Day 72

The sunrise on the red rocks is beautiful and we were up and out around that time because we wanted to start our morning with fresh baked goods from the Gifford House in the Fruita District of the Capitol Reef National Park.

We got there before they opened at 8 and joined the line. We bought one cinnamon roll to share for breakfast and two pies. Sadly, they've stopped selling coffee. We sat outside, ate our cinnamon roll and some fruit I packed before we headed down the Scenic Drive. It's about 10 miles and ends at a closed 2.4 mile unpaved road, Capitol Gorge Road. There's a hiking trail at the end of the road so since it's closed we hiked a bit over a mile in.

Heading back up the road we came to a 1.3 mile unpaved road which leads to the 2.5 Grand Wash Trail which includes The Narrows.

I felt so small hiking in both of these gorges. The walls are so steep and the rocks seem so precarious. It was comforting to know that this area is "geologically stable" and hasn't had an earthquake in thousands of years.

By the time we'd finished the 5 mile round trip it was 1:00 and time for pie, I mean lunch. We went back to the Fruita area since it has very nice picnic areas. When we finished our lunch  Denis thought it might be nice to have another pie. He got in line just a minute too late. The customer before him got the last pie of the day. They get 33 dozen a day and often sell out shortly after 1:00. Today it was 1:30.

We walked around the Fruita area. It was settled by Mormon families in the 1800s. Some of them lived there until 1960 when people like the Giffords sold their land to the National Park Service. There are a few buildings left, like the blacksmith shop and one room school. We enjoyed walking around.

We drove to view the petroglyphs. 
And then down another unpaved road to two more short hikes. I'd had enough time close to the rim so on the second, I found a bench to sit and look at the views while Denis opted for the extra 1/3 mile. We were both happy.
Location: Capitol Reef National Park, Utah, USA

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