Day 9 - Capital Reef

Here's our usual sign at the entry:

We started at the Visitors Center.  Watched the video.  Talked to Ranger for ideas of what to do.  Decided first item was Fremont River trail, 1 mile out and 480 foot climb.  We opted to stop at 0.8 miles and 400 foot.  Kinda scary path:

But what a view!

Got rained on during this morning hike.

Diane really liked the color of this vegetation:

We then drove the 8 mile one way scenic drive.  Included a 1.5 mile side excursion on an unpaved road into a canyon.  Had our picnic lunch at the end of the drive before we turned around.

Stopped at an historic house where they sell pies to raise $$ for the park.  Small pies so got two, cherry and rhubarb/strawberry. 

Then we decided to do one more hike, to Hinchman's Bridge.  Was one mile out and 400 foot climb, but was more rugged terrain than first hike.  We almost turned around, but everyone coming down said was worth it.  They were right.

Diane under the bridge

We also stopped along the way and saw some petroglyphs on the rock walls.  These are artwork done by ancient civilizations that are still viewable today.

We got in over 14,000 steps today.  Decided to come back to trailer and nap for a while before we eat out.  We made reservations tonight at a place called Hunt and Gather.  Supposedly one of the top ten restaurants in Utah.  It was very good.  Diane had Steak Marsala with bits of beef filet.  I had elk steak.  Had to take a picture of this one:

Both meals were delicious.