Utah Spring 2017 Upper Capitol Reef

On the road west of Bozeman, finally getting out of the heavy snow that delayed our departure

After finding a self-serve car wash in northern Utah, we were able to get some of the grime off the trailer before getting to the Pony Express RV Park outside of Salt Lake city.

Easter morning, a tradition of sharing surprise Easter nests that started decades ago.

Susie had to take this photo, at a so-called Rest Stop near Scipio, Utah the next afternoon, to demonstrate how small our trailer really is.

We made it to Torrey by late afternoon, staging so we could get into the Fruita campground in Capitol Reff Nat'l Park the next morning.

A better view of rhe scenery behind 1000 Lakes RV Park

Looks like Susie has all the dishes cleaned up in time to relax for the evening.

The next morning, we drove the 15 miles to Fruita, found a good campsite and took off hiking into the lower part of Sulphur Creek Canyon.

Nice blooming claret cup cactus.

A lime kiln, established by Mormon settlers over 100 years ago.

The canyon narrowing up.

We arrive at a pouroff that is not easily passible. We had expected to turn around here, about 0.7 miles from the trailhead.

A closer look reveals that there is no easy way up and arround. We did find the bypass route down canyon, but that is on steeply sloped dirt.

Coming back down Sulphur Creek. Nice to see clear water.

So after a short hike up and back Sulphur, we decided that more hiking was better, so we headed for the Hickman Bridge trail. It is about 2 miles of easy hiking to a super natural bridge.

Some of the scenery along the way.

The natural bridge itself is huge. Probably 100 - 150 feet across at the base.

A view from behind the bridge, at the start of a little loop trail.

More nice scenery

On the way back, we decided to check out some smaller natural bridges near the trail. They were formed in the same drainage as Hickman Natural Bridge.

Susie captured this view underneath one of the bridges.

I have already forgotten the name of this shark tooth formation but it is hard to miss as one returns to the trailhead.

The next morning, we decided to take a more seious hike. Despite what the guidebooks say, Navajo Knobs is about 10 miles round trip and probably 2200+ feet of climbing. So we were underway by 8 am.

The trail follows part of the route to Hickman Bridge, but runs a bit north of that route.

Susie altering her hiking wardrobe. This day would see us adjust clothing several times.

A nice knob.

Another view of Hickman Bridge, dead center of the photo. It is not obvious from this angle.

A little over 2 miles into the hike, you can go out to a viewpoint of the campground where we are staying. But if you look in the upper right of the photo, you can see lots of canyons just waiting to be explored.

The trail goes thru a flatter zone for a while to give one a breather.

Susie drinking in the scenery. If you look at the ramp on the left of the photo, we will be following that ramp for a long ways, out to the small knob at the far left of the photo.