Historic District in the valley was settled by Mormons in the 1880’s along the Fremont River. They planted orchards and pastures and lived an agrarian life for decades. Today the National Park Service maintains all those orchards and opens them up for the visitors to pick some for personal use. They have not only apple and pear but cherry, apricot, peach, plum & quince along with almond, walnut & pecan trees. I got some pears and apples which is all that is ripe this time of year. We also bought an apple pie home made right here in the valley.

John and I delayed hiking this afternoon because the weather acted like it was going to storm but as each black cloud scudded past it only sprinkled rain. We finally headed across the street and up into Cohab Canyon. It was a 440 foot hike up then about 1.5 miles into the canyon. It is a narrow slot canyon with hidden canyons along each side. Near the end we climbed out up onto a mesa where we had striking views of the Fruita Valley below us and higher canyon walls on either side. We walked about 3.8 miles total.