Capitol Reef National Park

The distant mountains were snow covered but the valley was much warmer. 

Even in winter the orchards are beautiful but we would love to see them in the Spring flowering and in the fall heavy with fruit. Visitors can pick fruit themselves then!

We knew nothing about this park before we arrived, When we came out to Utah 30 years ago we did the usual 5 big parks and most people we know have done the same. So it was a lovely surprise. The general look is like Zion and Bryce - towering multi color cliffs and hoodoos - but the verdant orchard valley was really beautiful and unique. The Park is about 60 miles long and around 6 miles across, a rocky spine (Water Pocket Fold) formed by the Fremont River. Originally named Wayne's Wonderland by local boosters it became a national monument in 1937 but it wasn't until Route 28 was built through the park that it took off. Congress finally made it a National Park in 1971 

Many of the formations have been named, This is the Fluted Wall. I remarked to Scott when viewing one area and said it looked like the temples along the Nile. Then we got to the sign saying it was  Egyptian Temples.

The first settlers came after the Civil War when the Mormon Church sent pilgrims west to settle new lands. They established what is now known as Fruita in the 1880's and planted the beautiful orchards that line the river through the park and are still productive. By 1920 only 10 families remained and they eventually left. An early 1900's uranium mine was taken over by the government when it became public land and briefly was revived during WWII, but it was not successful.

The colors are wonderful.

We settled Baby in Loa, about 30 minutes away, at Noon and spent the afternoon exploring the park. It was a beautiful day but windy. We knew the weather would go downhill the next day so really did a lot of exploring that afternoon. The 7 mile "Scenic Drive" is a paved road through the park (not Route 28, which is also scenic and which we took two days later to Moab). There are a number of narrow dirt roads that extend off that are occasionally off limits, But there hadn't been a lot of rain so we were able to explore several of them. The first was to a viewpoint overlooking Gooseneck Canyon, which has formed what is known as an "entrenched meander", in which the canyon-cutting stream creates a bend so tight it nearly doubles back on itself.

I'm sure glad I have a variety of layers to wear. At this point I have 3 on; turtleneck, flannel lined shirt and down vest. Sometimes I wear my rain jacket over all that. I have 2 other fleeces as well. 

Looking down into Gooseneck Canyon from our hike

You can see one of the several bends in the canyon here. The snow covered mountains were much clearer to us than the photos show.

The second more challenging dirt track is at the end of the Scenic Drive and winds through narrow gorges where oncoming cars need to wait for each other at good spots. At the end was the Capitol Gorge trail that leads to some petrographs and water depressions used by Native Americans much earlier. We stopped at the Visitor's Center to talk to a Ranger - always helpful and fun. He recommended we see the restored settler's cabin Gifford's Homestead for some pie! Originally settled by polygamist Calvin Pendleton in 1908 it eventually passed to the Gifford family who lived there from 1928 to 1969 and ran a small motel for visitors. Carrying on their tradition of baking, today the Capitol Reef National Historic Commission makes over 300 pies each day (and a few other goodies) which are sold out by Noon. We got two of them - apple and cherry and they were amazing! We ate one right outside on a picnic table (they are small, perfect for two). 

Horses, barn and farm machines from the 
past are still around.

This is the Gifford's Homestead. It is now a small
museum, shop and bakery!

On the way back to our RV we stopped at many spots to take photos, made a quick stop at a grocery store, and then settled back home for dinner. I'd made pasta with sausages and veggies the night before so an easy meal with salad. The wind was howling and shook our RV overnight considerably. The next morning after reviewing the weather, we decided to move up to Torrey, the gateway town to Capitol Reef. There was a more attractive RV park there, Thousand Lakes, and more things to do at night. And we were closer to the Park and our eventual trip to Moab. But it was COLD. Leaving Loa the wind chill was at least 0 degrees and Scott had a hard time hitching up Baby and disconnecting from the site. We took it slow as the gusts were up to 50 miles per hour and occasional snow showers. But the new RV park was very nice and we were much closer to the Park. So after lunch, we went back into it and did some hiking around the orchards in Fruita. It was a little more protected there from the wind.

The orchards line both sides of the valley. There wasn't much water in this stream but obviously sometimes it rages. Many signs around the park warn visitors to watch the weather. 

This was our second day in the park and even though we had sunshine, it was very cold due to the high winds and a high temperature of 40. 

There was a great BBQ restaurant right at our RV park so we took out our meals for that night - Ribs, Steak, Grilled Zucchini, "Loaded" Cream Corn and Mashed Potatoes! Yum! Again the wind was howling and I admit I was worried about our plans ahead. We had reservations at Ken's Lake Campground up above Arches for 4 nights - dry camping. I was really worried about our propane heat keeping the place warm in these temperatures. 

Looking down into one of the canyons

Our hike into Capitol Gorge

The next morning Scott went out to start preparing for the trip and everything was frozen. He couldn't dump our grey and black water, although it was full, or fill our empty water tank.  He surprised me by suggesting we forget Ken's and stay in Moab instead.  So we called and reserved 4 nights at the Sun Outdoors RV Downtown - expensive but full hookups. What a relief! And they were very nice - the fellow I talked to was concerned about the quote he had to give me and when we arrived, he had found a way to reduce the price. So we're settled in Moab and grateful to be here!

An Egyptian Temple