ADVENTURE 25: Revision at the Reef (Capitol Reef NP)

Friday, 9 September 2022, Bicknell UT

And we considered Ely a small town! At least it boasted a population near 4,000. Bicknell and Torrey, the nearest towns to Capitol Reef, had around 500 people between them. For breakfast, it looked like the Sunglow Restaurant in Bicknell cornered the trade. I took the safe bet of scrambled eggs, while Bill opted for the curiously-named Cap'n Crunch French Toast. Only later did he realize that the French Toast actually featured a coating of crushed Capn'n Crunch cereal. It did not impress him.

Signs in the café touted their selection of pies - an option after dinner tonight! I wandered over to the bakery case to salivate over their selectionm- and got a surprise.. Pinto Bean Pie, Oatmeal Pie, and Buttermilk Pie featured prominently, but the star attraction was Pickle Pie - apparently their most famous, favored by people around the country. "We sell quite a few," said the waitress. "Sold three pies just last week. We have bicyclists from Salt Lake City that regularly schedule rides here just so they can get the pies."

"But pickle?" I protested.

"Well, it's made from sweet pickles, so there's already a sweetness to it... And if you can't decide which you want, we offer a sampler of a half slice of each of those four pies."

Though the park lay only 15 miles away, it took nearly an hour to navigate through the two one-lane construction tie-ups. Once at the park, we headed for the Ranger station, anxious to get this activity underway. "When I'd called the park months ago to plan my trips, they told me late summer/early fall was the prime time to forage for fruit in the historic Mormon orchards here. So I'm ready for this park's iconic adventure. Which orchard should I hit?"

"I'm sorry, we're between harvests right now. Last week people picked peaches and pears, and next week apples will ripen, but there's nothing available this week."

My jaw went slack. "Nothing?" It took me a moment to process that news. "Ohh. Well, can you suggest another unique activity I can experience in the park?"

He offered, "We have a four-hour scenic drive that crosses Boulder Mountain, then cuts back through a remote section of the park."

Scenic drive hardly qualified as unique to any park. I looked around, and saw a notice for a ranger-guided activity of 'solar viewing'. "What's that about?"

"We have a ranger who sets up a specialized telescope through which you can look directly at the sun. Besides the glowing sun, you can also see solar flares breaking off from the rim."

If the park journeys have taught me anything, it's to stay adaptable. We started with that scenic drive, heading back through the construction segments so we needn't deal with it later. We were the first car waiting for the next group to drive through, so I stepped from the car to chat with the flag woman. "Beautiful day today, isn't it?" I offered.

"Incredible!" she agreed. "People can't believe I get paid to stand here and gaze at this!" Her smile emphasized her words.

"Yes, the scenery is grand. Amazing that more people don't know about this place."

"You got that right," she agreed. "This place doesn't get the fame it deserves."

I told her about my disappointment missing the harvest. "Really? I picked peaches at the orchards just last week. That's a shame you missed out." We continued chatting for 15 minutes, until the pod of traffic from the west arrived to free us up.

The drive over Boulder Mountain provided overlooks onto Capitol Reef, running north-to-south like an immense barrier to travel. I recalled the winter Sue and I took this road back to southern California, with white snow contrasting with the green of evergreens and the dull sheen of rock.

As we left Boulder Mountain, the road branched to the east. We quickly entered Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument, the controversial park created by President Clinton, to the ire of locals. (This NM is administered by BLM, not by NPS.) The monument was later expanded by 10%, but in 2017 President Trump tried to reduce its size by half. In 2021, President Biden restored it to the original size.

I'd never seen this park, so we made a few photo stops to document its stark, desert beauty. The drive began by running beside white cliffs.

Soon the rocks turned reddish in color, dropping into a gully beside a creek.

Before long, it reached a vista over an erosion-carved basin, spreading to the horizon.

When the road reached Capitol Reef NP, the pavement ended, and we continued on a well-traveled dirt road. This promptly led to the Burr Trail Switchbacks, where the road dropped precipitately (800' in a mile) into the Waterpocket Fold, the 'reef' for which the region was named.

It felt disorienting, driving directly at rocks tilted at close to 45°. What a wild, buckling time must have wracked this area eons ago!

When the ranger suggested this scenic drive, I'd worried about taking a rental car over a dirt road. He'd assured us that the road did not require a high-clearance vehicle, and nothing here indicated otherwise. However... as we now headed north through the Waterpocket Fold, a few spots on the road sported an abundance of sand. As I felt the tires hit resistance and the rear end sway a bit, I took extra care to keep my speed up without gunning the engine.

Luckily very little traffic headed south, allowing me to choose the best track for traction. For 16 miles, I had to stay on high alert, until the road left the park and returned to pavement.

We returned to the Visitor Center by 3:00, where the ranger set up the telescope. Both Bill and I took turns at the eyepiece, seeing the glowing red mass and the tiny orange blips of solar flares on the edge. Amazing that the blips were the size of the earth! Definitely a unique experience, even if it lasted under a minute.

Now that my 'unique experiences' for this park - solar viewing and driving through sand - were under the belt, we had bonus time. A chance to take the other scenic drive, eight paved miles south from the Visitor Center. At the far end, the lane splits into two dirt tracks. To the right, the South Draw eventually morphs into an 'extremely rough unmaintained 4WD road' that leaves the park to climb Boulder Mountain; skip that. The other ran for another mile into Capitol Gorge, where a hike further into the Gorge awaited. Sign us up!

In old Mormon settlement days, this gorge hosted a road through the fold from 1884 until 1962, and vestiges of that old time still exists along the trail. One gorge wall featured a register where travelers etched their name into the rock.

Some names must have required stretching to reach, elevating those carvers above the others. However, I don't know who put that list of six well-inscribed (good handwriting!) names fifty feet or more above the ground in 1911!

At the end of the hike, a side path climbed up to the tanks, a set of potholes (also called waterpockets) that retain water from rains and snow. We started up to them, but the way quickly degenerated to scrambling over slickrock. Halfway up, we figured the effort to get back down would overwhelm anything we might see on top, so we picked our way back. Along the way, I noticed more examples of the 'swiss cheese rocks', cliff walls with a series of circular holes cut out of them. I'll have to ask the ranger tomorrow how those get formed.

Time to leave this desert garden a bit early, to baby our colds a bit.

Hopefully tonight we could finally get the good night's sleep that has eluded us so far this trip. We returned to the Sunglow to continue our Adventure in Dining. I half-expected to see Lucky Charms Fried Chicken on the menu, but the official billet was more staid. After reading more about the popularity of their signature pie, I felt compelled to order a slice to take back to the room for dessert.

I'd almost committed to the Climate Ride, knowing that 'not deciding' was actually a devious way of deciding. First, though, I figured I'd try my hand at composing a fund-raising email, see if I could convince myself of the cause. (How could anyone resist once I inserted a Dr. Seuss quote?

"Unless someone like you cares a whole awful lot,

Nothing's going to get better. It's not.")

With that done, I could sleep on it. First, though, celebrate with that slice of pickle pie! (Hmm... texture like pumpkin pie, taste not bad. But I doubt I'd order another piece.)