We hit the road this morning after staying at the luxurious Circle D Motel for $61 a night. After being on the road for about one hour, we reached the Capitol Reef National Park. These were some of the biggest boulders and formations we have seen.
We started our trip into the park through the Historic Town of Fruita where we encountered wild deer grazing in the orchards and jumping fences. We headed to our first stop down a narrow dirt path to the Grand Wash. On the path, we stopped to view inside a old uranium mine in which one of the pioneers had discovered back in the day. It was quite scary with radiation signs posted saying it was still active inside. We went back to the car and continued to the end of the path for our hike through "The Narrows". We started our 1.3 mile one way (1.5 hours) hike into the Wash to view the Pioneer Register, a wall that was signed by travelers from the late 1880's to the early 1900's. The hike was easy and actually very beautiful. We were able to walk through the rock formations that reached hundreds of feet in the air and tried to visualize what it might have been like back in the day when the pioneers came through. After walking what we think was about 2 miles and never seeing the register, we headed back to the car. Somewhat confused and tired, we were curious why we had not come across it. (We later found out.)
We then headed on the rest of the scenic 18 mile round trip where we ended up at the end of a dirt path called Capitol Gorge. We then discovered why we had not seen the register, we were on the wrong hiking path. As we looked at each other and said what the heck - lets do it again. The hike to "The Register" was quite nice and happened to be only a 30 minute round trip (0.6 miles). We were so relieved! After getting back to the car at 4pm, exhausted and hungry, we realized we had not had lunch yet. As we headed out of the park, 3 huge bucks passed in front of us. Bo has never seen horns so big and was wishing for his rifle! We took pictures as they ran up the mountain - amazing. While we watched them to see where they were going, the biggest buck we have ever seen come charging down the mountain in the direction of the other 3. (This buck was at least 10 points and about 30 inches across). We were hoping for a good fight but after some scratching in the dirt and staring at each other, they all laid down. After this excitement, we ventured to Subway (they are everywhere) for a long awaited lunch!
After filling our stomachs, we were off to Moab through the backcountry and mountains (65 MPH - still amazed) which took about 2.5 hours. We arrived at the Moab Valley Inn around 7:30pm. The MVI is an older hotel but seems to be very nice. Bo ventured out to pick up dinner while Lori sorted out the laundry. After eating, we are now typing our blog in the laundry room. We are settling in getting ready for our adventure tomorrow to the Canyonlands National Park and Arches National Park.
We started our trip into the park through the Historic Town of Fruita where we encountered wild deer grazing in the orchards and jumping fences. We headed to our first stop down a narrow dirt path to the Grand Wash. On the path, we stopped to view inside a old uranium mine in which one of the pioneers had discovered back in the day. It was quite scary with radiation signs posted saying it was still active inside. We went back to the car and continued to the end of the path for our hike through "The Narrows". We started our 1.3 mile one way (1.5 hours) hike into the Wash to view the Pioneer Register, a wall that was signed by travelers from the late 1880's to the early 1900's. The hike was easy and actually very beautiful. We were able to walk through the rock formations that reached hundreds of feet in the air and tried to visualize what it might have been like back in the day when the pioneers came through. After walking what we think was about 2 miles and never seeing the register, we headed back to the car. Somewhat confused and tired, we were curious why we had not come across it. (We later found out.)
We then headed on the rest of the scenic 18 mile round trip where we ended up at the end of a dirt path called Capitol Gorge. We then discovered why we had not seen the register, we were on the wrong hiking path. As we looked at each other and said what the heck - lets do it again. The hike to "The Register" was quite nice and happened to be only a 30 minute round trip (0.6 miles). We were so relieved! After getting back to the car at 4pm, exhausted and hungry, we realized we had not had lunch yet. As we headed out of the park, 3 huge bucks passed in front of us. Bo has never seen horns so big and was wishing for his rifle! We took pictures as they ran up the mountain - amazing. While we watched them to see where they were going, the biggest buck we have ever seen come charging down the mountain in the direction of the other 3. (This buck was at least 10 points and about 30 inches across). We were hoping for a good fight but after some scratching in the dirt and staring at each other, they all laid down. After this excitement, we ventured to Subway (they are everywhere) for a long awaited lunch!
After filling our stomachs, we were off to Moab through the backcountry and mountains (65 MPH - still amazed) which took about 2.5 hours. We arrived at the Moab Valley Inn around 7:30pm. The MVI is an older hotel but seems to be very nice. Bo ventured out to pick up dinner while Lori sorted out the laundry. After eating, we are now typing our blog in the laundry room. We are settling in getting ready for our adventure tomorrow to the Canyonlands National Park and Arches National Park.
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