May 18 - Capitol Reef National Park

Got an early start this morning. Cool, sunny with some fluffy clouds, perfect day for hiking. Stopped at the Visitors Center for some hiking advice (I've been here and hiked here before but on the longer trails, was looking for some a bit less intense today.)

The trails to Navaho Knobs and Hickman Bridge (both great places/hikes) were closed due to a rock slide very near the trailhead.

We decided on Cassidy Arch -- a pothole arch. The trail starts after a short drive up the Grand Wash. There were some deer (yes, scruffy ones) standing near the turnoff into the Wash. And there was an old Uranium Mine which we had to stop and take a look at. (Lots of old uranium mines in this part of UT).















Stopped at an Arch viewpoint from the road (600ft below the arch).

Then off to the trailhead parking. Not many people here yet. The short walk up the wash had some great formations in the rock -- ones to peer thru, peer over, lay-in and even sit in.

The trail is 1.5 miles and 600ft+ of elevation. It starts with a series of steps (of various sizes, shapes) along the side of the rock formation. (Its a straight drop if you mess up). The views are tremendous with every step up I take.

It finally levels off and the trail gets wider. For most of this, the arch is not visible. But eventually, it appears....and disappears again.

Finally, we get to the slickrock portions and luckily slickrock is actually pretty sticky because there were some steep ups. But the daredevil that I am tried to get up a section that was just a bit too steep and ended up sliding back down on my backside.

But we made it to the arch. Pretty cool as you look down on at it because it formed as a hole in the rock.

I could've stood on the top of the arch but I did that once before and its a little intimidating for me (once is enough). We took a rest enjoying the day before we headed down to a overflowing parking area. (I'm so glad we left early, we only had to share the arch with a handful of folks.)

The next stop was lunch at the entrance to Capitol Gorge. Didn't walk the gorge as originally planned, getting late and about time to head to Bryce Canyon. Took a quick stop at the Goosenecks (another gorge overlook) and walked the Sunset Point trail -- great overlooks during the day, definitely would be a great hike at Sunset. Oh yea, we saw this squirrel/rodent; it has a long skinny tail and it had some hops. It was leaping up rocks like a kangaroo. Pretty amazing to watch.

On the way to Goosenecks, had to stop for a stunningly red blooming cactus called Claret Cup!

We took Hwy 12 down to Bryce Canyon. This is a Scenic Byway and it certainly lives up to that. Great views of the Grand Staircase areas, mountains (summit at 9600ft - yes, snow) and a drive over the Hogsback (one of a few times I actually have had a death grip on my steering wheel). This road is 2 lanes with no room to pull-off as it is over a very narrow section of rock (the hog's back). There are a few pull-offs for viewing. On both sides are drop-offs of 2000ft. The views are stunning. (thanks to the CCC folks who completed the road in 1935!)

Took a quick trip to Fairyland Point just outside the Bryce Canyon gate in the evening. It was a little too dark for a good view BUT we did see a pronghorn antelope on the way out.