Capitol Reef National Park

We got our first covid-19 vaccination! A few weeks ago I saw on r/Denver that Mesa County was open for Phase 2 – general population. I went to the website, filled out their questionnaire, and sure enough, we were eligible and could get the shot as soon as a few days later. I decided to wait to see if we could time it while we were driving through, but when I went back to check a few days later the Phase 2 portion was closed, but I signed up for the waitlist, as did Vitali. A few days after that, while we were in Arches (which had sporadic to no cellular service btw) Vitali saw an email that said he was eligible! I got one too. We were able to reserve for March 29th – we would leave Canyonlands and drive back to Grand Junction and spend the night in a hotel(!).

The morning we were to depart Canyonlands Numa threw a worrying warning – Engine Malfunction, Service Now. Uh oh. Numa has a long and storied history of stranding us places as the transmission control module would repeatedly fail. She seemed to be driving fine though, so we set out and called a Ford Dealership in Grand Junction – very fortunately they said we could swing by that afternoon and they’d take a look.

It all worked out perfectly – we got our shot around lunch time, stopped by the dealership (it turns out the last mechanic to have serviced Numa forgot to tighten the clamp on the air intake), and we were able to resupply at the grocery store. Then we headed to the hotel which was a luxury beyond words. It was wonderful having instant access to hot water and while sleeping in a real bed was nice, I woke up with a backache.

Staying in Grand Junction meant we’d have to cut a night from our Capitol Reef itinerary but I figured we’d still have enough time to get a good taste of the park. We arrived at the Fruita Campground in the early afternoon -- our campsite was right next to the Fremont River, which we could hear from our tent. Our neighbors had the same tent... I've seen two more since that one too!

This area seemed very unusual to me – Capitol Reef's primary attraction (in my mind) is the Waterpocket Fold, a geological aberration in the Colorado Plateau that results in striking rock formations; but the hub of the park was a small village called Fruita, which was historically a Mormon pioneer outpost.

Ancient indigenous peoples also inhabited the area, as the river provides ideal conditions for life in the desert. There were quite a few petroglyphs in the area -- the graphic one with antlers and eyes struck me.

So Fruita was also unusual in that it had fruit orchards – over 2,000 trees according to the brochure – apples, cherries, plums, etc, all managed by the NPS, along with a historic one-room schoolhouse, the home of the pioneer family who lived there, a stable, etc. I wish we had been here when the trees were fruiting -- all you can eat before leaving the orchard is free. They also sold delicious ice cream which we enjoyed several times...

What's wrong with this picture?

Some of the trees were starting to bloom too. My sinuses discovered this before my eyeballs did.

On the day we got there we hiked the Grand Wash – as the name suggests -- a wash, out and back. There was a section called “The Narrows” where the very high canyon walls got pretty close together.

The next day we did a similar hike through Capitol Gorge to the potholes (low points in the slickrock that collected water and supported plant and and animal life). The trail passed by inscriptions on the rock of pioneers who had come through here with the date.

Can you imagine being a pioneer and then coming across this insane land barrier? I'd be ready to pack it in and turn around. "Orion A. Rust" What a cool name.

We also stopped by the opposite end of the Grand Wash and did the short climb to Cassidy Arch, which was very large. Where's Numa?

Later on in the evening we visited the Goosenecks (where the river squiggles dramatically), and watched the sun set from Sunset Point.

We had a great lookout on a boulder by ourselves and then a dude comes by and asks if we minded if he joined – and then eight members of his family joined too...

The next day was our big hike, up to the Rim Overlook and then on to the Navajo Knobs. We consider this the must-do day hike of Capitol Reef.

The trail follows the rim of the Waterpocket fold, alternating gaining and losing elevation as you zigzag ever upwards. This was different than most hikes we'd done before as the majority was bare slickrock -- and with every new portion of uphill, the rock quality was slightly different – the color, structure, texture, all changed subtly.

The first overlook point – Rim Overlook – had a great view of the valley and orchards below… but our eyes were on the Knobs, a further 2.5 miles. Calling this hike a slog would be appropriate. The rocks and sand here varied between orange like Arches and Canyonlands to a buff color, sometimes changing abruptly. This buff sand was powdery and slick AF.

Finally, we approached the geological formation known as the Navajo Knobs and scrambled up to the summit. The view was spectacular. 360 degrees of the Waterpocket Fold – from the rounded Navajo sandstone blobs (one of which looks like the Capitol building, the namesake of the park), to the orthogonal clay colored spires, to rim after rim of the fold itself. This was my favorite hike of the trip so far, although my knees started to bother me by the end of the descent.

Amongst all the orange and buff were these strange round black boulders, scattered everywhere over the hillsides. I learned after googling that these are basalt boulders brought from a large mudslide from the adjacent mountains. It was very strange to see these littered throughout the landscape, as if dropped on the land like sprinkles on ice cream.

I had read that Capitol Reef is the most often overlooked park of Utah’s ‘Mighty Five’, and perhaps I can see why. Not quite as dramatic as Zion's canyon walls, or Arches and Canyonlands really unique rock formations. Capitol Reef is raw geology laid bare, which is beautiful in its own right. We did most of trails accessible by passenger vehicle in the few days we were there, but couldn't make it out to some of the more remote areas of the park that required 4WD.