We drove to the park via Scenic Rt. 12 which lives up to its name and then some! Every few minutes we were greeted with majestic views filled with beautifully colored rock formations. After a while we entered the Dixie National Forest and the scenery became much more alpine in nature. Not having seen "real" trees in a while we were a bit surprised.
Once we arrived at Capitol Reef the trees were replaced by massive rock walls and canyons. Capitol Reef got it's name from the settlers who came upon it and likened it to a impassible coral reef in the ocean. The sheer size of the rocks, mountains, and canyons does not translate in pictures.
We drove along the scenic route which basically takes you along the dry river bed through the canyons and walls. The only problem with this is that there is yet another risk of flash flooding
on this route. At one point JO and I both felt a bit nervous when we realized how narrow the road was and how high the walls were. The rocks were just incredible.
After the drive we visited the orchards inside the park. It's kind of funny to think that among all of the rocks beautiful fruit orchards thrive. Usually you can pick the fruit for free but the orchards were closed for a few days. We were able to pick up some fresh apricots at the visitor center.
We spent the rest of the afternoon hiking on some paths and looking at the petroglyphs.
After we had had our fill we headed out to drive through the Utah desert in hopes of catching the sunset at Arches National Park.
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