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| Capitol Gorge Trail |
After camping near the Freemont River (which was fun, yet a
little strange to be camping under large trees and on lush grass in the middle
of the desert), I headed down the scenic drive and continued onto a dirt road
that led to the Capitol Gorge trail.
This was the trail that the pioneers first cleared the boulders out of,
and then drove their wagons across. The
trail is a fairly narrow path between two impressively tall and sheer canyon
walls. It was amazing to get to walk the
same path they took and imagine what it was like for them. A short way down the trail you get to the
Pioneer Register. This is where the
pioneers would stand on their wagons and carve their names into the canyon
wall. I enjoyed gazing at these names
from so long ago and imagining what their stories were.
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| Pioneer Register |
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| On the trail to Cassidy Arch |
After walking in the pioneers’ footsteps, I headed back to
the scenic drive and found another dirt road that took me to the Cassidy Arch
trail head. This arch was named for
Butch Cassidy because it is rumored that he used the Grand Wash as a hideout. The hike was beautiful and full of great
views of both white and red rock formations.
There was also one section of reddish-orange rock that was rolling and
full of tiny holes. So unusual and
beautiful! At the end of the hike, I was
confused because I couldn’t find the anymore cairns, yet did not see the arch
either. Then I looked down and there it
was! The hike ended up on top of the
arch!
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| Cassidy Arch |
After hiking, I drove around the park a bit, just soaking up
the gorgeous and unusual scenery. It is
easy to see why it was named Capitol Reef.
You really can tell that it used to be the sight of an inland sea! It really does look like an ocean that was
frozen and fossilized. A fossilized sea,
how strange and cool!
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