September 17, 2019

We had an early start this morning at 7:30. The distance travelled today was 432 kilometers (270 miles). The sun was shining and the morning temperature in Moab was about 15°C. We returned to Interstate 70.

Matt played a 60-minute video about the one of President F. D. Roosevelt’s New Deal project’s in the 1930s, about the CCC workers, young men who helped upgrade many of the National Parks in the United States. The first stop was just a restroom break at a truck stop in Green River. Here there were great views of the San Rafael Mountains. The rock colour has changed from the reddish hues of yesterday to grey tones.

Shortly after Green River we turned south on Highway 24 to go south and west to Capitol Reef National Monument. Once the video finished Matt told us about the history of Utah and of the Mormon religion. The Utah territory was first claimed by Spain and at its Independence the land belonged to Mexico. After the Mexican American war, all of Mexico’s territory north of the Rio Grande River was ceded to the United States of America. The land was explored by John Fremont in the early 1840s, but he did not see a lot of worth in the arid area. The Mormons fled from persecution in Ohio in 1846 and travelled west to the Slat Lake City area and scouted territory south for agriculture and mining to become self-sufficient. They requested statehood in 1849, but were granted territory status as the Utah Territory and did not gain statehood until early 1896. Most of rural Utah is Mormon, but just over 50% of Salt Lake City is Mormon.

As we travelled on highway 24, the landscape changed to some dome shaped formations and more grey tones. These were formed by the geological events hundreds of millions of years ago of Deposition then Uplift and finally Erosion. Capitol Reef National Monument landscape was caused by a waterpocket fold in horizontal rocks. The difference between a National Park and a National Monument is that for a National Monument, petitioners only need the President to sign into law the creation of a National Monument. For a National Park, more lobbying in necessary and a bill must be passed by Congress and then signed by the President.

Once in Capitol Reef National Monument, we stopped to view ancient petroglyphs & nearby initials of the original Mormon settlers carved in the rock face. The tiny settlement of Fruita grew orchards to provide the Mormons with fruit and the Visitor Center is located there, by the Fremont River that helped to irrigate the trees. Steps 3,459

Next, we stopped in the village of Torrey, elevation 2,085 meters, where we skipped the two burgers joints and ordered sandwiches at the quaint Wild Rabbit Café, where almost half of our fellow passengers ate. Then we headed south on highway 12, a scenic route to Bryce Canyon National Park. The road climbed up to 2,926 meters, past stands of Ponderosa pine and quaking Aspen trees, before descending to 2,085 meters at Boulder and continuing to the town of Escalante for a break.

From Escalante, we proceeded through part of Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument, which had different features to the landscape. The area has five distinct levels that look like a giant staircase. We passed through the tiny town of Tropic before arriving at Bryce Canyon City for a quick stop to drop the luggage at Best Western Plus Ruby’s Inn. It was established in 1916 by a Mormon rancher and is still operate by his family. The elevation at Bryce Canyon City is 2,336 meters, over 7,600 feet above sea level.

The final destination for today was Bryce Canyon, a short distance away. The park is named after Ebenezer Bryce who homesteaded in 1874. We stopped at three viewpoints, having 30 minutes to taken in the scenery at each point. Bryce Point was at the southern end of the park, with magnificent views of giant hoodoo rock formations in the Bryce Amphitheater. The temperature was about 22°C and quite windy at the fenced perimeter of the point. The altitude here was 2,530 meters. The Aquarius Plateau was visible over 15 miles away. The next scenic lookout was Inspiration Point at slightly lower elevation of 2,469 meters. There is a hoodoo called Thor’s Hammer that is visible here. Sunset Point was the last view of the Amphitheater, which besides the rim walk, people could descend into the canyon on a three-meter wide track. We took photos at the view point and hiked about 400 meters into the canyon.

The bus drove us back to Ruby’s Inn where we had a light dinner in the restaurant. After dinner we strolled across the highway to the replica Old West street and bought ice cream cones of delicious ice cream. We wore our jackets as the temperature after dark was about 19°C with the overnight low predicted to be about +3°C.

Total steps 13,412