We knew there would be a lot to see in Capitol Reef so we booked three nights in the Fruita CG. Although the orchards were bare, the Gifford House had plenty of fruit pies. The house itself is a restoration of what was once a meeting place for the Mormon families that settled this part of the Fremont River and planted thousands of fruit trees for themselves and for trade. We bought an apple pie and headed to the petroglyph viewing site to catch a lecture.
Rick, a volunteer from Colorado, gave an amazing talk about the Fremont Indian culture explaining what distinguished them from the pueblo cultures further south and how to interpret the petroglyphs and pictographs they left in this area. These native Americans lived on the Colorado Plateau along the Fremont River for about a thousand years, then left for unknown reasons at about 1350 CE. The current Hopi and Zuni tribes of the southwest consider them the ancient ones, ancestors whose beliefs and traditions are kept alive through oral histories and ceremonial practices even today. They were master basket makers, grew corn, squash and beans and lived in relatively small family units, in pit houses that were situated near their fields. Their pottery was built from coiled clay and rarely decorated like Navaho pots but their rock art depicts anthropomorphic figures who wore headdresses, necklaces and ornate belts. They also left unfired clay figures similarly decorated. Fascinating and made us eager to learn more. We’re planning another side trip – this one to the Fremont Indian Museum and State Park about 70 miles north of Capitol Reef – once we leave the park.
On our way back to the campgrounds we spotted turkey in one of the orchards and stopped to check them out. Just a little beyond the birds Ron saw what looked like a dog sleeping in the grass, but when it got up we could see it was a coyote. Confirmed our identification with the ranger before heading back to the site. As an aside, the campgrounds is loaded with mule deer who pay no attention whatsoever to the human visitors all around them. One large male rounded up his harem and began to challenge a younger male nearby. They butted heads half-heartedly for a few minutes before returning to their evening meal.
The next day we took the scenic drive to Capitol Gorge. A little bumpy and 10 miles one way but worth it. Just when you think you’ve seen every rock formation possible there’s a different one around the bend. Apparently, as we learned the following day at another program, Capitol Reef was protected only because it contains a true geologic oddity; a monocline that stretches north to south, from one end of the park to the other. According to Jamie, our ranger presenter, monoclines are formed when one tectonic plate (in this case the Pacific plate) goes under another (the North American plate here) and pushes it upward, thrusting millions of years of sedimentary rock layers higher on one side than the other. She made the process perfectly clear, but memory being what it is, the details elude me. But we did buy a book with lots of pictures, captions and graphs so we can figure it out later on. I hope.
Left Capitol Reef heading for the Fremont Indian Park on Sunday. Stopped for a picnic lunch in Fishlake National Forest, on a short spur that had been part of the Spanish Trail, a pack trail that wends its way from New Mexico to California. First used by native Americans then Spanish missionaries and finally frontiersman and prospectors, it was heavily used until the late nineteenth century when more direct routes were established.
Overnighted in the Castle Rock CG, a lovely part of the state park, and visited the museum the next day. Did some more Christmas shopping at the park store and learned more about the Fremont culture. The volunteer at the desk gave us directions to the nearest laundromat, 30 some miles away in Joseph, so off we went to do a marathon wash and dry. And not a moment too soon as the jeans are beginning to stand up by themselves.
Bryce Canyon NP is our next destination after a much needed shower stop on the way. Ron found a lovely B&B, the Panguitch Guest House, halfway there run by Kim and Rod Quarnberg. Comfy, warm and welcoming, a respite from the cold. We may just breeze through the next three parks and head south to Nevada sooner than planned.
The Ultimate Road Trip 