Capitol Reef National Park
Hey Everyone,
Back in 2010, I went on a 30-day road trip where we visited 14 national parks. Capital Reef was one of them, but by accident. On our drive west from Natural Bridges, we just happened to drive through the park without knowing that there was a national park there. It was one of the best accidents that could have happened, because it's such a gem of a place. I knew I wanted to come back for a visit during September when the orchards were fruiting.
So, when I moved to Monticello, UT, a return trip was high on the list and it was finally time. We arrived in Fruita and could see many of the trees were ripe and ready for picking.
We stocked up on a few bags of peaches and pears. We ate a bunch and also picked a bunch to take home to make a pie or two.
After the orchards, we headed out to Panorama Point to scout some locations for the night sky. Chimney Rock was a suggestion high on the list.
After taking in the sunset, we headed back to camp to grab some dinner and rest before out night hike to view the stars. We had a few visitors to our camp, including a fawn mule deer and a northern flicker.
That night we hiked out to the spot we scouted and I set up my tripod. After a few exposures, I finally lined my composition up the way I wanted.
One thing I didn't account for was that my spot was perpendicular to the highway. So when an eastbound car started lighting up Chimney Rock and surround cliffs, I thought my shot was ruined. But to my surprise, it was the perfect amount of light to give a proper exposure of the cliffs and the sky. What another great happy accident!
Then next morning we made our way down scenic drive to hike Capital Gorge Trail to Pioneer Register and the Tanks. The Pioneer Register has a ton of names, dates, and places carved, painted, and in one case, shot, into the sandstone. Prospectors, explorers, surveyors, cowboys, area settlers, and early visitors would often stand on their wagons to carve their names into the canyon wall. It's high on the wall, out of the flood high-water mark, but still pretty cool to see.
Beyond the Pioneer Register, we kept hiking through the canyons and up the wash until we arrived at The Tanks.
They're giant potholes that hold rainwater and snowmelt, which support life in the desert when it it's normally hot and dry. They also have small critters living in them, like tadpole shrimp.
After our hike we headed back to Fruita to get in the shade of the trees and beat the heat. We also explored more orchards and some petroglyphs.
Once it cooled a bit, we headed back out for more exploring. We hiked the short distance out to the Goosenecks Overlook, which overlooks Sulphur Creek. It's supposed to be a fun off-trail route, but it was a little long for us this trip.
Instead, we hiked from the visitor center up the wash behind The Castle. The geology back there was super interesting with a lot of various geologic layers and cool erosion features.
The next day we moved camp from Fruita down to Cedar Mesa, a primitive campground. The park is long and skinny, and this campground is better located for the more rugged activities of the park. It's also where you get to explore the geologic feature the Waterpocket Fold.
The Waterpocket Fold is the parks main feature and it's almost 100-miles long. It formed between 50 and 70 million years ago and erosion of the tilted rock layers continues today forming colorful cliffs, massive domes, soaring spires, stark monoliths, twisting canyons, and graceful arches. Simply put, it's freaking awesome. The first thing we did is drive up Burr Canyon, through Upper Muley Twist Canyon, and hiked out to the Strike Valley Overlook. One of the cool features along the way is Saddle Arch.
When we saw the view, we realized it was gonna be a great place to watch the sunset, so we hiked back to the car to grab food and beers.
The hike through Upper Muley Twist Canyon is short, but scenic.
Back at the overlook we soaked in it. The views are stunning and nearly endless. And our beers were cold. Win-win.
It was a sunset for the books. Back at camp we built a fire to keep warm and take in the stars.
The next morning we headed back to Strike Valley Overlook for one last view, this time with the morning light.
From there we headed south to Surprise Canyon, one of the two accessible slot canyons you can hike. The other is Headquarters Canyon.
In the canyon, the walls towered above us. The further in we went, the higher they got. Eventually there is too much breakdown to keep going, so we found a nice ledge that gave us a nice view before turning around.
Back at the car we had great views of the Henry Mountains in the distance. They are one of the most remote areas in the lower 48 and I heard there's a buffalo herd out there too.
The last thing on the list for the day was to scout out the road to Halls Creek Overlook. For the final day we wanted to hike out to Brimhall Bridge, but we needed to see if our car could make it to the trailhead. Wow, another spectacular view of the Waterpocket Fold, maybe even my favorite view so far.
The next day we came back early and hiked down into the valley, across the wash, and into canyon.
It was much more scrambley than we anticipated, but we were able to make it to the crux. It's a giant tank that you have to swim across, and then pull yourself up and out the other side. Unfortunately, the water was about 3 feet lower than it needed to be for us to climb out. It's probably easier to do in the spring or during the monsoon when the water is higher. So we just turned around and headed back to the car. Still a cool hike.
The hike out was exposed and HOT. Plus we ran out of water. But back at the car we had a cooler full of ice cold water, Tecate, and fresh limes. We hung out for a solid two hours in the shade, drinking and cooling off. Once we were ready to head out, we drove back to Fruita and out along Scenic Drive for sunset. A great end to a great trip.
It's also good that we were planning to leave, because that night the government shut down and the park closed. They let us stay the night in the campground, but the following morning, everyone was asked to leave and they started putting up closure signs.
