25-March-2024 Capital Reef National Park

There are so many beautiful pictures to share from this national park but I figured I would use its namesake: Capital Dome. This Park was named "Capital" for the white dome of sandstone that resembles the U.S. capitol building, and "Reef" for the rocky cliffs which are a barrier to travel like an ocean reef.

My day began at my hotel, Red Sands Hotel & Spa, which has really cute door hangers (see pics below). I mention the name because last night I spoke to my sister-in-law Deb and she sent me a spreadsheet with all the hikes she took while in Utah on her last vacation and I realized I have been terrible at naming trails and hotels and restaurants so going forward I will make a better attempt to do so.

Before even getting to the visitor center at Capital Reef, I stopped at a lookout called Panorama Point. It's high up and has some nice views of the red rock formations below and in the distance. What caught my eye is that my license plate was still covered in ice from my perilous drive the day before. I wasn't kidding about how bad travel was and how much snow and sleet I got along the way!

I enjoyed both Panorama Point and a short walk to Goosenecks Overlook where you can look down on a horseshoe in the creek far below. It was still early and the direction of light made it so dramatic and pretty.

I then went to the visitor center: I was disappointed to learn that the unpaved roads (Gorge Road, Pleasant Creek Road and Grand Wash Road) were all closed due to the heavy snow and rains over the past couple of days. The gravel roads had been washed out and were in the process of being repaired. Sadly that meant that I was not able to get to Gorge Trail which, although short, had been recommended to me.

The ranger recommended I go to Hickman Bridge first as the parking lot would be sure to fill up. I parked and took the 1 mile trail to a huge and amazing stone arch bridge. Wow! I would have used this as my cover photo for this post but I'm guessing that I will see many more arches at Arches National Park so I went with the namesake photo. I like the pic from below the arch - thankfully it didn't collapse on me.

I hiked back to the parking lot and then took another trail called Rim Overlook which is a strenuous 2.3 mile trail which is 100% uphill to a gorgeous overlook over the valley below. The trail climbs over 1000 feet and it's 2+ miles of "stairmaster". I mustered all the courage I could and got very close to the cliff's edge and took some pictures from up top. You could see the visitor center and the scenic road and points far beyond in all directions.

When I returned to the parking lot not only was the lot full but there were cars littering either side of the street – it sure had filled up in the few hours that I was away. I drove further east to the Grand Wash Trail. This trail is known for its "narrows". Although it's not a true slot canyon with narrows where you can reach out and touch either side with your hands it is still dramatic and impressive. At its most narrow point, the stone walls of the narrows are about 15 feet apart and rise up 300+ feet. I tried to get some people in my pictures of the narrows to give perspective as to just how tall and massive these stone walls are (see the tiny people in the distance?). The Grand Wash Trail was 2.5 miles in either direction so by the end of the day I had done 10+ miles on 3 trails (with a lot of elevation) not counting other minor stuff along the way. My legs were toast!

After the Grand Wash, I hopped back in my car and did the 8 mile scenic drive to an endpoint where the road was closed due to washouts. The road construction is interesting that the "runoff river" frequently crossed the car road. The road was designed in those places as a concrete swale where the water can pass but it had filled with lots of mud and debris due to the significant runoff in the past days. I'm not surprised that the in paved roads were impassible.

I returned to my hotel in the late afternoon and hopped into the hot jacuzzi – what a treat for my tired muscles! Had a steak dinner and a glass of red wine to end the day. Ahhh.

Pictures just don't do justice to the size and scope of these landscapes – and of the beautiful and varied colors of all the different rock layers!