2020 Adventure Day 2

By Jacob

Another big day lies ahead of us. After a comfortable sleep, we packed up, cleaned up and headed downstairs to the car from our hotel room. We were now in Grand Junction, Colorado, at the base of the Colorado National Monument. We visited the night before, but I was not able to get the park stamp because the visitor center was closed. We made our way back up the Rim Rock Road to the park visitor center. We arrived just as the visitor center opened, I got my first stamp of the trip and we were off to I-70 to head west.

We made it to the interstate and were shortly in the state of Utah, where the speed limit increased to 80 miles per hour. From the border of Utah, the landscape of the southwest begins. The mountains and landscape turn red, and to the south, the winding Colorado River makes its way towards Arches and Canyonlands. An hour and a half later we arrived at our exit for Utah Highway 24. In this distance, the San Rafael Swell creates a wall of rock hundreds of feet high. The ride to the south is slow but majestic. The landscape is completely different than anything in Missouri.

At the town of Hanksville, the road turns west and crosses the Fremont River, the river that flows through the Fruita Area of Capitol Reef. As the road moves west mesas of rock appear on the side of the road. Them, the sign for Capitol Reef National Park. The first of seven on our two-week adventure of the west. The road wanders along the river through the water pocket fold. An area of canyon walls and arches to create a unique southwest feature. Just past the rock formation called the Capitol Dome, was our trail for the park. We pulled off at the Hickman Bridge Trail Head.

Before our hike, we sat in the back of the truck and ate some peanut butter sandwiches. Our hike would take us on a 1.5-mile loop up to the Hickman Bridge, a natural sandstone arch. The hike moves up a hill, then enters a canyon. Behind us was the massive capitol dome formation that gives the park half of its name. We passed a marker in the ground from the U.S Geological Survey as well as other arch and pocket rock formations. At the end of the canyon is the magnificent Hickman Bridge. We followed the narrow slope to stand directly under the sandstone bridge. We took a moment to observe how quiet the park is compared to the city in which we live.

The road rises over the Boulder Mountains in the open range. One has to be cautious on the road as there are many cows who wander the road around every bend. At one of the overlooks up the mountain, you can look over Capitol Reef National Park and the Water Pocket Fold. Over the peak and down to the town of Boulder, Utah, you reach Grand Staircase Escalante National Monument. The next section of the road is called Devil’s Backbone. This unique section of road has steep drop-offs on both sides as the road goes along a narrow ridge of rock with magical scenery in every direction. Coming down from the backbone, travel along a canyon down to the Escalante River, then back up across red rocks to the town of Escalante. We stopped at the visitor center there, administered by the Bureau of Land Management as well as the National Parks Service. Unfortunately, the visitor center was closed so I was not able to get a stamp for that day. The road climbs some more heading up towards the town of Henrieville, Cannonville and Tropic until finally reaching the junction for Bryce Canyon National Park.

Our second national park of the day was one that I had been wanting to see for over five years, so anticipation was high. Our first stop was heading to the park visitor center. We purchased some merchandise, I got a stick for my car and the third park stamp of the day. The trail that I had picked out was the Navajo Loop Trail, so we headed for Sunset Point. We parked the car and I could see the rim of the overlook, I ran to the edge to get my first look at Bryce Canyon. This was truly incredible, orange towers and walls of rock in an amphitheater hundreds of feet high was a sight I will never forget. After taking in the scenery for a few minutes we headed down into the canyon on the trail. We descended down passing by Thor’s Hammer, the most famous Hoodoo of the park. Bryce Canyon is a magical place, the hike was quickly becoming one of my favorites trails in the national parks service.

After regrouping and taking more photos it was time to head to the car. We caught our breather and were off in a flash. I regret not spending more time in these places, but I will one day return. Back on Highway 24, we went through the Red Canyon with small orange tunnels cascading over the roadway. At the end of the road, we turned south onto Highway 89 heading south, after some time we turned again towards Zion National Park. The scenery getting more and more like the beautiful canyon and buttes of the park was a sign of what was to come. On either side of the road were mesas of white rock in magnificent color as the sun moved lower in the sky. On the right of the road, the sign for the entrance to Zion National Park. Amazing smooth cliffs of color slope hundreds of feet into the air as we enter the third national park of the day. The first tunnel leading to scenery identical to the other side. I knew what was coming, after the second tunnel Zion Canyon would open up majestically and the next day of adventure awaited. Anticipating the scenery, we entered the second tunnel, over a mile long, with small windows to give glimpses of what lay on the other side.