Capitol Reef Day 2

We woke up pretty early and found that the day was much colder. We didn't want to do a frigid hike, so we settled on a scenic drive. Just a few blocks from our hotel is the beginning of the Cedar Wash Road. It runs a long the northern border of the park for about 50 miles. We had no intention of going that far, though. We wanted to drive 17 miles out to two features in the park that most people never see: The Temple of the Sun and the Temple of the Moon.

We'd read that a high-clearance vehicle was necessary to make this drive, but we weren't too worried. The road was windy and rocky, but the drive was fine. It was just the washboards that shook the fillings out of our teeth that made it rough. It took almost an hour to get to the junction, but it was only a mile from there to the temples.

We started at a low hill called Glass Mountain. It only stood about twelve or fifteen feet high with a small diameter, but it was shiny and sparkly in the morning light. It looked like thousands of pieces of glass all heaped into one solid pile. We climbed to the top and watched it glitter and gleam as we scaled it.

Glass Mountain was really sparkly, just not in pictures.

The Temple of the Sun is behind us. Temple of the Moon is on Dad's right shoulder.

We couldn't capture the sparkle.

Next we drove over to the Temple of the Moon. It is a huge rock feature that rises into the crystal blue sky. The boys had fun climbing up the lowest part, while Mom and Dad walked back further and further trying to get the entire thing in a photograph. It looks much smaller than it is in the pictures because of the way we were standing.

It was nice to be all by ourselves.

The Temple is really massive. See the boys on the bottom left?

They came skiing down and luckily survived.

The Temple of the Sun is really massive! That didn't stop the boys from trying to scale it, though. They made it up the soft sandy part, but there was no way they were climbing the sheer face of it. Since it rises hundreds of feet into the air, they didn't even try. Instead, they came surfing down on the  seat of their pants. They were dirty, but giggling, when they got to the bottom. Later, they declared this the best part of the day.

We took a bunch of pictures because the day was so crisp and pretty.

The ride back was much better and the washboards didn't seem so bad. It had warmed up a bit, too. We stopped for a hike around ten o'clock called Grand Wash. This is one of the main hikes in Capitol Reef. It is a high-walled canyon, but it is not very narrow. This disappointed the boys, but they still enjoyed climbing in little crevices and scaling the steep walls whenever they could. We walked a little over a mile into the wash before we turned around and headed back.

The Grand Wash hike was nice and easy.

The boys like to hide in cubby holes throughout the park.

Dax found a cool spot.

There are even holes big enough for Dad!

We loved the easy hikes in Capitol Reef.

The boys like to look like they are holding up rocks.

Here they are selling the pose.

Dad's feet are dangling through this small hole.
These nooks were everywhere.

Seth had to climb up everywhere the boys did.
Sometimes getting him down was the hard part.

Next we had lunch at the picnic area just past the Visitor Center. Mom made sandwiches, and we ate on a picnic table. Then we walked over to the bridge to play pooh sticks, but the water wasn't really deep enough. So we stopped at the Visitor Center to turn in the boys Junior Ranger booklets.

The large grassy area has this cool bridge over the river.

The water wasn't deep enough to play pooh sticks, though.

Dax loves the time we spend exploring, and not hiking!

When did Seth start looking like a big kid? This makes me a little sad!

Our big hike of the day was Hickman Bridge. This is the most popular hike in Capitol Reef, and we've never been able to do it before due to a rockfall last time we were here. The hike is only about two miles roundtrip, but it is uphill most of the way. This trail was much more crowded, but we found a neat little arch along the way, and the boys enjoyed scrambling around the rocks. The bridge itself was crowded, but still beautiful.

Mom and her boys on the Hickman Bridge trail.

This cool natural bridge was fun to climb on.

Here's a different view of the same bridge.

It's difficult to see Hickman Bridge over Mom's left shoulder.

We really enjoyed walking through the bridge.

This is the view on the other side of Hickman Bridge.

We have a million pictures of the boys in some sort of hole on every hike in Capitol Reef. 

I love moments like these where Dax and Seth are friends and not enemies. 

We stopped at the petroglyph wall on the way back to the Gifford Farm, where we were hoping to buy some peach pie. We shouldn't have stopped, though, because they sold the last pie as we walked up. So we played a little game of tag, and the boys ate ice-cream.

We spent a few minutes looking at the petroglyphs, but the boys were starting to wear out. 

The boys liked their ice cream cups.

Mom tried to smile when they told us they were sold out of pie.

Dad played tag with the boys.

The boys can't catch Dad in tag. They just wait until he collapses.

We just had one more hike to do before dinner. We drove to Sunset Point and the Goosenecks Overlook. This hike is only a third of a mile, but it proved to be too much. Everyone was tired and surly, and though we made it to the end, we probably should have skipped it. We decided that we'd pushed pretty hard for the day and we were going back to the hotel early after a quick dinner. We ate at Slackers again in Torrey, and the food was even better. This time Mom ordered deep-fried cheesecake with cinnamon ice cream. She even let Dad have a bite or two! It was nice to be back and get the boys in the shower by 7 o'clock, too.

The Goosenecks Overlook has a steep drop!

"Take a picture of me jumping, Mom!"

Dad mastered the art of hovering.

Mom and Dad posed at little Grand Canyon.

We really liked the food at Slacker's.

Capitol Reef Day 1

We took a much smaller trip this year for Spring Break (at least compared to Orlando last year!) We decided to spend two days in Capitol Reef and two days in Goblin Valley. We got an early start Monday morning and arrived at our first stop a little before 11 o'clock. Dad had searched on the Internet and found an alpaca ranch. The lady was offering free tours with an appointment, so Dad made one. No one was too sure what to think. But we drove up to the house and Dad knocked on the door. The nicest lady, a retired educator, came to the door and asked the boys what they'd like to do. They decided on feeding the alpacas and gathering some eggs from the hens.

First, they had to use a pitchfork to get the hay in the small wagon. Then they had to brave the two massive dogs and enter the alpaca enclosure. There 23 excited alpacas clustered around, but Seth went right in pulling the wagon. Mark hung back a little, and Dax was even more uncertain. But the dogs seemed friendly enough, and the alpacas were only loosely interested in the hay.

Mark and Dax were very excited to use pitchforks.  

Seth had no fear. He walked right through the alpacas.  

The alpacas liked Seth, too!

Next, the lady helped the boys fill buckets of pellets. The alpacas were much more excited for this treat, and several put their heads right in the buckets. Dax even lost his bucket to one crafy animal, who wore it like a necklace, munching pellets gleefully. We fed both the females and the males, and even helped her get one of the males back in the correct pen.

Dax was not sure about the alpacas.

This alpaca loved taking the bucket away from Dax.  

Mark got pretty brave and fed the alpacas right out of his hand. 

Dad had the most fun!

Mark and Dad loved feeding the males!

Mom even got a chance to feed them. It was SO windy!!

We laughed at how confident Seth was as a farmer. 

Finally, she brought out the carrots. Suddenly, everyone had a friendly alpaca or two (or three or four) crowding around to be fed. The boys giggled while the alpacas munched. When the carrots were gone, she led us to the chicken coop. The boys gathered eight eggs and were very surprised when she handed them the carton and told them to take them home. They were really grateful, though, and thanked her over and over. We spent an awesome hour at the Circle Cliff Alpaca Ranch, and the boys said it was the best part of the day (and we weren't charged a dime).

Seth was the first to feed the carrots. No fear in this kid!

Mom had fun taking pictures of these furry guys. 

This black alpaca loved Dad. They became buddies. Maybe it was because Dad fed her 15 carrots. 

The alpacas were super curious and liked to get really close to the camera.

We drove into the Visitor Center and Mom made lunch while the boys watched the park video for their Junior Ranger badges. We had sandwiches in the parking lot and drove down to our first big hike. We'd chosen Cassidy Arch, which is over three miles roundtrip. It is also steep for the first mile with some serious drops off the side of the trail. But the boys were great and hiked without complaint or incident.

We had a great time visiting this park again.

When we arrived at the arch we were hot and tired. The arch was huge! Best of all, you could hike right out on it. In the pictures it looks really dangerous, and Mom and Dad were more than a little nervous, but in fact, the top of the arch is about 50 feet wide, and no one got closer than about 8 feet from the edge. A fall from Cassidy Arch would be fatal, though.

Can you see Dax and Seth peeking out of the holes?

We had a great time finding holes to climb into! 

We loved the layered rock here in Capitol Reef. 

Dax was a great hiker on this trip. 

He even built a cairn.  

Mark and Dad always love hiking. 

Seth was excited when we came to this corner and saw the arch.

Dax instead this was the perfect spot for a nap. 

Cassidy Arch was stunning. Seth was a little nervous, so Dad had to carry him over. 

We loved being able to walk on the arch. It was so cool! 

Mom even took a turn walking on the arch. 

Mom and Dad are still trying to take pics together!

It was a long, steep hike. We were worn out! 

Capitol Reef is the best spot for pictures in holes. 

The hike back seemed much shorter, and we managed the whole trip in about two hours. We decided we'd drive down and complete the hike we failed on when Seth was a baby in the backpack. On that day, it was around a hundred degrees and Dax was only 4 years old. He couldn't make it all the way, though we found out he'd mostly made it when we did the hike today. This hike is called the Pioneer Register, and we walked along a sandy wash between two towering walls. There were petroglyphs and pioneer names dating back to the 1880s along the way. Dax had made it that far, but we wanted to go to what they call the tanks. These are large holes in the rock where water is often found. The hike was steep and dangerous, and we found no water, but the boys didn't mind. They jumped into the sandy pits anyway. They even saw a few lizards along the way.

We loved walking through the wash on this hike. It was a simple walk.

Always climbing into even hole they find! 

Dax and Seth love to get into the tiniest holes. 

Even Dad wanted part of the climbing!

We always have fun together! 

Seth liked being big enough to climb and scramble like his older brothers. 

Mom sure loves her boys!

Mom was not about to be left out of the hole pictures. 

Seth jumping into the "sandbox" we found. 

Dax had to copy!

Mark wasn't about to be left out either.

This was the only pool we found!

We got back later than we wanted to, because it was past dinner time. We had a restaurant that we wanted to try for the website called Slackers. By the time we drove all the way back to Torrey, it was 7 o'clock. But the food was great and we managed to get to our hotel in Caineville by 9 pm. The boys had showers and watched the NCAA championship. It was a fun first day of our vacation!