Day 3: Bryce Canyon & Capitol Reef National Parks (Sunday)

We woke up early and broke down camp. We attempted to make oatmeal on the camp stove but neither one us were very impressed because Bree put too much water in it. “The bowls are deceivingly large,” she says, in her defense. We left the campground and headed to Bryce Point for the early morning shots. The ampitheater that Bryce Point looks out on can also be seen from Inspiration, Sunrise and Sunset Points. We left Bryce Point, went to Paria Point and then Inspiration Point. The winds were very strong, although the skies were clear, so we were still dressed in jeans and sweatshirts. There is one main road in the park that goes several miles south to Rainbow Point and then back up with vistas and overlooks along the way. At Rainbow point we took a short hike to see some Bristlecones. Unbelievably, it was even windier at the highest point of that trail. The forest was littered with felled trees, it looked like they had been purposely chopped down. On the way back North, we stopped at each vista overlook, hopped out to take a few pictures and then back in to the car. It was cold and windy everywhere, despite being a desert. There was plenty of vegetation, and you could clearly see it change as we drove north and changed elevations. We stopped at the Sunrise/ Sunset point to hit the general store and had pizza for lunch. It was quite crowded up there as the common park visitor doesn’t make it very far into the park.

We stopped by Ruby’s Inn, a tourist trap outside the park border, and hit the general store there for supplies. It was a huge store, with kitchy souvenirs and “must have’s.” We hit the grocery section and found only some of what we needed. Surprisingly they had an adapter that allowed chargers that normally plug into the wall to plug into your car. Given all our electronic devices, we made the investment. We also bought some food but couldn’t find a sponge. After the greasy hot dogs last night, we realized that rinsing alone would not clean our dishes. No sponges available, although several different brands of dishwasher detergent were on the shelves. They had medical supplies, sleeping bags, camping gear, lawn chairs, everything you could think of, but no sponge. We did find several souvenirs that had beehives and were labeled “Utah: the Beehive State!” So we figure that’s why the highway signs have beehives on them.

We got back into the car and headed the 3.5 hours to Capitol Reef National Park. Bree took some anti-nausea medicine and promptly dosed off. Mike stopped every mile or two at vistas to catch some shots. Our poor little car got quite the workout going uphill and downhill the whole time. We pulled into Capitol Reef in the afternoon and passed several attractions (Twin Rocks, Chimney Rock, etc) on our way to the visitor center. As we stopped in, the rangers told us to hurry to get a campsite before they were all full. We did and found a nice one right by the restrooms and water. You could easily fit two cars in to each camp space and there was grass to set the tent up on. After we set up our tent we went back up to the visitor center. We got maps, looked at the exhibits and asked the rangers some questions. We had some daylight left so we headed back up the main road to see the attractions we missed. We saw Twin Rocks, Chimney Rock and the Castle, all look exactly like their namesakes. We decided to take a short hike and went to Sunset Point and took some pictures up there. It is such a great landscape, all red, orange and brown, layers and layers of rock. The layers of rock go in all directions, some crumbling, some smooth and every texture in between. As we walked along Sunset Point, Bree noticed that walking on the broken pieces of rock sounded like walking across broken plates. The top layer of rock in that area is clay, molded into large flat pieces that break into smaller pieces. From there we drove along a dirt road and took a short hike up to see the Goosenecks. Goosenecks are when twists and turns in the rivers and creeks loop so much they almost touch each other, looking like a goose’s neck. We headed back to our campsite and to make some spaghetti. As great as our campsite was, we realized it was missing some amenities. We had to pack out all trash and could not wash our dishes in the sink. We were allowed to dump “gray water” into a large washing sink but could not wash dishes in it. There were no showers and large signs that warned against washing of any kind in the bathroom. Bree ignored it and washed her hair in the sink. It dries so fast now that it is short and Bree is still surprised at how tangled it can get being only a few inches long. While Bree was illegally bathing, Mike started the camp stove, and having learned from the night before, managed to singe only the hair on one finger. Bree says he’s no longer allowed to operate the camp stove. As we were setting up camp for the night, we discovered the (rechargeable) flashlight we brought was going dead and the lantern we borrowed soon followed. So we decided to lay about in the tent, with the intention of getting up to go to a ranger talk at 9pm. Mike fell asleep at 7:30pm; Bree woke him up when it got dark out to get changed for bed and actually in a sleeping bag.