Back in the Fall as we moved south after our Yellowstone tour we spent time in Utah on our way to the Grand Canyon in AZ! In southern UT there are a number of magnificent canyons. We tried to see them all but just did not have the time as we didn’t want to be caught by the winter snow while we were still that far north. We did see Capitol Reef National Park, Bryce Canyon National Park and Zion National Park plus some lesser known but still spectacular and interesting other parks and facilities around those parks.
When we left Ogden headed south we were still talking about which parks to see! We were sort of head toward Canyonland National Park in SE UT but as we were traveling east on I-70 we saw an exit (not many of them in this stretch) to Capitol Reef National Park. On a last minute change of plans we took the exit. Wow – did we get a ride. The two lane road was in good condition but it was very winding with lots of steep grades up and down. We didn’t get any pics of it because I was too busy driving and BJ was holding on with both hands; but, the scenery was beautiful. We ended up in a private campground about 5 miles short of the Park because it was getting dark and the campground at Capitol Reef was first come, first served and we were concerned about getting a space.
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| From on top of the reef after a 1.5 hr hike! |
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| The "reef" from ground level! |
Capitol Reef National Park was beautiful. I had assumed it had reef in the name because scientist had determined it was a reef in the ancient seas that use to cover this part of the continent! However, according to park literature it was because a lot of the American pioneers had seafaring background and reef was commonly used to describe an impediment to movement, e.g. a ship blocked by a reef! And, the sheer cliffs and narrow breaks were an impediment to the movement west of the pioneers. The Capitol comes from a large rock formation that looks like the capitol dome on many of our early American state capitol buildings.
We managed to get in some hiking in beautiful country as well as some great off-road rides in the Gray Ghost. There was so much to see.
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| BJ preparing for a hike! |
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| Sunset turned the clifs various/changing co |
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| Beautiful off-roading areas |
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| The "Capitol" dome that the park was named after!! |
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| More of the "impediment" |
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| One of the few canyons going all the way through |
Always at home, no matter where we are!
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