Hiking the Reef

That title might make you think we are near the ocean.  But I don't think it is possible to hike that sort of reef.  We are in Utah, exploring Capitol Reef National Park.  We have done 3 hikes on the Waterpocket Fold.  That is an uplift revealing "a nearly complete set of Mesozoic-era sedimentary layers," according to the park's Geology information.

Our first hike was a 3 1/2 mile hike to Cohab Canyon.  This is the backdrop for the Visitor Center.

Many of the cliffs are covered with these holes--called water pockets.  These holes are caused by water and wind.

This canyon wasn't quite as narrow as it appears. 

We didn't walk up this narrow side canyon.

Our second hike was to Hickman Bridge.  A bridge looks like an arch but it is carved out by water, rather than wind and sand.

The rocks in Capitol Reef come in many different colors.  The deep red stone is rich in oxidized iron.  Here is a hill of light pink stone.  We saw this as we were driving through the park. 

This was our view of that mountain as we climbed toward Hickman Bridge.

In places we found trees for some welcome shade.

One of  our views from under Hickman Bridge.

The center of the bridge is really narrow, considering the heavy rock it is made of.

Here are two views looking through the bridge.

Finally, a view of the Fremont River that carved the bridge. 

More interesting shapes on the landscape.

Our third hike was through the Grand Wash, a gorge that cuts its way through the upper portion of the Waterpocket Fold. Though the trail is long--3.5 miles one way--it is almost level, with only a 200 foot change in elevation. The trail was the busiest we have seen here in the park.

One hiker who passed us asked if we would like him to take a picture of the two of us together in the Wash.

Looking up at the sky.

I'm not sure how these plants get enough sun to make chlorophil in the bottom of the wash, but they sure add to the beauty of the place. Notice the windows--holes--in this rock formation.

If we didn't know that we could get out the other end of the Grand Wash, we might wonder where we were going or if we would ever find out way out.

John sure looks small against the massive wall.

Here are some more water pockets. If you look closely, you can see some the smaller stones in some of the holes or pockets. They must have been carried by the water rushing through the gorge.

To really get a perspective on the size of everything in the Grand Wash, look closely at this photo.  There are two people walking away from the camera just under the right side of the overhang at the back of the photo.

Capitol Reef

The geology in Utah creates many beautiful and unusual rock formations. After leaving Bryce Canyon, we came to Torrey where we have driven the scenic road and hiked during the past week. We have been here before, but it was still worth it to spend time this year. The formations are different than we saw in Bryce. Not as many hoodoos.

We were interested in the steaks of color running down the cliff faces. I think the dark color is called varnish.  I wonder if the light streaks are dissolved light-colored rock.

Here you can see the many different layers of rock running across the landscape.

On Tuesday we hiked the 2.2 mile Grand Wash.  That make a 4.5 or so mile round trip.  We were dwarfed by the high rock walls in the wash.

We found this free-standing rock in the wash.  Thought it looked like a space ship.  Are we sure we are in Utah and not the weird part of New Mexico?

John climbed up into this small cave for a rest.

The national park includes the early settlement of Fruita where Mormon pioneers planted several orchards.  Visitors were able to pick the ripe apricots while we were there.  They are charged only a small amount for every pound of fruit.  The apricots were so small, we passed on picking any.

It isn't often you see a marmot crossing.

Capitol Reef is named for a large white stone formation early explorers thought looked like the dome of the U.S. Capitol.  The white formation on the left here may be that dome.

On the 4th of July we hiked the 1 mile trail to Hickman Bridge.  Not far from here at Arches National Park there are lots of bridges.  There aren't so many here but we found here.

Nearby, John noticed another small arch or bridge.

As we headed back to our truck we walked up this staircase.  It looks a lot more like stairs then the Grand Staircase we drove down last week.

Going Down the Stairs

Geologists describe the many rock layers visible in Utah as the Grand Staircase--a place where layers of rock are like the chapters in a huge history book that describe how Earth developed.  It is the world's most complete sequence of sedimentary timespans from sediments built up in lakes, inlands seas, swamps, deserts and forests.  (Thanks to the National Park Service Bryce Canyon brochure.)

When we left Panguitch near Bryce, we were near the top of the staircase.  We drove downhill through the pink, gray, white, chocolate and vermillion cliffs to get to Torrey and Capitol Reef National Park.  From here we will go further down and south to Blanding, Utah, then around the Grand Canyon, to Flagstaff and Gold Canyon.  The multi-layers of rock on the staircase reach the bottom of what is visible at the base of the Grand Canyon.

I could title this blog "Beautiful, Incredible Utah--Part 2."    Below are photos of the many layers from outside Panguitch and heading south.

In places the roadway was very narrow with no shoulder.  Nowhere for the timid flat-lander to drive.  Our lifetime in Colorado made it a fairly easy trip for John.

Sometimes it looked like we were really in a desert.  Other times we were in a pinon-juniper forest.

We may have been going down the staircase but in places we had to go up to get over or around the rocky hills.  The view could be expansive.  We went up to 9600 feet above sea level before heading down to Torrey and Capitol Reef where we are at 6800 feet.  We saw lots of 8% and 10% grades.  No place for RVers who are overloaded.

A blog on the beauty of Capitol Reef is coming by tomorrow.