There was a meteor shower that I really wanted to see. So, I thought I could go to the Mojave national preserve where I knew the skies would be wide open. But, I also got off work early on Friday so that means I would have extra time to drive to one of the parks that's further away (Capitol Reef National park).
Well, I assume by the title you can tell which one I chose, and I'm glad I did. The meteor shower was a bust due to the extremely bright full moon one night and thunder storms the next night.
I arrived at the park after dark on Friday and I was able to completely set up camp by the light of the moon. (I am sure the people around me were happy that I did not have to leave my car headlights on to set up.)
Saturday morning I took the "scenic road" to the first trail I wanted to hike. In the info it said that you could see the first "Pioneer Register" where some pioneers carved their names into the rocks, and the "Tanks." I had no idea what the "tanks" were, but I was willing to find out. On this hike I walked the rocky path following the same valley that many pioneers traveled... and, apparently, many vandals. I could not tell which name on the rock was the original pioneer name because so many people had scraped their own names into the rocks. There were signs posted everywhere saying that there was a fine for writing on the rocks, but, honestly, who's going to see them out there. I really don't think the park is going to run electricity into the valley in order to post security cameras, which means, we are dependent on individuals moral fortitude to keep the area clean... ha..we're in trouble.
Once I finished the climb to the "tanks" I was a little disappointed. They were just some mildew-y puddles of water. I guess, because water is so scarce out there, the little they do have is something special enough to hike to.
Capitol Reef park is not as beautiful as Zion and Bryce in my opinion. However, just outside the park is a National Monument called the Grand Staircase. This area was really beautiful! It is a geological masterpiece.
I took a drive on a loop that went down the east side of the park, across part of the Grand Staircase as it turned west and then back up the other side through Dixie National Forest. The first half of the ride was on a dirt road in a valley. The road, although it is maintained by the park service, was a little scary to drive on. Especially since I did not see another person on it for about 20 miles. (And when you can only go about 15 mph that's a long time.) There were parts that got a little muddy and I was getting more and more nervous the further from civilization I traveled.
But finally, after what felt like forever, I got to the switchbacks that took me out of the valley and onto the paved road once again.
There was a look out up there where you could see out across the entire Grand Staircase. That sight alone was totally worth it.
The rest of my stay at the park was pretty uneventful, but on my way back to Vegas I stopped at a place where only 11 years ago a regular guy was excavating his land for development and stumbled upon a huge collection of dinosaur tracks. Now there is a museum and small research center where the tracks are displayed.
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