We awoke in this gorgeous place again today. A bit of fortified coffee, some eggy stuff and we were back in Charlotte’s front seat for another pass through Capitol Reef National Park. We wanted to get going fairly early today as we guessed that the spectacular scenery here would look different in morning light and we were not disappointed. Strangely, as we drove through nearby Torrey and noted there was a cop car parked in exactly the same spot we saw it parked in yesterday and the day before. I noted yesterday that the cop appeared to be sleeping on the job. We pulled up next to the cruiser today and were surprised to find the cop was a dummy with a head that looked like Richard Petty, except uglier.
Excluding the stops we made in about ten pullouts along Highway 24, we drove straight through the park’s eastern boundary and maybe 10 miles beyond before turning around and heading west with the sun at our backs. On the way back through the park, we saw some amazing stuff. We saw a few wild turkeys, some scrub jays, a Ranger with a shovel, many tenacious and beautiful desert flowers, a boatload of deer and many views of the stunning rock formations in this great place. We took a dirt and gravel road through a wonderful section called the Great Wash, dodging the terrified motorists in substantially smaller vehicles approaching us on a road with scant passing lanes. It was a great, albeit short, round trip down this very pretty slot in the gigantic, looming rock cliffs.
We got back onto Highway 24 westbound a bit later but pulled off at a spot called the Goosenecks. After another little bit on another dirt and gravel road we arrived at a small parking lot where a couple trailheads exit. We took the trail to Goosenecks which turned out to be serpentine courses followed by a river in the bottom of a gorge. The perch at the end of the short trail is 800 feet above the river below and those courageous enough to peer over the edge will note that the first step is a very long one. From this viewpoint, you can see the river 800 feet below, the spectacular canyon it winds through and the colorful cliffs maybe 2000 feet higher near the Chimney Rock area in the background.
From here we headed back west on 24 but turned south on UT-12 in Torrey. About 5 miles later, we turned west on a paved road that took us through Teasdale. Just before we entered town, we passed through some snow which had inconveniently stuck to the road after falling. This made the weather we encountered here today as: bright sun and clear skies in the morning, increasing clouds by midday, thunder and lightning storms as we headed west on 24 and snowfall as we crossed a high spot near Teasdale.
No complaints today. We got to see the park’s assets in bright morning sunshine, took a great hike, made an exploration down the Great Wash and passed through weather from bright sun to snow, all within about 30 miles. What a fabulous place.
There are some pix if you click here