Day 9
Driving to Capitol Reef this morning was fantastic, like much of Southern Utah the scenery is that of rock and cliffs. This old west view lasted roughly an hour, when we started a steep ascent into the most lush birch forest I've ever seen. We rapidly found ourselves over ten thousand feet looking out over expansive hills covered in towering green and yellow birch, giving way to the valley floor, and the cliffs thereof. The scene changed in almost an instant as a sudden black thunderstorm engulfed us. This was no ordinary thunderstorm like we had grown accustomed to over the past week, this was near chaos. Lighting striking trees within a stones throw, hail battering the car and wind bowing birch as fly rods with a heavy catch.
We emerged from the storm only a few minutes later, the sun again shining with the clouds breaking overhead.
Arriving in Capitol Reef National Park we were once again greeted by tall red cliffs, abstract hoodoos and crooked canyons. The valley floor was a stark contrast to the cliffs overhead. Orchards and grass, with shady trees and a winding stream. We made camp quickly as the storm we passed was approaching, and we could already feel the cold sting of the rain.
On our way into the park we passed a small town called Torrey Pines, and decided to search the town for books, as we have burned through the most of what library we brought with us. According to the locals the only place in town that might have anything is a small pyramid shaped house at the end of town called "The Robbers Roost". The place advertised itself as part coffee shop, part bookstore and part performance space. This definitely intrigued us. Unfortunately they did not live up to the mystery, or the hype. The coffee portion turned out to be nothing more then a pot in the kitchen, the books all regional information and the performance space was not to be found. We quickly made our exit, disappointed that we would have to wait until Moab to get our books, and started looking for a place to get lunch.
Down the street from the Robbers Roost we stopped at a small burger joint, had some nice lunch and made our way out of town towards our first hike in Capitol Reef.
Chimney Rock is one of Capitol Reefs most prominent landmarks, and thus a perfect subject for a hike. Chimney Rock is much like how it sounds, a tall rock perched on a larger house like plateau. The hike was a basic 3.5mi hike up to and around the cliffs. The first half of the hike was a series of switchbacks climbing roughly 600ft above the valley floor until it leveled off to a viewing area above Chimney Rock. Zach quickly noticed something in the opposite direction. A strange trick of the eye, almost like looking through a fish eye lens was the valley before us. The cliffs leaned back at an angle, while the valley floor sunk down in an arch to meet them at an opposing angle. This effect was similar to one of those magic leaning houses.
The final portion of the hike the rain finally came... And it came... And it came. We were soaked. The storm had finally caught us.
Driving back down the road towards the south end of the park we decided to do a relaxed walk through the pioneer trail, to see hound year old Fremont Indian petroglyphs, and the signatures of pioneers carved into the rock over 100 years ago. Along the way we took a small detour up to "the tanks" which turned out to be a series of cisterns high in the rocks above the canyon. Due to the rain these cisterns had an abundance of water, and a few had even overflowed, creating small pools of Pollywogs on the soft sand. We observed this for a short ten minute period, in which the water soaked into the sand leaving hundreds of Pollywogs to die. The circle of life.
Getting back to camp we decided to take advantage of one of the amenities of the park. Over. One hundred years ago pioneers settled in the valley and planted all varieties of fruit and nut trees. These trees still produce an abundance of fruit every year, which the park service allows visitors to pick and consume. We are here at peak apricot season. Apricots are my very favorite fruit, so I ate seven. Content with a free dinner we headed back to the tent, and called it a night. Tomorrow Moab, books, and the Colorado River.
MILEAGE:
Driven:
This trip-121.5
Total-1328
Walked:
This trip-6
Total-80
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