Wednesday, 1 May 2024
“If you wish to make an apple pie from scratch, you must first invent the universe.” Carl Sagan
To find a traffic light requires a drive of 78 miles.
First of all, let’s get to the obvious. ‘Capitol Reef’ in the middle of the dessert? Where did this name come from? It’s almost complicated. The signature feature at the park is a 100 mile long monocline (fold)in the earth’s crust. Back to geology, this fold pushed the crust up 2000 feet. Early explorers from the 1800s and potential settlers who were previously mariners, referred to this as a ‘reef’.
Jump ahead to 1937, when the area was to be designated as a National Monument, a large white formation reminded people of the capitol building. Thus the name ‘Capitol Reef’ National Monument.
In the 1880s, Mormons established a community here. The town was called Fruita, named for the fruit orchards they planted and harvested along the base of sandstone cliffs by the Freemont River.
In the community of Fruita, the Giffords were the third family who settled and planted orchards, which are still maintained today. Until 1969, The Gifford family made fruit pies which were sold to visitors passing through the area, which had become a national monument in 1937. The pie shop remains open and pies are made at the Broken Spur Restaurant in Torrey. Of course we stopped there to have an apple pie and a strawberry/rhubarb pie.
A robin and a towhee wait to provide clean up patrol for those Gifford pies, still produced and sold.
The Gifford property was sold to the National Park Service in 1969 (that’s almost 100 years after it was established). The NPS then designated the entire area as a National Park in 1971.
Now filled with a fruit pie, we were off. A short ride into the park, brought us to an area where mining had taken place in the 1950s.
Although a national monument area at that time, the government was seeking uranium and had found a small supply in this area. Today, an abandon uranium mine cannot be entered unless you happened to be a bat. Evidently, radioactive bats are acceptable but radioactive people are not.
Lois, standing in front of the mine, did not spot any bats.
Claret Cup or King Cup cactus beginning to bloom
Great Basin Sand Verbena
Prickly Pear Cactus – the most common in this area
Stansbury Cliffrose
With a slight chance of afternoon rain, we ignored the warnings, and drove into the Capital Gorge. Yes, another unauthorized off road route. With AI and modern technology used in cars today, we hope this rental car cannot give a report when it has been returned.
And this little piggy was going to market………………..
At road end, the trailhead allows you to continue on foot. So we did. This particular route was an old wagon trail route – between rock cliffs used for protection. Basically a washed out riverbed, there was vegetation on the shady side. This hiking area is closed off when it rains.
I have to believe it was in better shape as a wagon passageway, as years of weather and wash have altered the path.
Graffiti in the late 1880s, has morphed into a treasured historical artifact. For some of us, gazing up at these carvings promoted a discussion of what kind of tools were used and how long it took to do the carvings. Most of them were very well printed. Further, you cannot tell by these photos, but the carvings are at least 20+ feet from ground level, which meant the ground had settled or had been washed away to its current level since the late 1800s.
Reverse hike back to the car, and to the main road, we continued to drive to the end of the paved Scenic Drive – reversed again to head back out to the park entrance. Another day filled with wonder and incredible scenery.
The Road Goes on Forever 