Thursday, August 21; Double Parking

We spent last night at Dead Horse Point campground. The campground is near the rim of a box canyon. Chris followed the wash from the campsite down to the rim. Though the rim looked close, it took Chris 30 to 40 minutes to get there. It was an interesting, but not spectacular view. On the way back Chris discovered a trail back to the campsite that was marked with short little rock cairns.

In the morning we left Dead Horse Point campground heading south toward Glen Canyon recreational area.

At Glen Canyon Recreation Area, i.e., a big lake (Lake Powell) created by a dam, we stopped at the overload of the now flooded town of Hite, Utah. At the height of the uranium mining, Hite grew to 200 people. After the uranium mining rush, Hite, according to the sign, declined to being a "small-town" again. Kathy was impressed that there was no railing on the cliffs.

We ate brisket sandwiches for lunch in a roadside box canyon.




In another canyon we came across a tale of an Indian fight. One soldier and one blacksmith were killed.


We reached Capitol Reef National Park at about 3 pm. Capitol Reef is a hundred mile long land reef that blocked passage west. Its rock "waterfolds" also capture water and hold water creating an oasis of flowing streams and trees in the desert. The indians were here for hundreds of years as proven by irrigation ditches and petraglyphs.

The Mormons settled this area specializing in fruit orchards.

After leaving Capitol Reef, we drove through part of the Dixie National Forest. ("Finally!" Kathy cries. "A real live mountain forest that has trees!") We saw six deer that day from Capitol Reef through Dixie, including one fawn. One stretch of highway was along a spit (?) and the cliffs went down on both sides of the roadway. Kathy cringed the entire section and urged Chris to watch the road ONLY, even though the view was amazing.

We spent the night in Escalante, Utah for next morning's approach to Bryce Canyon National Park.