Day 19: Visit to Capitol Reef National Park

We awoke to a temperature of 38 degrees with high wind.  Brrrr!  Ranger was very happy on his morning walk but I certainly was not.

We have had intermittent problems with the refrigerator, and since there was an RV repair service next door to the campground, Dan got in touch with “Biggie” who came over in late morning and maybe….maybe…fixed the problem.  We’ll know for sure when we camp at the next place, which does not have electrical hookups.  (The problem was only evident when the fridge is supposed to be running on propane.)

So it was about noon when we headed out to Capitol Reef.  What amazing scenery!

We started with a short hike at Goosenecks Overlook and then Sunset Point, where the red rock formations were almost hard to believe.  We then proceeded along the ten-mile scenic road through the park, passing all sorts of weird shapes along the way.  The paved road ended at a 2 ½ mile dirt road that led to Capitol Gorge, where a mile-long trail went between the huge rock walls.  The walls had some very old petroglyphs on them, as well as names inscribed from the late 19^th/early 20^th century when this path was used by Mormon settlers who set up a community along the river.

At the end of this trail, we opted to continue onto the Tanks Trail, which led to large round indentations in the rock that collect rainwater and become home to tadpoles and other small critters.

Strangely enough, after such a cold start to the day, by late afternoon, we felt hot and a bit dehydrated from our hiking.  (It got into the low 70's, but that sun was HOT.)

Back at our campsite, we had dinner and planned on an early bedtime after a busy day.