Capitol Reef and Fruita Campground, UT

We traveled northeast from the Bryce Canyon area through the Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument toward the town of Torrey, UT.  The stretch of Utah Scenic Byway (SR) 12 for the 40 or so miles preceding Torrey, as the elevation climbed to over 9000 feet, has been some of the prettiest road we have traveled so far in the United States.  The greenery (almost alpine setting, really) and break from the hot desert temperatures thanks to the high elevation were a welcome relief.

We arrived at Capitol Reef National Park and immediately headed to the campground to see if we could secure a campsite for the night at Fruita Campground.  We were fortunate and were able to settle into one of only 3 sites still available.  After parking our van we got down our motorbike and toured the scenic drive.

The park was beautiful and the weather was ideal.

From the scenic drive we veered into Grand Wash.  The road we are driving on becomes a river gorge when it rains.

After a tour through Grand Wash we continued south along the scenic drive.

Our next detour was along Capitol Gorge.  Capitol Gorge also becomes a river wash when it rains.

At the end of Capitol Gorge, there is a trail that leads to continues along the canyon to reveal etched Petroglyphs, a "Pioneer Register" and "the Tanks."  We hiked along this fairly flat gorge and the first thing we came to were the ancient petroglyphs.

Water has carved many holes into the canyon walls.  After a boost from George, I was able to climb up into this one.

The pictures below are of the "Pioneer Register," really a display of grafitti where early Pioneers carved their names into the sandstone.  Some of the earliest ones are from the late 1880s, some of the first people of European descent to frequent this area.

After a short but steep uphill hike along a not-well-marked trail, we spotted the Tanks.  These are natural reservoirs in the sandstone rock that hold several hundred gallons of what each, remnants of when rainstorms deluge these canyon washes and water becomes trapped in these natural cisterns.

In this picture you can see the bridge that has formed from water flowing down the graduated tanks.

We hiked out of the gorge and back to our motorbike, where we continued our travels past the end of the paved scenic drive and onto the gravel Pleasant Creek Road.

Further along Pleasant Creek Road four wheel drive is highly recommended.  We quickly found out why, as the road became unsuitable for a two-wheeled vehicle (at least one with two people on it).  The road becomes very rutted and sandy, and Pleasant Creek runs into the road.  Near where we turned around to head back to the better-maintained dirt road, we came across these old farm structures and a corral.

Some of the waters from this creek diverge and run into the road.

As we returned to the campground we saw these two deer.