It was a capitol time!

It was a short and burrrrrocious, but great trip to Bryce Canyon! Our next destination was an under-rated and little known National Park called Capitol Reef. Located in South Central Utah, it is a geological feature called a waterpocket fold, that is full of colorful canyons, arches,  monoliths, and other interesting features.

Again the spawns were the scouting party and found a wonderful spot on a BLM road just outside of a small town named Torrey and just a couple of miles from the park entrance. The site was situated on a small hillock overlooking a canyon with long range views of the park.  As usual we parked the camper and did a sweep of the site to make sure there was nothing bad for frankie to eat and to get a lay of the land. During our sweep we were delighted to stumble upon  a geocache in the rock formation next to our site. Afterwards we fired up the drone to get a birds eye view of our surroundings and get some pics of the sunset.

Afterward, Kepler and I made the short trip back to to Torrey for firewood and stumbled onto this little gem, a stretchy poo guy! It did not go home with us!

When we arrived back at camp, dinner was made, cards were played, then beds were made. The following morning we were going to start with a hike to Hickman Bridge but it was pretty fridged so we rearranged the plans a bit and decided to do our two scenic drives first from the warmth of the truck. The first drive was  Grand Wash, a narrow canyon that wound its way through the landscape, and the second was Capitol Gorge. Both roads were flanked by colorful sheer walls and ended at trailheads leading to arches.

The morning chill started to subside and we headed back through Fruita, the picturesque old mormon pioneer settlement near the visitor center amazed at the groves of fruit trees in the middle of the arid landscape.
We hopped out briefly to see the roadside petroglyphs before making our way to our day’s hike to Hickman Bridge. The hike to Hickman bridge is easy to moderate and relatively short. It ends at an enormous natural bridge. Along the way we spotted a mountain goat and her kids, Frankie’s hooved brethren. 

After our short hike there was plenty of daylight remaining, so we packed up camp, hitched up the tray and hit the road. Our next destination was only an hour and a half away, leaving us plenty of daylight after we arrived! As usual the kids left first to scout out a place to park, while we lumbered along with the trailer.

Next up: Goblin Valley!