NV/AZ/UT Roadtrip: Capitol Reef NP, Part 2

As I mentioned in earlier post,the only option to do here was the Scenic Drive. It was a beautiful drive though no matter what the weather. Incredible scenery and almost the park all to ourselves because of the rain. At the end of the drive, there was a shaded structure with picnic tables. We stopped there to have a snack and also to get out of the car, but it was so cold we were both shivering. Our fault because we came unprepared for winter conditions in late May.

After consuming our snacks, we looked around to see what else we could do there. I didn't realize there was a gorge there through the unpaved road until a bunch of cars slowly caravan from out of nowhere. That was when I noticed a sign that said there's a gorge that way, but there was a restriction with vehicle clearance. I was worried the rental that we were driving would not clear height issue, but we saw a Corolla came from there so that sealed it, we were going to drive the gorge.

We slowly drove through gravel path that was rapidly turning into puddles of mud. The gorge is just incredible. Despite the rain, we managed to enjoy this park to the max, this portion specially. The husband was on the lookout for petroglyphs when we saw the park ranger driving the opposite direction. We asked about the petroglyphs and he said there are some but now we needed to drive back out as this road was being closed at that moment. I suppose all this rain was making it difficult for everyone to reach the end of the gorge. So we had no choice but turn around and go back to where we came from.

The Gifford House was on the way back and we saw a sign that there would be pies. So despite the pounding rain, we got down and went in for some coffee and a strawberry-rhubarb pie to go.

On the way out, we found that the Petroglyphs Panel was along Highway 24 (the same one we needed to take to get to our hotel for the night) and we stopped there. We did not get out because the hubby saw it - I didn't - and kept on pointing at me so I took a shot, but I was probably shooting at the wrong spot.

Because of the rain, we passed by several waterfalls along the road.

And that's how the visit to Capitol Reef went. Someday, I want a return visit here. There plenty to see and do and I hope the old normal returns so we could go back to traveling.