Capitol Reef NP part two

 

Sunday June 16, 2024

As I stated yesterday, this is a very rural isolated area, the Capitol Reef National Park is about the only point of interest as far as I can tell. And so it is that we have but one event planned, a mostly driving tour of the park.

We were disappointed to learn that the eight-mile scenic road is closed for the entire 2024 summer season. We soon found that Hwy 24 which runs through a valley in the rock formations is quite spectacular. 

Not having seen the park controlled scenic drive I can’t say for sure, but I can’t imagine it being any more picturesque than Hwy 24. If I let my skeptical side rule, I’d say the park service created their scenic drive just so they could charge you to drive it. Just sayin!

The geography of the park was created though natures plan very similar to all the other parks we’ve visited. Over 250 million years the sea’s, swamps and rivers rose and fell depositing sediment across the land. 50-70 million years ago the uplift occurred when earth’s tectonic plates were actively moving. Erosive wind and weather shaped the uplifted rock into what we see today. I wonder what’s coming next?

All the hiking trail parking was full, in the few spots we stopped at we were immediately attacked by swarms of biting nats. That really put a damper in any thoughts we had of hiking.

One point of interest within the park is a preserved fruit orchard and its associated buildings. It was created by the Mormon’s in the 1880’s. The park service continues to cultivate the orchards and you are free to eat the fruit in season.

There is evidence of humans living at Capitol Reef dating back to 1300CE. What is CE you may ask? For the new social order, it is the same as AD or After Death, no religious connotations allowed! When did our leaders sneak this into the vernacular? 

Sorry, I’ve diverted from my subject. I mentioned ancient people living here because they left petroglyphs carved into and painted on rock walls. The pictures here and all the ancient people’s drawings we have seen everywhere from New Mexico to Arizona to all the National Parks here in Utah are exactly the same. 

They are dominated by men with a triangular shaped upper body, often with a round helmet or antenna sticking out of their head. They sometimes have a swirling circle next to them, no one knows what this means, is it perhaps the ancient’s way of describing someone suddenly appearing out of the sky?

A long ways to walk to share drawing techniques.

 How do you suppose that is possible that people who lived hundreds of miles apart, often separated by hundreds of years and of different ethnicities are carving the same picture? 

Millie also noted that in no area have we seen any petroglyph carvings of women. What’s wrong with these people, why no stone age playboy petroglyphs!

It’s all a mystery!

PS: When we got back to the town of Torres, we had an exceptionally good pizza as a Father’s Day meal. 

PSS: Filled the truck with gas here in Torres, $4.59 a gallon