Mr. Bichler: Colorado/Utah-Chapter 4: Capitol Reef NP

Today we visited one of the lesser known national parks, Capitol Reef. Remnants of the bottom of a long ago sea that covered most of Utah and south to New Mexico this park was rich in geologic features and remnants of the ancient people that lived here.

We entered the park from the east and our first stop was a small adobe house that was home to an early circa 1880s Mormon settler.

Next was a moderate hike to Hickman's Bridge. Moderate may have aptly described this hike if it had not been 101 degrees. What seemed a killer hike in the beginning was well worth the sweat, and yes maybe even a few tears, when we reached the natural bridge. We lounged around trying to take creative photos and observed the acrobatics of a small squirrel that appeared to have been bitten by a spider as we watched his spiderman-like moves as he scaled the steep canyon walls. Cloud cover and the fact that most of our hike out was downhill made for a much more pleasant exit.

Capitol Dome

Hickman Bridge in the distance (right center)

This squirrel was not the acrobatic one, this squirrel seemed to enjoy something deep within the cactus

Hickman Bridge up close

Along the way to Fuita, the town within the park, we stopped at the Fruita School House, the only public building in the town during the late 1800s. Since all 5 in our group are educators we especially enjoyed reading the Rules that were displayed in the school house. Did you know that a male teacher could court a lady once a week but only if he attended church. He could court her twice if he went to church twice a week. No mention of any rules applying to female teachers.

This was a timed photo and the post I sat my camera on was a little crooked, not the School House!

Petroglyphs were abundant in the park and are thought to be from 300 to 1300 A.D. or earlier. The stories told on the rock walls dipicted maps, clan symbols, animals and calendars from ancestors of the Hopi, Zuni, and Paiute tribes.

These appear to be people, we were pretty far away.

These were described as bighorn sheep

This is as close as we could get to the petroglyphs. Thank goodness for a good zoom lens. They were above the M-shaped cut out. Evidently there were drawings on that section as well but it broke loose in 1985.

We stopped at the west side Visitors Center and then spent some time in an apricot orchard. You could eat as many apricots as you liked while in the orchard and only had to pay for the ones you carried out with you. I ate all of mine!

Tonight we stayed in the cutest little cabins. They were charming and very comfortable with some great evening views. Sorry that we only stayed here one night.