The third week of our Utah trip with the Herefords was focused on visiting Capital Reef National Park and the surrounding area. Capital Reef is a large “tall and narrow” park almost entirely surrounded by federal lands including National Forests, National Monuments, and BLM lands. Consequently, if seems like the wilderness goes on forever. The park is centered on a 90 mile long ridge in the earth’s crust known as the Waterpocket Fold. It is the North America’s largest monocline – “a step-like fold in rock strata consisting of a zone of steeper dip within an otherwise horizontal or gently-dipping sequence”. That was Wikipedia; my definition is “a folding of the earth’s crust vs. fracturing it”. Early settlers thought the white domes of the Fold looked like the US Capital Building and that the Fold was tall and acted like an ocean reef when trying to cross it. Hence the name Capital Reef.
We stayed in Torrey, a small town on the west side of the park. It was quite a contrast to the touristy city of Moab. It had a couple of restaurants, a general store, two gas stations, and not much else. Still, it has a rural charm and fabulous views from just about everywhere. The elevation of Torrey is 6800 feet vs. 4000 feet for Moab and the 10° temperature change that came with it was very welcome.
The national park features massive rock structures throughout the park that are dramatic and beautiful. The hiking was outstanding with a lot of variety. In the center of the park, near the Visitor Center, is where the settlement of Fruita was. It was established by a small group of Mormans in the late 1800’s. Fruit trees were planted and became the principal source of sustenance and revenue. Small groups of people lived there and tended to the orchards until the 1960’s. When the remaining parcels were purchased by the Government and the National Park established in the early 70’s, the NPS decided to continue growing fruit. To this day the orchards are thriving. You can buy fruit and fruit pies at the Gifford House that are simply delicious.
Unfortunately we were unable to drive the Cathedral Valley Loop due to road washouts, but we were able to do the full “Loop the Fold” which, as the name implies, encircles a large portion of the Waterpocket Fold. It was a nice 125 mile adventure through 4-wheel dirt roads and up the Burr Canyon switchbacks. The best part of the trip were the views of the Fold and the Headquarters Slot Canyon Trail.
We finished off the trip in Salt Lake City and got a chance to see the Mormon Temple Square, including the Tabernacle and the external reconstruction of the SLC Temple.
