PART FIVE:
Selected Capitol Reef
National Park Viewpoints C:
Scenes from the Center
Our last page left us on the east side of Capitol Reef, now we are entering that canyon shown on the first Capitol Reef page, but we are reentering it from the east, so the fist thing we see is the side-canyons that come into this main canyon, like this one:
The Fremont River happily cuts through the sandstones here:
Just a mile or so further up the road (heading west), some of the named domes become visible, such as Navajo Dome:
The next named dome for which we take a bit of a walk is Capitol Dome, which we see as part of a short uphill climb along a very nice trail:
The light sandstone is the Navajo sandstone, and I got immediately interested in the drainages around these peaks:
To the right of this little canyon within a canyon is a dropoff point, and this little canyon enters the main canyon as a V shaped side canyon:
In the above photo there is a ledge, under which people can walk, that has some sizable boulders on it that look fully capable of rolling given the right shove by earthquake or water:
But there is more to this little climb than peaks and fascinating drainageways. There is also the opportunity to look out over the central part of the park:
Coming back down to ground level also allowed some nice views in the central part of the park, some along the Fremont River:
Looking out of the canyon westward, the rise that, as it continues, becomes the Aquarius Plateau, is visible (making it more apparent how glaciers and meltwaters from that plateau can push boulders into the entrance to this canyon):
And that brings us back to the western entrance, which is where we began this short excursion.
Don't forget, if you like the looks of this place, to also visit our 2001 walks in this park.
Go Back to First Capitol Reef Page: Entering Capitol Reef National Park from the west.
Go Back to Second Capitol Reef Page: The Waterpocket Fold.
Go to Grand Canyon National Park, North Rim (Arizona)
Go to Arches National Park, Utah
Go to Canyonlands National Park, Utah