On Sunday (what day is it anyway???) we left Moab, UT to move to Torrey, UT which is near Capitol Reef NP. We are staying at Capitol Reef Resort.
no, we did not stay in a teepee. We have a room with a view (obviously).
We LOVE, LOVE, LOVE Capitol Reef NP (CRNP)!!!
The geology is super cool in this area. The layers of sediment, deposited over 100's of millions of years, went through an uplift over 7,000 feet and folded over on itself (instead of just stacking like usual). After millions of years of erosion, it leaves the most amazing and unexpected patterns and colors. There are places where you can see the "stacks" of the various rock and right next to that the rocks run vertical or at a huge slant.
The above picture is from our first hike on Monday, Grand Wash Trail. GW Trail was 4.4 miles through a canyon, but of course, we find the trailhead for Cassidy Arch which adds 3.4 miles - this was a lot but it was super nice. Cassidy Arch had 900+ feet of elevation gain so it was a bit of a chore.
Cassidy Arch - that is us, super tiny in the distance -
Cassidy Arch from another angle
Along the Cassidy Arch trail
Grand Wash - those holes are called solution cavities, formed as slightly acidic dissolved the calcite that cemented the sandstone grains together ... so, there you go...
weird rocks everywhere....
the "Narrows" on Grand Wash trail
By this point we have over 20,000 steps ... (before lunch).
Super neat area for lunch - Fruita Area, first settled by Native Americans and later by Mormon settlers, the Fremont River makes the area fertile. The settlers lived off the land, including an orchard with over 3,000 trees, some of them as old as 80-100 years. We enjoyed a mixed berry pie from Gifford House. Highly recommended stop!
Also amusing was the Winnebago driver who parked like a jackass and was later boxed in by car drivers who were not amused .... LOL (schadenfreude!)
So, even though our feet were 20,000 kinds of tired we set off on the Hickman Bridge Trail.
This is Capitol Dome - part of the namesake of the park.
Finally Monday is over - >26,000 steps! We decided to try Mexican Food one more time - (please recall, South Dakota Mexican food was a disaster - yuck!). It was actually good!
We of course, slept like the dead...
Tuesday -
Early start, breakfast at 7:00 (you can do that when you are in bed at 8:20 and dead asleep at 9:30 ... we are really experiencing the nightlife over here!)
Cohab Canyon trail (3.4 miles with 440 ft elevation gain) started the day. Trailhead was STRAIGHT up, off the highway - honestly, had we parked 10 feet back we would have blocked it!
cappuccino! actually just more weird rock formations. the "fold-over" that we described above reminds me of my attempts at folding a fitted sheet - not the straightest at times! LOL
there's a hole in that rock!
pretty viewpoints!
this is the host of the Arch=Kiss game that I am WINNING!!!
don't look down! sometimes the trails were a little narrow and right at the edge...
more crazy rocks
more solution cavities
Next was Capitol Gorge Trail. Long commute with the last 2.4 miles on a dirt road. We drove on this road before we ate lunch .. and that was a great decision. There were some crazy people driving with their windows open or even standing up out of their sunroof. Their cars must be completely filled with sand! Pretty narrow at times and I can assure you there was no yellow stripe down the middle - which on their planet means they get the WHOLE road. SERIOUSLY - we are in a bright red car - how do you not see us!?!?!?!?!
Anyway, we survived and enjoyed Capitol Gorge Trail. It was a hike down a wash with a side trail to "the Tanks" where, when there is water, there is a micro-ecology thing going on. Anyway, the only water right now is whatever we are carrying..... but the formation of the pools is still interesting.
Gorge:
Tanks:
another vista!
Now, another lovely picnic and then a quick stop at the Petroglyph Panel. This was interesting as well.
At this point we have about 13,000 steps.
- ARE YOU TIRED YET????
At 2:00 today we went on a 2 hour Horseback Ride (naturally). It was super fun! We even forded a river and went up and down hills! Of course the scenery was amazing.
I want to point out in this first picture - the blackish/grey stones you see are in the park as well - they are andesite lava. These rocks cap the flat-topped mountains to the west of the park. They were transported here, and rounded in the process, by large debris flows from the flanks of the peaks. The debris flows were associated with the melting of high-elevation glaciers in very recent geological times.
Carsten and Rio ( .. his name was Rio and he dances on the sand...)
Sheri's horse was Danny (oh, Danny Boy .....)
taken by Hannah, our guide, COULD SHE BE FARTHER AWAY?!?!?!
So, that's it for CRNP. Truly beautiful and unexpected! We highly recommend it!
Tomorrow we head to Panguitch, UT near Bryce Canyon NP. We will stop at Escalante-Grand Staircase on the way.
Take Care,
Sheri & Carsten
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