Chimney Rock near the west entrance of the park on Hwy 24.
View of a canyon from Goosenecks Point trail.
View from Sunset Point trail.
An interesting set of branches at the picnic area in the historic Fruita district of the park.
Fruita picnic area.
The trees and greenery were a nice contrast to all the red and white sandstone rocks.
Fascinating 3 layers of rock.
Most rock at Capitol Reef is sedimentary, meaning it was formed in layers from loose materials like mud and sand. In the hill pictured above, the bottom layer is thin beds of reddish-brown rock known as shale which were formed from silt and clay that came to rest in lagoons, mud flats, and coastal flood plains.
The gray band of rock just above the reddish shale is a greenish-gray shale that was once volcanic ash. Its one part of the Chinle, a complex, 700-foot thick formation that is rich in petrified wood. The Chinle ascends to the base of the reddish wall.
View as we drove the dirt Capitol Gorge road.
Capitol Gorge hiking trail.
We drove to the end of the Capitol Gorge road, which is at the end of the park's scenic drive, then went on a 2.5 mile hike along the bottom of the gorge.
Along the hike we saw petroglyphs.
Dave and I are intrigued by the holes in the rocks.
We also saw the Pioneer Register, where pioneers carved their names and the date into the rock wall. Now there is a $250 fine if you do any carving!
After the long hike in the Capitol Gorge, we drove to the east side of the park and saw yet more impressive rock views.
This concludes our Grand Circle tour of national parks. All seven parks were so different, yet similar in that they all contained mammoth rocks. We saw very little wildlife in these parks, but we learned a lot about geology and the Colorado plateau. It has truly been a trip of a lifetime!
Tomorrow we will drive to Brigham City, Utah, on our way north and west back to Vancouver, Washington.
Carol, you have done a wonderful job showing us the Grand Circle! What a tough job, selecting just a few pictures out of 270 to show us the highlights! We certainly understand that task, as the digital cameras are so easy to use, and no extra cost for film.
ReplyDeleteWhat fascinating things you're seeing, the pioneer carvings, the rock formations... and all this with your home-on-wheels in tow. So you're seeing it from the comfort of your own home, but you're really there, too. This isn't TV. So glad Dave caught that tire in time. It'll surely be sad when this big trip has to come to an end. But we'll be very glad to have you back.
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