Capital Reef National Park

Today we started the day off with a nice long sleep. Then we went to the Capital Reef National Park visitors center. There I got my junior ranger booklet. One of the requirements was to watch a movie. Conveniently it was starting in one minute so we rushed in there and sat down. The movie was really informative and interesting. At the end, a curtain behind the screen opened to show an amazing view of the park! So cool!

Then we went to the Gifford House in the Fruita part of the park, they make amazing pies with local fruit. On the way there we saw the fruit orchards on the side of the road and we all wanted some fruit because when the fruit is ready you can eat for free. Sadly the trees were only starting to bloom. When we got to the Gifford House we went in and we saw the pies and they looked so good. In one of the side rooms they had samples of salsa and cherry preserve. In all we bought a small ice cream, peach pie, salsa, sourdough bread, and cherry preserve. I think we were hungry!

Next we went to the 100 mile long waterpocket fold, which is a literal fold in the earths crust. We drove on a bumpy gravel road with gorgeous views until we got to the trail head of a hike that was one mile long one way to the water tanks. Me my brother and my mom all did it and my dad stayed back with Gunner. The hike was just walking along the bottom of a narrow canyon with high walls until we got to a really steep part which was .2 miles long. In those .2 miles I bet we gained 200 feet in elevation! We felt like we were off trail a bunch and there were a bunch of small lizards. At one part of the hike we went over a puddle and it was really hard. Then we went to the natural tanks that would normally have water but they were dry and full of sand. Then we started hiking back.

Next we started driving to a place that dad wanted to hike, Hickman Bridge. On the way we stopped at the Gifford house again to get another pie for desert(we ate the first one for lunch!). Me, my brother, and my dad hiked to the bridge and my mom stayed back with Gunner. It was really steep at the beginning but then it was pretty even for the rest of the hike. The rock bridge was amazing, and the hike back it was way easier. The view all over the Capital Reef was amazing. -(WT)