So…. due to popular demand, I (Rachel) will be writing todays blog 🙂 I apologise now to all fans of Andrew’s blogs as mine will definitely be the dumbed down version!!! No big words and no arty farty descriptions of rocks and scenery! So here goes……
The alarm went off at 6.30 (thought this was supposed to be a holiday I hear some of you asking!!) Well, me too – but as we only had one full day to explore Capitol Reef we decided to make the most of it. After a quick brekky, we tootled off down the road in the RV to pick up our 4 Wheel Drive car for the day. After a brief overview of the do’s and dont’s of driving a 4WD, we headed off to explore.
Capitol Reef is the 2nd largest of the National Parks in Utah and having the 4WD allowed us to expore the “back country” which is not possible with normal cars (or RV’s!!). We headed along the Scenic Drive (more of that later) and then took a turn off the main drag onto one of the “unpaved” roads called Grand Wash Road. The road was no more than a dirt track which gave Andy his first chance to show off his “manly” driving skills 🙂 He was like a boy with a new toy!
At the end of the dirt track, the road became a hiking trail and so we set off on foot to explore the Grand Wash trail. The trail took us along paths inbetween immense rocks and through narrow canyons where the rock walls enclosed us from both sides. As the trail was quite a few miles long,we decided to walk for 30 mins in one direction and then turn round. However, 45 minutes later, we were still walking in the same direction, oblivious to the time due to the amazing sights we were looking at.
After an unscheduled toilet stop in the bushes (for me of course!), we headed back towards the car, still amazed by what we had seen.
Next on the agenda was truly an “off-road” driving experience. We headed towards the Cathedral Valley Road which is only accessible to 4WD vehicles. The whole loop is about 60 miles but we were just going to attempt to do about 20 miles of it. After exiting the main highway, we drove down a dirt and gravel road until we came to the Fremont River – at which point we actually had to ENTER the river, CROSS the river and then EXIT the river on other side!!!!!!! Scareeee!! It was probably only about 12 in deep at the deepest point but I still had visions of us being swept away and floating down the river, so I was very relieved when we got back on dry land!!!
We then headed up into what I can only describe as the strangest landscape I have ever seen. The dirt track wound it’s way through huge sandstone monoliths and a landscape that would seem more likely on the moon!
The roads were extremely bumpy and Andy (at my request!) put his foot down and gave the 4WD some welly! I should point out that we did not see a single other car along this road – it was like we really had been transported to the moon!
After about an hour, we turned off onto a road signposted Lower South Desert Overlook – interesting we thought! This brought us to a dead end as far as driving was concerned and so we grabbed our picnic from the car and set off on foot towards the overlook – and oh boy,what an overlook it was. I have never had a picnic anywhere quite like it!
After devouring our well-earned butties and crisps, we headed back to the car and set off on the return trip back to the main road. Andy by this time was definitely getting used to the thrill of 4-wheel driving and so we made it back in half the time it took us to get there!!!!!
We then made our way to a “ranger led” talk at an area of the park where there are many petroglyphs (I am sure Andy has already mentioned these in previous blogs but for those of you who are not aware, petroglphys are rock art carved into the rock surface by prehistoric people, in this particular instance the Fremont.) We also stopped off and walked around an area of the park which used to be called “Fruita”, a Mormon settlement dating from the late 1800’s, named due to the vast numbers of fruit trees that the settlers planted and which are still found here. It is permitted to pick and eat the fruit from the trees whilst you are in the orchards but think it was the wrong time of year for harvest time as we couldn’t see any – although we did see quite a few deer but they didn’t stay still long enough for us to eat them!!! It was a very peaceful and pretty area of the park and we enjoyed a relaxing walk amongst the beautiful trees and alongside the river, such stark contrast to the off-road dirt tracks and lunar landscape we had experienced earlier on in the day.
Starting to flag a bit now, due to the early start and also very hot weather, we got back into the car and drove leisurely along the Scenic Drive (about 17 miles) towards our final “off-road” drive along the Capital Gorge Road, another exciting experience, this time made even more so by the fact that I drove!!!!!!! Apart from nearly hitting a rock protruding into the road, we made it safely to the end of the trail and then after a brief stop, back along the Scenic Drive and then homeward bound to return the 4WD in one piece to its owners (after taking it to a car wash to remove the coating of dust!!)
Finally, to end the day, we found a lovely restaurant overlooking the rocks (aptly called Rim Rock Restaurant) and tucked into some juicy steaks before heading back to the RV where Andy is now (and has been for some time) snoring his head off whilst I write this blog!
So there you have it, my first (but hopefully not my last) blog. I will now go and join Andy (after giving him a swift poke to stop him snoring!!!)
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