Capitol Reef National Park

After Bailey and I did our Capitol Reef girl's trip for spring break, Mark and I were supposed to do our own similar trip down there in April. Bailey and I barely made it before the wrath of covid hit in full force. Mark and I had to cancel our trip all together because of the travel bans between states. We rescheduled our trip for October, and it was perfect! We had great weather, and the colors were fantastic. We got down there on Thursday night, slept in the car, and started our adventure first thing Friday morning. We ran a little, hiked a ton, and covered 53 miles and 11,000 feet of elevation gain over the weekend. 

Chimney Rock:

This is one of my favorite trails in the whole park. We hit it right at sunrise, and it was spectacular. It was the perfect trail to start our adventure with.

Chimney Rock

Beautiful sunrise

People ask me quite often why I like trail running so much. This picture is my answer.

Gooseneck Overlook/Fruita Schoolhouse/Petroglyph Panel:

Gooseneck Overlook

Gooseneck Overlook

The old Fruita Schoolhouse.

These three deer were at the schoolhouse at the same time as we were.

The petroglyphs throughout the park are really cool.

Hickman Bridge/Rim Overlook/Navajo Knobs:

This is one of the longer trails in the park. It's also the one that Bailey fell on and jacked up her back. Her poor back muscles still aren't the same. Mark and I had much better luck; no falls for us!

Nels Johnson Bridge

Hickman Bridge

This hike follows along ridge so there are great views the whole way.

This picture is a recreation of one we took of Bailey. That's the Castle in the background. We found Bailey a crown, so I tried to find one for myself. Clearly my choices were very limited. 😂

The landscape is angled, and it looks so cool!

Fremont River Trail/Fremont Overlook Trail:

I love the Fremont River Trail. It's super fun to run down on the way back, plus the views are fantastic no matter where you look. We combined two trails, so right when we got back from the River Trail, we walked straight to the start of the Fremont Overlook Trail. This was my first time on this trail. Bailey and I skipped it because her back was really bad at that point. I really liked it. It was a tough one to end the day on. Lots of uphill, but the views were worth it!

Starting up the Fremont River Trail.

Love the view across the canyon.

This trail is so fun to run down!

There were lots of deer hanging out in the orchards.

Now we started the long climb to the Fremont Overlook.

We made it to the top!

This view was amazing! Trust me, the picture doesn't do it justice!

I love this picture. Everything behind the cairn looks like a painting.

More cute friends at the end.

That concludes our first day. 

Cassidy Arch/Frying Pan Trail/Grand Wash Trail:

We slept at the Cassidy Arch Trailhead. We got up with the sun, and started early because Cassidy Arch is one of the most popular hikes in the park. It's a really cool trail, the destination is awesome, and it's not very long, so it draws in a lot of people. We wanted to be the first ones to the arch so we could have it to ourselves for pictures. Mission accomplished! 

The trail to the arch.

Hiking along the rim.

Our first glimpse of the Arch.

Cassidy Arch!

Look closely and you can see me standing on the arch.

Mark doing his starfish jump on the arch! 😂

I love this picture! Mark is a little speck out there.

Don't mind what I look like. Covering lots of miles and sleeping in the car for a few nights was not very generous to my appearance. I got more haggard looking as the days went on. 😳

We took a detour off the arch trail to do half of the Frying Pan Trail. This was a new one for me as well. We really liked it. We completed the trail later in the day from the opposite direction.

Frying Pan Trail

Once we were almost back to the trailhead, we took another detour up the narrows on the Grand Wash Trail. Super cool area!

Starting into the narrows.

We thought this looked like a skeleton man coming out of the rock wall.

Pictures through a hole in the rock.

Once those three trails were done, we headed to the Gifford House to have pie for lunch. Yum!

Cherry for me, and strawberry rhubarb for Mark. 

Old Wagon Trail:

This is the only trail in the park that I would not recommend. It's kind of lame, plus it was super windy. 

Taking a selfie while trying not to blow away.

Our pictures make the hike look a lot cooler than it actually was. Most of the time you can't see anything exciting. We just took our pictures in the places where you could.

Capitol Gorge Trail/Golden Throne:

The Capitol Gorge Trail has a pioneer registry written on the rock cliff. When Bailey and I did it in the spring, we thought the registry was kind of dumb. You couldn't even read the names. Well, come to find out, we weren't looking at the right thing! Hahaha, we missed the real registry all together. It's actually quite cool, and I want to know how they got the names written that far up the wall.

The pioneer registry. It's so high up there!

Here's a close up of the names.

A little farther up the wash, there is a detour to the 'tanks'. When Bailey and I did it in the spring, she was still in her sling from shoulder surgery and she had fallen and hurt her back really bad. This trail is a little bit technical, so it was really hard for her. When she found out the 'tanks' were just big holes in the rocks filled with water, she was not impressed. I sent her this picture, and said the 'tanks' are even less impressive when they are empty. 😂

The empty tanks.

The Golden Throne is a cool hike, because the surrounding area is just so rugged.

Along the Golden Throne Trail.

The view along the ridge.

The Golden Throne!

Frying Pan Trail:

We finished the day with the second half of the Frying Pan Trail that we had started earlier in the day.

This was a fun rock.

We saw what we assumed was a baby rattle snake. It seemed late in the season for them, and it had a black rattler. We aren't sure if it was injured, or if that was normal for whatever type it was.

That's a wrap for day two!

Cohab Canyon:

We got up early Sunday morning and headed out in the dark with our headlamps. Our last hike of the trip was Cohab Canyon. This canyon is super cool!

My phone takes awesome pictures in the dark. 

Heading into the canyon.

We were hoping there were no big kitties waiting for us.

The overlook from the first spur trail.

The overlook from the second spur trail.

We were just in time for the pretty sunrise.

We ended a great weekend by getting pie (for breakfast) one final time before we headed home. It was fun to finally show Mark all the places Bailey and I had hiked in the spring.