Ancient Cottonwoods

Seven Weeks Across America

These ancient cottonwood trees at Capitol Reef National Park were massive.  We sat in their shade while we helped Wyle fill in her Junior Ranger booklet.

Capitol Reef National Park

Seven Weeks Across America

Capitol Reef State Park was such a refreshing experience after being so hot and dry for the last few weeks.  The Fruita enclave, an historic Mormon settlement along the Freemont River, serves as the central area of the park, featuring a Vistor's Center, campground, nature center, and several orchards.  

In fact, the orchards are adjacent to the campground, meaning we spent the evening and following morning picking apricots and eating them right off the tree.

Wyle makes some new friends.

The deer were everywhere, obviously enjoying the fruit as much as we were.

Another highlight (THE highlight, depending on who you ask), was the little store that sold freshly baked fruit pies.  In the morning we hightailed it the store and everybody bought a pie.  Then we sat at the nearby picnic table and had pie for breakfast!

And just in case you think Capitol Reef is all about pie, here are some photos of the beautiful landscape.  We very much enjoyed the scenic drive, particularly the off-road portion that winds through the gorge, the walls of which tower above you.

Goblin Valley

Seven Weeks Across America

Goblin Valley State Park in Utah was one of the most unexpected delights of our trip so far.  It was a scheduled stop, but no photos I had seen of it prepared me for how delightful it would be.  From a parking lot and picnic area, you can look down on the rock formations, or 'goblins.'  I had no idea you could walk among them.  You descend to the valley by a short walk, and suddenly you are immersed in a labyrinth of rocks, many as tall as you.  I dallied behind my husband, daughter, and father-in-law, to shoot these photos from above.  I imagined I would catch up to them after a little hustle, but once I descended, they were nowhere to be seen.  I wandered for an hour looking for them among the rocks, but never did find them.  You might think you'd get lost, but really, the parking lot on the hill above is an excellent landmark and easy to see so you can orient yourself simply by looking up.  In that way, it was a very safe but totally immersive sort of wander, through what felt like an alien landscape.  It was more fun than I can describe. 

Newspaper Rock

Seven Weeks Across America

In this part of the country there are a lot of petroglyph sites, but we accidently happened upon the best one we had yet to see.  Newspaper Rock is just off the side of the road, on the way to the Needles portion of Canyonlands National Park.  At all the other sites we had seen, there were just one or a couple of images, but here you can see what an abundance of petroglyphs there are in one place.  It was quite an unexpected highlight from our trip.

Arches National Park

Seven Weeks Across America

It was hot, hot, hot during our time at Arches National Park.  Those temps were breaking 100 degrees, so we kept our hiking to the mornings.  We did two hikes - the one to Delicate Arch being the most well-known.  I was very proud of our peanut for making it.  It was not an easy hike, and even in the morning it was still hot.  But it was so worth it.  It was magnificent to see in person, particularly because it was surrounded by a huge natural amphitheater.  Despite the dozens of people who were sharing the space, there was plenty of room to take a seat and soak it all in.  

Our other hike took us to Landscape, Navajo, and Double O arches.  I would highly recommend this hike - it was truly fun to scramble over boulders, walk on top of fin rock formations and clamber up and through some arches.

There are so many arches to see, you sort of have to pick and choose what you spend your time visiting.  I particularly enjoyed Double Arch.  You really have to walk down the path to appreciate how very cool it is.

Mesa Verde National Park

Seven Weeks Across America

Mesa Verde is just one of those places you need to see once in your lifetime.  You can look at all the photos you want of the Pueblo ruins, but nothing compares to standing inside one, or even viewing one from a lookout.  And what's there can really not be described as ruins.  While some repairs have been made, many are largely intact, dating from the 12th century.  

You can buy tour tickets to three different cliff dwellings, including Cliff Palace, pictured here.  You must buy tickets at the Visitor's Center, so do that as soon as you enter the park, and be prepared in case they are all sold out for the day you arrive.  We picked up tickets for two tours, spaced perfectly to allow a lunch break between.  Cliff Palace is the largest structure, with 150 rooms.  You can walk along it and peer into the doors, windows and kivas.  Balcony House, our second tour, is not for the faint of heart.  It requires a 30-foot ladder climb, squeezing through a small tunnel, and working your way through another tight spot.  But it was totally worth it to see the view the Pueblos enjoyed, living on the edge of a cliff, with nothing but a partial wall to keep you from tumbling to your demise.  It was thrilling.

In addition to these cliff dwellings, there are many more structures you can explore.  They are located on short hikes from the driving road, and are as old and older than the cliff dwellings.  They include homes and even a reservoir.

Everyone comes to see the cliff dwellings, and rightly so, but the views as you are driving through the park (it's an hour at least from the Visitor's Center to the tours) are spectacular.

Black Canyon of the Gunnison

Seven Weeks Across America

Our second national park stop was Black Canyon of the Gunnison.  It's an incredibly steep canyon, so much that the Gunnison River below only gets sun right at midday.  It's very much a driving park, with many overlook stops around the South Rim and also the separate North Rim.  We stayed to the south, where the Visitor's Center is and also a campground.  There is in fact a gorgeous hike between the two, where you can get some fantastic views of the canyon.  It was so accessible that we went back out at night to do some stargazing.

We enjoyed a nice shady campground, with our own resident deer.  It did not seem to mind that we were sharing the space, walking right past us to graze and rest, several times during the day.