This morning I woke up at about 7 AM in Green River, Utah. From there, I drove about an hour and a half to Capitol Reef National Park. Once again, I drove directly to the Visitors Center and asked the ranger for suggested hikes and attractions that would provide me with a comprehensive view of the park and about 10 miles of hiking. The ranger suggested hiking Hickman Bridge Trailhead, a two mile hike consisting of an out and back from the trailhead leading to a 1 mile loop underneath Hickman Bridge arch. The hike was beautiful and started alongside the Fremont River before ascending to the arch.
The next suggestion was hiking a 7 mile trail loop (not including a 2.6 mile road walk to complete the loop) consisting of Cohab Canyon Trail ->Cassidy Arch Trail -> Grand Wash Trail. The hike was quiet and very scenic. Since I wasn’t specifically looking out for an arch, I passed by Cassidy Arch without even realizing it. About a mile after passing the arch, a group in front of me was discussing the arch and I realized that I’d passed it. I’ve seen so many arches in the past few days that it didn’t really bother me, though I would end up driving to a viewpoint of Cassidy Arch later on in the day. The Cassidy Arch Trail eventually met up with the Grand Wash Trail, a completely flat passageway between towering rock walls on both sides. Inside the wash, there were numerous signs warning of potential flash floods and warning hikers and drivers to stay out of the area if it looks like it might rain. After about 30-45 minutes hiking in the wash, I arrived at Highway 24 and started walking the 2.6 miles on the road back to the Hickman Bridge Parking lot. I stuck out my thumb hoping one of the passing cars would give me a ride, and eventually lucked out when a couple from the 7-mile loop trail recognized me and offered me a ride in the flatbed of the truck. For the few minutes riding in the flatbed of the truck, I felt like Chris McCandless from Into the Wild on his hitchhiking adventures across the country.
The ranger’s next suggestion was visiting Petroglyph point, drawings/etchings on rock walls created by settlers in the area up to 1,000 years ago. From 1952 until today, some of the drawings/etchings have been destroyed by rock falls. If these drawings were naturally destroyed relatively recently, it’s interesting to think about how many of these drawings/etchings there were at the time that the settlers were living here. Are we just looking at the remaining 1% of the original petroglyphs that have been preserved and protected from the elements due to their specific location on the rock walls that hasn’t been prone to as much weathering?
The historic town of Fruita is located inside the National Park and was inhabited by Mormon settlers in the late 1800s. The oldest building in the area is the multi-purpose school building built in 1896, which was also used as a community center, dance hall, church, and more. The building was surprisingly small, not more than 500 square feet, and housed the entire Fruita school system consisting of one teacher and about twenty students.
The next stop was Gifford Homestead, a small home/barn/yard that was inhabited by the Gifford Family up until the Government acquired the land for the national park. The house is very cozy and has been beautifully restored, now serving as a gift shop which sells local salsa, homemade ice cream, homemade bread, and homemade pies. In this area, people lived very modestly which may have been caused by their desert surroundings or their religion/values. The people in Fruita built buildings based on necessity,functionality and practicality.
Next, I continued on the 20 mile round-trip “scenic drive” through the park. This drive showed endless examples of the geological laws of Original Horizontality and Superposition. The road was very narrow and I had to be careful, especially when passing cars on the opposite side of the road.
On the way out of the park, I stopped at Panorama Point. Panorama point offers 360 degree, unobstructed views of typical terrain throughout the park.
After leaving the National Park, I merged onto Scenic Byway 12. The byway was a beautiful road with many state parks, various access points to Grand Escalante National Monument, and beautiful scenery throughout the entire drive. On a quiet portion of Highway 12, there was a unique coffee shop called Kiva Koffeehouse, which probably provided an amazing atmosphere and view. Unfortunately the coffee shop closed at 4:30PM, about an hour after I passed by it. I continued driving to Bryce Canyon National Park, stopping at the visitor center for some hike suggestions for tomorrow. Since May 6th, I’ve been to a different national park every day and it looks like this streak will continue until at least the day after tomorrow when I visit Zion National Park.
