Day 20 – Capital Reef National Park

We filled up the gas tanks in Moab and set out for I-70.  We drove about 40 to 50 miles west on I-70 and then dropped down on state highway 24 for our run to Capital Reef.  The weather woman on TV the night before said to expect wind gust up to 50 mph, and she was correct.

At one point the dust/sand was so thick that we could not see the Jeep behind Rick’s camper.  As we drove you could see the red dust/sand blowing across the desert.  I call it dust/sand because it is more sand than dust, as we know it.

We got to the park around 1:30 and found 2 sites.  We parked the campers, had a light lunch and went sightseeing.  Our first stop was the historic Gifford Home to see about getting some of the famous pies for which they are well known.  

Gifford Home

For those of you who don’t know about Capital Reef Park and the village of Fruita I will give a real short recap.  Where we are camped is a small oasis in the high desert.  Some Mormon settlers planted fruit trees in this valley and sold or traded the fruit to others for money or goods.  No more than 10 families lived in Fruita at any time.  The school they used is still standing – it was used until the start of World War II in 1941.  

Fruita School House

The fruit tree orchards are still here, some are blooming now.  When the fruit is ripe, the park service allows people to pick what they can eat in the orchard.  There are apple, peach, and cherry trees in several orchards.

Moving on, we stopped at the visitor’s center to watch a short film on the park.  We had seen a sign for Hickman Bridge on the way in, so we drove to the trailhead.  Rick, Dorrie, and I took the one-mile walk back to the natural bridge.  It was rough going in places, going up the mountain, just to go down and back up.  It was truly worth the walk and we were ready for home afterwards.

Hickman Land Bridge

It is currently snowing outside.  Going to warm up the pie while I can run the generator (we can run it from 8 a.m. to 10 a. m. and then from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m.)

So long for now.