CAPITAL REEF NATIONAL PARK, UT

From Hanksville, UT we moved only 48 miles and spent 2 days at Capitol Reef, Utah’s second largest National Park.  It is long and narrow and follows the Waterpocket Fold, a 100-mile rust-red wrinkle (or giant buckle) in the earth’s crust.  It is not really a reef.  The local word reef referred to any rocky barrier to travel.  Here the Fold and its eroded jumble of colorful cliffs, massive domes, soaring spires, stark monoliths, twisting canyons and graceful arches are preserved.  It was home to a historic Mormon settlement, countless narrow canyons, and some of the most surreal beautiful rock formations in the Southwest.  We ended the day picking apples in one of the orchards that are now maintained by the National Park Service.  You can eat all you want of the fruit while in the orchard, and pay only $1 per pound for what you remove. Here are some pictures of Capital Reef National Park.