Capitol Reef

I am going to go out of sequence and share about our first day in Capitol Reef. We drove from Moab- temperatures averaging 104 degrees a day until the 4th of July. We got a huge thunder and lightning storm (actually several that were converging on us simultaneously!) and fireworks that night. Prepping to leave our camp site, it was sprinkling,  but the temp was already near 85 degrees.

We visited Arches NP and Canyonlands NP from Moab- more to follow about all THAT beauty!

On to Capitol Reef- a late addition to our trip itinerary- we abbreviated our stay in Moab two days to hit the last of the Big 5 National Parks for two days. The drive over was uneventful (yay!)and we found out that the campsite was right across the street from our food stop on the way TO Moab! It was funny especially since when we were there, Joe remarked that if we had booked the stay in Torrey on the way to Moab, we would have been nearly there! If he only realized! :-)

We arrived around noon- set up the trailer and the boys found a basketball hoop- so low that Joe could dunk! That entertained them (and exercised them, too!) for about an hour and a half. We already knew that our first stop- for a warm afternoon- would be the petroglyphs, so we headed out.

As we drove to the location of the petroglyphs, we passed a sign that said u-pick fruit. I had read that we could pick fruit to eat in the field for free (in the orchards of the Fruita district) and there was a small cost to take any fruit with you, so I was ready for that!

We got to the petroglyphs- which are very faint (as you can see) but also very cool. We did see some very cool petroglyphs in Canyonlands at something called Newspaper Rock, as well. As we were walking the boardwalk to the second location of the petroglyphs, we heard thunder and saw lightning- and then the downpour started! Huge drops of rain and hail poured down on us- and then tapered off after we reached the truck. 

We drove out a bit farther (on a road/highway that we had already driven twice as it is the only way between Bryce Canyon and Moab and back) and took in the view.

The Fremont River was very muddy with red dirt stirred up by the rain. The rock formations there are very different from all the other areas- the strata of soil, the honeycombing, all so amazing!

The storms continued for a bit- on and off- but stopped so we could pick apricots off the tree. YUM! Love being able to get fruit "from scratch"! 

Then we drove through the hoppin' town of Torrey, Utah. They have 4 restaurants (though we didn't eat at any of them) and a grocery store/deli/bakery (where we did have lunch- french dips for the kids and a southwestern salad for me- pretty yummy) and then back to the trailer for the night.

We got up early enough to go for a hike in the morning. The temps were supposed to be in the upper 80s, so we wanted to see Hickman Natural Bridge before it got too hot.

An interesting hike through the diverse rocks and plants (look for a blog with all the flora and fauna of the National Parks of Utah!) to see the Natural Bridge. Color was not as pretty as the arches at Arches, but it was amazing, nonetheless.