The morning dawned beautifully in Torrey…
We had breakfast at the Capitol Reef Cafe, as part of the caravan fees that we had paid… We enjoy patronizing local businesses…
Our touring today takes us through Capitol Reef National Park. The caravan provided a CD to play as we drove through the park, explaining what we were seeing (rocks) and allowing us to stop from time to time to walk/hike to see things not visible from the road…
Capitol Reef National Park is approximately 60 miles long on its north–south axis but an average of just 6 miles wide. It was initially designated a national monument on August 2, 1937, by President Franklin D. Roosevelt in order to protect the area’s colorful canyons, ridges, buttes, and monoliths; however, it was not until 1950 that the area officially opened to the public. Road access was improved in 1962, and in 1971 it was named a National Park. It is one of the least visited and uncrowded National Parks, although it was relatively busy today.
One major feature of the park is the nearly 100 mi long up-thrust formation called the Waterpocket Fold, a huge ridge of up-lifted rock. The park was named for whitish Navajo Sandstone cliffs with dome formations—similar to the white domes often placed on capitol buildings…
We followed the road, seeing the sights, and finally proceeded down a two mile long gravel road called the Grand Wash to see the rocks up close and personal…
We parked and walked about a mile into the canyon. There are signs everywhere to stay out of the canyon if rain is expected, since flash floods are common. Fortunately for us, the sky was clear and blue…
We returned to the truck and continued along, following the CD, until we arrived at the Capitol Gorge trail, another walk/hike into the canyon…
We found this “window” in the rocks – this will eventually expand into an arch…
We saw several goats along the way…
The canyon gets very narrow and is quite intimidating…
As we returned back through the canyon we found some petroglyphs…
We returned to another leg of the CD tour. This one led to marvelous views, both up and down…
This is another “meander”, similar to what we saw in Goosenecks State Park…
Back at the RV park we had the last of the Fandangos, so, technically, we have met everyone n the caravan… We still have a ways to go to really remember everyone’s name…
And then we were treated to a lovely twighlight…
And an enjoyable time was had by all…
About 4 miles in we turned off into Castle Valley, a semi-residential area. This valley is unlike anything we have seen in Utah. All green – even the rock-faced mountains…
Adventures in the Villa 