Utah: August 2020: Day 6: Capitol Reef National Park

Utah: August 2020

August 2020: Day 6: Capitol Reef

Might have been the best meal of the whole trip.

I'm not the only one who photographs food.

Scramble was fresh. Croissant wasn't earth-shattering, but it wasn't bad either.

WTF. People STEAL hand sanitizer?!?! :angry:

The road and the Fremont River as you start up the trail to Hickman Bridge.

Almost to Hickman Bridge. Turn right just before this sign if you want the shorter route.

Underneath Hickman Bridge.

Framed by the arch, errr, bridge.

Uinta chipmunks!

Looks like we found the boss.

Hickman Bridge.

Wider angle.

Southern end of the scenic drive's paved section.

Some Californians pulled up in a F-250 so big you could have parked a Ford Focus in it.

Woah, someone actually had an Essential Phone??

It's pretty spectacular.

Marmots here too?

Slackers Burger Joint.

Hello diabeteus.

Slackers Burger Joint.

As tasty as it looks, it was actually fairly average in execution. That said, average isn't bad compared to all the tourist crap.

More crazy sun rays.

The Milky Way as viewed from Panorama Point, Capitol Reef National Park.

A row of passing cars competes with the night sky.

The best meal of the trip came at Wild Rabbit Cafe. Fresh ingredients and a friendly crowd, with plenty of regulars. Should have gone back, but instead made some poor life choices and opted to try other places in the area-- oops.

Much like Canyonlands National Park, Capitol Reef National Park's primary tourist area covers only a tiny fraction of the park. In this case, the state highway parallels the Fremont River, leading to a surprisingly green and pleasant path through the red and tan rocks. Hickman Bridge, as short a hike as it is, was a quick reminder that this pleasant patch is still in very rugged country.

Drove down the Scenic Drive afterwards, which heads south, away from the Fremont River, and more into scrub and red rocks, things that are common around here. Still lives up to its name, but not as unique. And that night was off to Panorama Point for some more astrophotography. Dark has new meaning here, even more so than at Arches or Bryce Canyon. Truly an experience.

The rest of the day's fooding was Slackers Burger Joint. They talk up their ghost pepper cheese and whatnot, then proceed to completely hide the cheese in a pile of jalapenos. Why you would do that eludes me. Dinner prior to astrophotography was at La Cueva near the hotel-- the margarita was welcome after the day's heat, the quality of the beef in the bistek was a step above the tourist garbage in Moab, but the meal itself was quite disappointing.