Five years ago in April, we went to Zion and Bryce. This year we tackled the rest of the “Mighty 5” national parks in Utah: Capitol Reef, Canyonlands and Arches.
As we drove along from Las Vegas to Utah, we lost an hour crossing a time zone, but we gained views like this:
We stopped in at Austin’s Chuckwagon Deli in Torrey, Utah to pick up sandwiches for lunch.
A little more driving…
We split our pastrami sandwich and a chicken melt in front of the visitor center with this view:
The kids started on their junior range booklets before we watched the movie at the visitors’ center.
After watching the introductory movie, we drove along the scenic drive to the Gifford House. Capitol Reef is a unique national park in that they have preserved some of the historical buildings to show how people lived on the land.
I was relieved to see that there were still pies left in the pie cabinet. We opted for mixed berry. We also tried two small cups of homemade ice cream for $1 each; 1 strawberry and 1 vanilla.
I am pretty sure that I enjoyed the pie the most. As I grow older I find myself becoming more of a pie person than a cake person.
Our only hike in Capitol Reef was the Hickman Bridge Trail.
The trail is 1.8 miles RT and starts out along the Fremont River.
We were not sure what these “burnt” rocks were, but they looked like charcoal.
The weather was not too hot, but this shady resting spot was still nice.
There’s the bridge. Because there is rock right behind it, it is difficult to photograph.
View from the other side.
On our way back D spotted this little guy. He was only a few inches, but I zoomed in so he looks bigger.
On our drive back to the Visitors Center we stopped to see some petroglyphs.
During the summer you can pick your own fruit in the fruit orchards! That would have been fun, but I am glad we visited in the spring for cooler weather.
This was the Mormon settlers’ schoolhouse. Can you imagine?
Double-checking their junior ranger packets.
Because they were “severely under-staffed”, there was a group swearing-in ceremony.
We did the quick trip back to the town of Torrey to check into the Thousand Lakes Campground. When we pulled in D commented that it was not very “luxe”. Umm…I am not sure what he expected for $25! The tent sites were super close to each other, but the privacy walls were appreciated and we conveniently parked our car right next to our site.
I usually prefer to camp inside of the national parks we visit, but Capitol Reef’s campsite was first come, first serve. Since we did not arrive early in the day, I did not want to risk it after our debacle at Great Basin.
There was some nice scenery with the red rocks in the background.
Dinner was at nearby Red Cliff Restaurant. This place needs a serious makeover, but the service was very friendly and the pizza was good.
We devoured one large combination pizza. D said we needed to consume a lot of calories so we could keep warm at night. Mission accomplished!
There was a small playground where the kids were able to play. There was only one toilet and sink for the women, but there was a portable heater in the bathroom, so that was nice. The overnight low was around 40 degrees. The elevation was 6,800 feet, but it did not seem to affect any of us, so that was a relief.