We tried to leave earlier in order to get a first-come, first-served spot in Fruita Campground which lies in Capitol Reef National Park about 130 miles and 3 hours away from Bryce Canyon. We continued our drive along Hwy 12, the National Scenic Byway. We drove through more spectacular red rock cliffs, desert mesas, and canyons in various shades of rock.
Then it started to get really interesting. One stretch of road was on a narrow ridge with drop-offs of thousands of feet on either side. There were black basalt boulders scattered everywhere, evidence of past volcanic activity that was brought here by glaciers millions of years ago. There were very twisty stretches with 10% grades. Then the scenery changed dramatically with the rapid rise in elevation. We rose to over 9600 feet in elevation. The only trees that seemed to be able to grow at this height were lush forests of aspen, and an occasional fir tree. We saw a few deer grazing and some cows that wandered at the edges of the forests. The view down into the valley was amazing.
We then again descended several thousand feet into the Waterpocket Fold, which is a giant, 100-mile buckle in the Earth’s crust, a warping of rock that occurred 50-70 million years ago.
We got a camping spot at historic Fruita, right next to the Freemont River which runs near this amazing geologic formation. The Freemont River has created a fertile and lush corridor in the middle of a harsher desert environment. Fruita was once a small Mormon community with several families from about 1883-1941. The original Gifford Homestead still stands as a little museum and store, along with a one-room schoolhouse and a few other buildings. Fruita is listed on the National Register of Historical Places. Fruita is also known because of its extensive, old orchards which include, almond, walnut, plum, pear, apple, apricot, and peach trees. The National Park Service still maintains the orchards. When fruit is in season visitors and campers can pick and eat all the fruit they want while wandering in the orchards. While we were there, only plums were ripe. After sampling a few, using ladders and long-handled pickers, we had a good time collecting two pounds for $2. Mule deer were everywhere in the orchards and campground.
A large thunderstorm rolled in with a decent amount of rain. In the desert one must always be on guard because of the threat of flash floods. Thankfully there was no flooding at the campground. When the rain stopped for a while after dinner, we hiked the Freemont River Trail which follows the river bank for about ½ mile and then climbs 1 mile up red rock where one has awesome valley overlooks. The variety of rock colors, formations, layering, erosion patterns, etc., continue to amaze us.
It rained all night. By mid-morning it had stopped enough to get out. We decided to do the 16-mile roundtrip scenic drive that follows the Waterpocket Fold formation. It is paved but there are two interesting dirt roads that branch off and lead to trailheads. One is the Grand Wash Road. It took us through some very scenic canyons and past some old settler’s uranium mines. At the end of the road, was a spot between cliffs that had the most amazing echoes. If one said something on one side of the canyon, it sounded as if he was speaking directly out of a sheer cliff face high up on the opposite side. Neither the volume or clarity was diminished whatsoever!
We then continued on to the Capitol Gorge Road, a very windy drive through another canyon. At the end we hiked the trail along a wash to the Pioneer Register and the Tanks. The Pioneer Register is an area on a cliff face in a narrow canyon that settlers inscribed their names on as they passed through the gorge. We saw names with dates in the late 1800s. The Tanks are shallow pools worn in sandstone that collect rainwater. We found them after scrambling up a very interesting rocky trail. We even heard and saw frogs in some of the pools. It was such an idyllic little spot between the rocks and there wasn’t another soul around. We hung out and had a snack. We saw even more new and interesting rock formations both big and small. They different layers are amazing and the way they happened to erode sometimes boggle the mind. It started to drizzle again and got a bit windy. We headed back to the truck and drove back to the campsite for some lunch.
After lunch we headed out Hwy 24 east to see the old Fruita schoolhouse. It is a one-room building of logs and mud that was used to teach 1st-8th grade until 1941. Then we hiked 2 miles roundtrip up to the Hickman Bridge, a 133 foot natural bridge. On the way back we stopped at the Petroglyphs, carved pictures of animals and people in headdresses that are about 1000 years old. Unfortunately, some of the sandstone had chipped away parts of the neat pictures. Directly across the street was another of the 19 orchards. We picked another 3 ½ pounds of plums. These were bigger, riper and sweeter then the first batch.
The boys made us a little scavenger hunt through the campground after dinner. Later we attended a ranger program on the geology of Capitol Reef NP. This was the final requirement for the boys to get another Junior Ranger patch.
The Davids' Cross-Country Trip 