I chose Capitol Reef in particular because so much of the park access is from paved and maintained roads. Given this was a early January outing I wanted to make sure that a little snowfall didn’t get in the way. In the end, however, the snow won, and turned me around short of the peak.
I intended to summit Ferns Peak, aka Fern’s Nipple, which is a noticeable but obscure geologic feature in the Capitol Reef. The known route is challenging due to the routefinding, but otherwise possible for non-climbers. On the drive in the temperature was as low as zero degrees Fahrenheit, but rose to 10 at the trailhead for Cassidy Arch. Bringing a rope and micro spikes along, I started at 9 AM.
The beginning of the hike is a challenging approach zig-zagging through various layers. With about 4 inches of snow it was difficult to find a path of use, but an occasional cairn was helpful. Whenever I’d reach an unpassable area, I’d backtrack and look for a missed turn. At the top of Bear Canyon I had some difficulty stemming up the final scramble, mostly due to snow covering every surface.
Once up to the 6000’ level, the path wind around below various walls to the southeast as you approach the peak. I hiked past two desert bighorn sheep who were coveting my backpack (or just posing for a family photo).
The final approach is up a slot called Nighthawk and there I ran across an steep chute too difficult to accomplish solo in snow conditions, forcing me to give up the ascent just a short distance from the peak. Turning around I descended the layers, using a rope twice for safety. In the summer I would expect this to be technically much easier so I’ll have to come back and finish.
Resources:
- The drive in to Cassidy Arch Trailhead (38.26359, -111.21583) is mostly on the paved but narrow Capitol Reef Scenic Drive road, which you drive for about 3.5 miles then turn left onto the unpaved but graded Grand Wash road. Follow the unpaved road to its terminus at a parking lot.
- There is no primitive camping anywhere in the park, but there is a maintained campground near the start of the Scenic Drive. I personally prefer primitive camping off of Notom Road running down the east side just outside the park.
- Hiking track
Lessons Learned
- Well, clearly the big lesson is that this is a difficult solo route in winter conditions with snow on the ground. I believe it could be done with rope and crampons, but a better choice is probably a spring or fall hike. Capitol Reef is quite hot in the summer.
- I carried my Core Hiking Gear plus the following items:
- Microspikes
- Cold weather layers
- 40′ 7mm cord for lowering
- Next time I plan to attempt this in my approach shoes to provide some better traction up the final ascent chutes.
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