Goblins to Hoodoos:
After waking
to a very colourful sunrise over Goblin Valley we take a stroll among the
goblins before retracing our path back to the town of Hanksville where we join
the scenic Route 24 west to our next destination, Torrey, on the doorstep of
Capitol Reef National Park. The route follows the Fremont River valley, with
areas of green, irrigated pasture, occasional ranches, cattle on the road and,
of course, amazingly colourful sculpted cliffs, mesas, canyons and rock towers
which increase in size as we enter the Park.
As the
towering cliffs close in, evidence of early Mormon settlement of the area begins
to appear – first the tiny, single roomed cabin, once home to the Behunin
family of twelve. The parents and two youngest slept inside, the older girls in
a box wagon, and the boys in a hole dug into the cliff-face behind the cabin.
In the settlement of Fruita, orchards planted by the Mormons still bear fruit -
which visitors can pick for a small fee – and the original schoolhouse where,
purely by chance, we meet the reminiscing, middle-aged son of the last school
mistress.
Below sheltered overhangs, as
evidence of even earlier habitation by native people of the Fremont Culture,
are many, well preserved petroglyphs which date back to around the year 700.
This is also the site of the park Visitor Centre, beautifully located, and the
campground which is, as usual, fully occupied so we move on to our pre-booked
site in Torrey.
Many RV parks and campgrounds have
special ‘treats’ on offer…this one has freshly baked muffins for breakfast –
too much to resist and we get a couple of extras to freeze for ‘emergencies!’
A visit to Capitol
Gorge the following day is cut short because the last section of the road is
unsealed – a strict ‘no-no’ for a rental vehicle – but it is still a
spectacular drive and once again quite different from other parks. We return to Fruita for the obligatory U-pick
bag of apples, and a long, hot climb to Hickman Bridge. It is worth the climb, but suffered a little
by comparison with those at Natural Bridges State Park, this opinion being, of
course, totally subjective.
Gifford House - built by Fruita’s only
polygamist, Calvin Pendleton, in 1908 - now houses an interpretive exhibition
of early Mormon settlement in the valley, and sells original recipe pies and
jams as well as reproduction utensils and tools used by the pioneers…rag rugs,
rag dolls, soap and wooden items, including rolling pins! The Gifford family farmed in the valley from
1928 to 1969, were the last permanent residents of Fruita, sold their home and
land to the National Parks Service, and moved away.
From Torrey,
the road to Bryce Canyon climbs through Ponderosa pine and aspen forest and
across alpine meadows, providing panoramic views to the east across country we
had traversed the previous week, before descending once more into the little
settlement of Boulder. The road from Boulder to Escalante, across the ‘Grand
Staircase,’ is not only particularly scenic and a little breathtaking on the steep,
narrow sections, but defies imagination as to how the early pioneers ever
managed to navigate a passage through this confused labyrinth of gorges, sheer
cliffs and domes of sandstone. Small pioneer hamlets of Henrieville,
Cannonville and Tropic nestle in pockets of green, arable land as we begin the
steady climb towards the Paunsaugunt Plateau and Bryce Canyon. Suddenly, around
a curve in the road, appears ahead of us a totally unexpected and amazing
sight.
It’s
pink! Perhaps apricot…no, it’s peach
coloured!! We have not seen anything
like these colours before…the red, white, terracotta, beige, black,
conglomerate…all pale into insignificance when confronted by the colours of
Bryce! Look past the colours to the
formation of the spires and hoodoos…once again, nothing like we have ever
seen! The camera shutters are overheating,
the lenses are being changed with some haste, and the panorama views are being
recorded on the Samsung tablet!
Settle down
and enter the monopoly that is Ruby’s Inn – everything from 5-star
accommodation to lodges to RV park to campground, general store, camping and
hiking supplies, car wash, gas stations, restaurants, etc. etc. Garfield County
covers 5,000 square miles, has less than 5,000 people, and two-thirds of them
work at Ruby’s Inn! Bryce Canyon
is served by a fantastic shuttle service – a hop-on hop-off regular bus that
covers the main routes around the Park.
The Rainbow Tour at Bryce runs twice a day, every day and is the
overview of the Park that we take as our first activity. Driver and
The small town of Tropic, just outside
the National Park, was having a problem with coyotes attacking sheep. Meeting was called, attended by local folk
and 2 environmental officers from the County.
Discussion ranged from poisoning the coyotes to shooting them, but the
enviros’ solution was to round them up and castrate them. Whereupon the local school
teacher, a mature lady, rose to her feet and said, “Boys! They’re not screwing our sheep, they’re
eating them!” There is now a bounty on
coyotes!!
We explore
the Park over the next 3 days - a walk to Fairyland Canyon where we find some
pronghorn hiding out in the trees; another from Bryce Point to Inspiration
Point around the Rim of the Canyon; then onto the shuttle to Sunset Point and a
walk to Bryce Lodge. Like Lodges in a
number of other National Parks, it was built in the 1920’s by Union Pacific
Railroad, and like others, this Lodge retains much of its original Olde Worlde
charm.
We have some
heavy rain overnight and rejig our ‘program’ a little, but we are able to
continue our explorations by walking from Sunset Point to Sunrise Point along
the floor of the Canyon. Called the
Navajo/Queens Garden Loop, the trail drops away from Sunset Point down into the
Canyon via a series of switchbacks and very steep, narrow sections. While there are no opportunities for
expansive views, it is quite spectacular from a sensory perspective…and a
little scary at times for those who don’t relish tight spaces. But if you want to feel insignificant in the
grand scheme of things, this is the place!
The soaring canyon walls, the hoodoos and spires standing to attention
all in a line, the towering Ponderosa pines that have somehow managed to take
root and reach for the sun, and the colours!!
Driving away
from this place we continue to be amazed that each place we visit is somehow
the most spectacular, but at the same time, cannot be compared with other
places.
You
must search for the loveliness of America;
It
is not obvious; it is scattered;
But
when you find it, it touches you
And
binds you to it like a great secret oath
Taken
in silence
Struthers Burt,
Jackson Hole Dude Rancher, 1934
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