Rain, rain, go away. Every afternoon we have had rain, not hard driving, just very overcast, dismal/gray. And gloomy. Some afternoons we remark that the sky looks like a November day in Ohio. Never the less, we decided to visit the park again yesterday, to see some of the sights that looked interesting from the previous visit.
Our first stop was to Gooseneck Point. Did not know much about it, it is located just inside the park's boundary, and I remember from the orientation movie that there were fantastic views. And we were not disappointed. We stared down 800 feet into the bottom of the canyon, saw and heard Sulphur Creek meandering through. Absolutely breathtaking!
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| Cute but very huge! |
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| Looking down 800 feet to the Sulphur Creek |
Visited Gifford House and Museum, was a tidge disappointed that it was a store to sell baked goods and such, not a museum per se as to historical things. This is an original home from 1880 when the Gifford family moved here to settle the area and start fruit orchards. There were 10 families and fruit farms were the mainstay, using the crops as barter for other food stuffs with other towns.
Then walked down to the Fremont River and awed over the views not just of the river but of the towering cliffs overhead.
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| Gifford House |
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| Lovely Fremont River |
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| Fruit orchards nestled into the towering cliffs of Capitol Reef |
One of two walks/hikes we wanted to do was stroll along the Grand Wash trail for a bit. With such amazement as to just how tall the walls of sandstone and limestone are - you just cannot put it into words! And some look like they will fall any minute - arching over you. Pictures do not reflect the formations and immenseness. This is an ancient river bed and along some of the walls of the cliffs you could see stones tucked into holes that were left from the water gushing by. By 3pm a thunderstorm was heading in so we got back to the campground just in time.
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| Grand Wash hike |
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| Walking on an old ancient river bed |
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| Towering sandstone cliffs |
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| Looking overhead of us |
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| Most holes had small stones in them |
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| These holes are about 20 feet up - see stones in holes? |
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| The magnitude of the rocks - amazing |
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| A different Chimney Rock |
We both agreed that Capitol Reef has the most WOW factor followed by Vermilion Cliffs National Monument of all the Colorado Plateau's 22 national parks/monuments in the area. We have only seen 14 of the 22 so maybe we will hold that judgment until all 22 are visited.
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