Capitol Reef National Park...April 29th & 30th ...First 2 days...

Day one from Torrey/Capitol Reef....
Due to a gusty bitter wind and the temperature not getting above 42F yesterday we hunkered down at home with the furnace on and did some general household chores....
But back out sightseeing again today...it is still very cold but hey it's spring and we are at high elevation but surrounded by amazing natural stunning beauty....
I will do my best to convey and describe how spectacular this area is and how VAST but I feel the photos and my descriptions will not even come close.....
After a visit to the National Park Visitor Centre for masses of info we set off on the Scenic Drive through the Historic Fruita Area....
Settled by the Mormons in the late 1800s it is called The Fruita Area funnily enough due to the settlers planting thousands of fruit trees !!!....sadly we are too late for the spring blossom of apple, pear, apricot, cherry and plum but the  light spring green of the leaves is beautiful and I have just realised I do not have a photo...!!!
Whilst visiting the National Park during June to October the fruit is free to pick....

Our first stop on the scenic drive is at The Grand Wash Trailhead which was a 1.5 mile dirt spur road from the main scenic drive... (we will do this hike later in the week) 
An interesting area and site of the Oyler Uranium Mines...
Early prospectors were hoping for gold and silver but found secondary grade uranium which they wore in pouches around their necks to guard against aliments !!! 

Because it was secondary grade uranium the mines were never very productive or successful....
The mines were sealed in 1993 and warning notices posted... 

Back on the Scenic Drive we stopped at various scenic viewpoints and then hiked the Capitol Gorge Wash Trail accessed again via a 2 mile dirt spur road....
The Gorge Trail was originally the main transit point for Mormon pioneers....
This view was taken from the steep trail leading up to the "tanks"...water pockets high up in the gorge....
We had a a lovely surprise while walking down through the gorge we encountered the Taiwanese couple we had met a few days ago in Kodachrome State Park....

A section of the Capitol Gorge dirt road....

Back onto SR 24 and one of the many rock formations we have seen today...
now heading home.... 

We will drive along this spectacular route many times over the next 5 days.....

Exiting the park on Day 1...
All of the local area is stunning and hard to know where park begins and ends....
The Waterpocket Fold one aspect of this spectacular area is 100 miles long !!!

Day 2.....
This "rock" is Capitol Dome named by early settlers as it reminded them of the Capitol Building in Washington DC....hence the National Park being called Capitol Reef...

Today our first hike is a 4 mile loop trail to Hickman Bridge....steep climbs on slick rock to a natural arch....

Hickman Bridge, a natural sandstone arch....130 foot span...not the easiest to photograph....

The top of Hickman Bridge...

The Fremont River and time for lunchtime sandwich...
We are surprised that the rivers/streams are quite small flowing we had thought the snow melt would have been more "robust" but we have noticed water seems to be in ample supply...the farmers are constantly watering the fields...this is a huge cattle area and we are guessing that the feed needs to be grown quickly through the warmer months....

Our next stop is at Goosenecks Overlook....
This is Sulphur Creek snaking it's way through the rugged canyon 800 ft below...

More than stunning and photo does not begin to reflect the sheer size and depth of the canyon..

This and previous photo taken from Sunset point near Goosenecks Overlook...
That's it for Day 2 although we are surrounded by the natural beauty all the way home....
I do hope that I have managed to convey some of the grandeur of this area...
More soon from...
The Rocking Campers....