Our second day at Capitol Reef began with a hike to Hickman Bridge. It is one of the top rated hikes in the park. It begins beside the Fremont River and ends under a large arch at the top of the climb. You can see the stairs that start the climb next to the creek in the middle of the photo.
About two thirds of the way up to the Hickman Bridge, there is a small double arch that is very small. You can see people standing under the arch.
Here we are on the trail where we got our first view of Hickman Bridge.
A short descent below the Hickman Bridge provided a much clearer view of the arch.
This is the full span of the arch as seen from a position below the arch. You can also see the cliffs in the distance behind the arch.
The Hickman Bridge trail was a fairly steep trail in some places. Here is one example of a quick climb.
We got a surprise look at a huge mural carved into a cliff on the opposite side of the Fremont River. On the right you can see a large 3D carving of a mountain on the side of the cliff. To the left you can see a smaller mountain as well. There were many details that do not show up in this photo. If you compare the cliff to the people in the foreground, you can see that the mural is quite large.
Here we are at the end of the hike back down at the Fremont River.
The Fremont River continues through the park to other beautiful sites down river.
Our second hike of the day was the Petroglyph Trail. The trail is a boardwalk that follows a cliff that has many ancient petroglyphs. Many are harder to see. This photo shows some of them in darker colors across the flat part of the rock.
In the center of this photo, you can see the etchings in the rocks.
You can see that the boardwalk was a much easier hike.
Next we went to Panorama Point. It is a high spot in the middle of a valley that provides spectacular views of the surrounding mountains. The variation in colors and shapes is amazing.
Here is a concave shape in red in a mesa.
Then a white jutting out place.
And finally a picture window to blue mountains and blue sky on the horizon.
Not far from Panorama Point was a canyon called Goose Necks. If you could look from above, the name would be obvious because the canyon is a series of large bends that look like connected goose necks.
In these photos you can only see the bends in the canyon and the colors.
This closeup gives you a sense of the sharp turns and a sample of the mix of shades and hues
Here is another that shows mostly browns and reds.
In this one, you can almost see the tight s turn the canyon makes And now the colors have changed again.
We went to Sunset Point after the Goosenecks. The strange thing about this hike is that you hike to the east rather than to the west. Since it was later in the day, we began to understand why. As spectacular as the sunset might be, the changing light of the setting sun provides a second show as the colors of the canyon shimmer, shine, and change as the sun goes down.
Sunset Point is the brown Rock in the center of this picture. If you sit on the far western side at sundown, the walls of the canyon provide a 360 degree view that no Imax screen will ever match.
This wide shot only covers about a third of the view from sunset point.
In this close up of the previous shot, you can see the vast array of colors that dance and display themselves in the setting sun.
We said goodbye to Sunset Point as we prepared to go to our final hike for the day.
Our final hike was a challenge hike for us. The Chimney Rock Trail is a mesa climb and tour. We knew we would not complete the trail because of its steepness and length. We decided to see how far we could go.
The trail teases you with an easy beginning over a flat dirt path.
It entices you with a view of Chimney Rock that changes angles every few minutes of the hike.
After less than a half mile, you realize you have made a significant climb. This was about where we stopped. We had already climbed at least two of the mesas sediment layers
When we got back down, we saw that there were still multiple sediment layers to conquer. We enjoyed what we had done. Mostly we had many questions about how al the layers got to be there, and how it seemed that not that far away you could not see the same layers in adjacent mesas or mountains.
All in all, a fun day with six very different hikes.