Utah has many faces. So far, we’ve seen the spires and intricate fractal elegance of the Canyonlands, the graceful shapes and mysterious fins of Arches, plus the sweeping deserts and red rocks of Moab. Today, we ventured to Capitol Reef National Park and saw another face of this incredible state.

Like Arches and the Canyonlands, sandstone is the predominant geological material at Capitol Reef. The difference is that things seem to be eroding differently there. Massive walls of cream and orange stone rise out of fluted piles of pebbles and ash-fine sand. The rock formations resemble cathedrals with flying buttresses and palaces with multi-spires edifices. Stripes of white and sage green interrupt the oranges, peaches, and tans. Narrow rivers the color of masala chai tea meander and skip through the narrows and past petroglyphs thousands of years old. Indeed, “the Reef” exudes majestic beauty. Before visiting the park, I wondered where the park got its name. Did the area once contain a massive aquatic reef that was buried/petrified millions of years ago? While there, I found myself asking, “Where’s the reef?!” (It turns out that the word “reef” was a word early settlers used to describe the giant impassible ridges that run along most of the length of the park.)

This place has so many colors, textures, and formations.

We got a very late start this morning, since we opted to catch up on some sleep. We joked that we chose the most spartan hotel room we’ve stayed in to do this. I think we woke up bedbug-free, but I guess we’ll see.

We got to Capitol Reef at around 1:30 and decided to take the scenic drive through the park. The area near the Visitor Center is an old Mormon settlement named Fruita. It wasn’t hard to see where the name came from. The area is full of fruit orchards with twisted trees in neat lines. When the apples, pears, and peaches are in season, you can pick and eat what you like. We didn’t see any fruit left to try and moved on.

The scenic road was 20 miles round-trip and showcased lots of this type of scenery.

We drove through an area where brown stones sparkled in the sun like they were covered in sequins. Then we took a (very) dusty dirt road to a trail head. We chose the Grand Wash Trail that wound through a narrow canyon with tall sandstone walls on each side. The walls were pock-marked with holes of different sizes and depths. Billy was happy to climb into one and pose for more fun photos. It’s becoming a thing!

Seek and find the Billy!

The trail ended at an interesting viewpoint that showcased several pools (called “tanks”) and two rather breast-like mountain formations. One even had a nipple. And it wasn’t just our dirty imaginations. The mound is actually called Fern’s Nipple. A woman just ahead of us on the trail was educating her two tweenage sons about the breasts in the mountains. They seemed pretty disgusted with the conversation. “TMI Mom!!!”

This is the largest of the tanks. Billy is also in this photo. Can you find him?

Not the best angle of Fern’s Nipple, but you get the idea!

We headed home after a quick look at Sunset Point, a scenic overlook. The crowds of loud and annoying people got in the way of enjoying the somewhat lackluster view. We didn’t even stay 20 minutes to watch the sun actually set.

Tomorrow we are taking the scenic  route to the Bryce Canyon area. Hopefully we can get a hike in along the way! Until then…bye bye!

Queen Chrysalis gives Capitol Reef National Park two hooves up. The white rock that you see here is called Navaho sandstone. It often forms immense white domes like you see on the left. That formation is called Capitol Dome for its resemblance to the United States capitol building.