Cramming

With one of our touring days taken up with truck repairs (defective electrical component operating door locks, horn, turn signals, exhaust brake), we decided to fit in two short tours of Capital Reef NP after lunch.  Again, because of the heat, we took the truck.  This time we drove UT24 west to east across the park.  First stop was the school built by Mormon settlers.  This is part of their Fruita (named for the many fruit orchards) Settlement, most of which is located along the Scenic Drive (see Down To The Bottom blog).

It was very hot here and the school was locked.  We peeked in the windows and moved on

to the Petroglyph Panels, accessible by these wooden walkways.

A lot of the petroglyphs have eroded or broken away.

We were pulling out of the parking lot when Duane noticed another walkway.

This panel consisted of modern graffiti—Horace Pierce was here in 1901.

Returning to the truck we saw these (and other) mule deer.  They like to visit the orchards in the late afternoon.

A few more miles and we got a good view of Capitol Dome (which is only visible from UT24),

and Navajo Dome.

By this time we were ready for a cool treat.  We stopped again at Slacker’s Burger Joint (Down To The Bottom blog again), this time to sample their ice cream.  I tried a chocolate malt (pretty good even though I’m not fond of soft serve) and Duane enjoyed his hot fudge (hand dipped ice cream) sundae.  From there we went home for a few hours to cool off and rest before our next park visit.

About 7pm we embarked on something rare for us—an evening hike.  Off we went to the Sunset Point trailhead.  We managed to get a parking spot in the small lot, then started the .3 mile hike which led us up 600"’.

Views from the top—canyon on the north with a close up of the Fremont River,

and a long view,

east, (that little dot is a person)

south, with three people on the path we just took to get here,

and west with the sun setting through the plume of smoke from the many wildfires in California, Nevada, or/and northern Utah, depending on which way the wind is blowing.  The smoke is bad for air quality, but good for dramatic orange sunsets. (My camera makes the sky and horizon darker than they actually are.)

These smoke clouds had golden linings that I found particularly beautiful.

This is what I came to see.  I was amazed to find that most of the 38 people on the mesa top were turned toward the east presumably to watch the light on the canyon walls.

We were the first to leave, since we wanted to gain the truck before dark.  Most of the group was composed of a Zen group and were still meditating.

Pickleball in the morning.

Louise and Duane