So I had this really great plan of visiting Capitol Reef from 8:00-10:00 in the morning, driving to Bryce Canyon (arriving by 1:00) and then spending the rest of the day at Bryce. Yeah, I had absolutely no idea how amazing Capitol Reef would be...which means that the rest of the day's schedule was shot to heck.
Capitol Reef is seriously in the middle of nowhere Utah. It's two and a half hours from anywhere which means not many people actually visit it. However, it is a gem. Basically, a billion years ago (or however millions or billions or years--you know how those geologists are), two tectonic plates had a battle, and one plate overlapped the other causing the crust of the earth to rise up on one side and sink on the other (it's call a "monocline", people). This extended for several hundred miles, and it is now called Capitol Reef (Capitol because one of the stone formations looked like the Capitol dome in D.C. (the one that was burned), and Reef because the early settlers felt like the high side of the monocline was like the Great Barrier Reef). But there are 18 different levels of rock, all differently colored, so in my mind, it just looks like God's art project. It was absolutely stunning.
Hannah had her junior ranger program to complete, so she grabbed the booklet in the visitor's center, and we hung around for a ranger-led geology discussion (seriously, rangers are completely underestimated--her knowledge of geology was IMPRESSIVE). I couldn't understand half of what she was talking about, but diverted quite a bit of attention to keeping the tent caterpillars from climbing up my legs. We went in the visitor's center and asked the same stupid question that they must answer a million times a day: if I only have two hours, what should I see?
Hickman Bridge. A longer hike but still doable with lots to see.
We headed out and found it after a couple of miles. Like with every hike, it was almost straight up from the start. I'd grabbed a trail guide and there was lots of interesting stuff to learn along the way.
I figured Glo would like this picture of Hannah sitting underneath the bridge. I took it as a sideways panoramic picture. Pretty cool, huh?
I know the ultimate goal is to see the bridge, but really, you hike to Hickman Bridge to see the views. Just seeing the actual monocline was surreal, thinking about how it was created. And learning that the Navajo Sandstone (a completely white rock) came over from the Appalachians via wind and then rivers? Very impressive.
At the end of the hike, after we had doubled back, we were very happy to put our feet in the nearby river, formed by the early Mormon settlers. I mean really, the hikes we were doing were difficult, and Hoka One Ones aren't really the best hiking foot apparel. That cool water felt like heaven, and we all agreed that we would just jump in the river if we didn't need dry clothes for the rest of the day.
We then went over to see the petroglyphs in the rock (again for Hannah's junior ranger program), but I was definitely feeling the need to get going.
Hannah is seriously so cute, being a junior ranger. She even takes the oath every time ;-)
We stopped by Subway (the only restaurant for 2 1/2 hours) and got sandwiches, and filled up the car again and started driving. It took us...you guessed it....2.5 hours to get to Bryce Canyon. And by this time, it was already 5:00 and the park closed at 6:00. The views along the way though were like nothing I had ever seen before. I just kept rolling down my window to take yet another picture. And when we drove through Dixie Forest (where everything is bright ochre red and doesn't even look real), I could hardly keep my eyes on the road.
John took off down a path that had been bordering our drive for the past 30 miles, running, and Hannah and I got the layout of the park itself and went to the visitor's center. We knew that we would need to return in the morning.
We did decide however to see at least a little bit of the park. After all, we were still waiting for John to arrive, and it's supposedly one of the most beautiful places on earth (it's celestial according to Elder Thomas). So we headed out to a view point. I was speechless:
We rolled into bed that night, happy to plug in the second-to-last Game of Thrones episode, but excited for the next day.
Capitol Reef is seriously in the middle of nowhere Utah. It's two and a half hours from anywhere which means not many people actually visit it. However, it is a gem. Basically, a billion years ago (or however millions or billions or years--you know how those geologists are), two tectonic plates had a battle, and one plate overlapped the other causing the crust of the earth to rise up on one side and sink on the other (it's call a "monocline", people). This extended for several hundred miles, and it is now called Capitol Reef (Capitol because one of the stone formations looked like the Capitol dome in D.C. (the one that was burned), and Reef because the early settlers felt like the high side of the monocline was like the Great Barrier Reef). But there are 18 different levels of rock, all differently colored, so in my mind, it just looks like God's art project. It was absolutely stunning.
Hannah had her junior ranger program to complete, so she grabbed the booklet in the visitor's center, and we hung around for a ranger-led geology discussion (seriously, rangers are completely underestimated--her knowledge of geology was IMPRESSIVE). I couldn't understand half of what she was talking about, but diverted quite a bit of attention to keeping the tent caterpillars from climbing up my legs. We went in the visitor's center and asked the same stupid question that they must answer a million times a day: if I only have two hours, what should I see?
Hickman Bridge. A longer hike but still doable with lots to see.
I figured Glo would like this picture of Hannah sitting underneath the bridge. I took it as a sideways panoramic picture. Pretty cool, huh?I know the ultimate goal is to see the bridge, but really, you hike to Hickman Bridge to see the views. Just seeing the actual monocline was surreal, thinking about how it was created. And learning that the Navajo Sandstone (a completely white rock) came over from the Appalachians via wind and then rivers? Very impressive.
 |
| See the land bending? |
At the end of the hike, after we had doubled back, we were very happy to put our feet in the nearby river, formed by the early Mormon settlers. I mean really, the hikes we were doing were difficult, and Hoka One Ones aren't really the best hiking foot apparel. That cool water felt like heaven, and we all agreed that we would just jump in the river if we didn't need dry clothes for the rest of the day.
We then went over to see the petroglyphs in the rock (again for Hannah's junior ranger program), but I was definitely feeling the need to get going.
Hannah is seriously so cute, being a junior ranger. She even takes the oath every time ;-)
We stopped by Subway (the only restaurant for 2 1/2 hours) and got sandwiches, and filled up the car again and started driving. It took us...you guessed it....2.5 hours to get to Bryce Canyon. And by this time, it was already 5:00 and the park closed at 6:00. The views along the way though were like nothing I had ever seen before. I just kept rolling down my window to take yet another picture. And when we drove through Dixie Forest (where everything is bright ochre red and doesn't even look real), I could hardly keep my eyes on the road.John took off down a path that had been bordering our drive for the past 30 miles, running, and Hannah and I got the layout of the park itself and went to the visitor's center. We knew that we would need to return in the morning.
We did decide however to see at least a little bit of the park. After all, we were still waiting for John to arrive, and it's supposedly one of the most beautiful places on earth (it's celestial according to Elder Thomas). So we headed out to a view point. I was speechless:
We rolled into bed that night, happy to plug in the second-to-last Game of Thrones episode, but excited for the next day.
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