Capitol Reef National Park and Route 24

Few people visit Capitol Reef National Park. I think that is only because it is located in the middle of nowhere. Its scenery is as breathtaking as the other 4 NPs in Utah.

View on Route 24.
A gooseneck. 28mm is not wide enough for it.
Castle Rock at the entrance to the Scenic Drive.
On the Scenic Drive. Capitol Reef is big, but there is only a 9-mile paved road to go inside the park. You pay your $5 fee in an envelope and then drop that into a box. No one is stationed there to collect your fee in person.
Interesting rock formations.


Doesn't this look like a painting of one's face?
Very dry climate. Clouds were gathering, but it never rained that day.




Driving back towards the entrance. Trees appeared where there was water.
A barn.
Trees. There are orchards at Capitol Reef where you can pick fruits. Apparently they were not in season yet.
Mormon's one-room school. It is more than 100 years old.
Indian's petroglyphs.
River. There is a 1-mile trail starting from here that goes to a natural bridge. It was a hot day, and an Indian couple who had just returned warned me to bring lots of water if I go. Because I'd visit Natural Bridges NM later, I opted not to take this hike. The white colored dome in the background might be the one which gives this NP its name (the US Capitol is white).
Rock formation on road to Waterpocket Fold. I wanted to see this 100-mile-long gigantic fold on earth so I set out to drive down there. However, about 50 feet into the unpaved road I turned around: I was already convinced neither my rental or me would survive the bumpy ride.
Route 24 outside Capitol Reef. Exposed were completely different sedimentations.

Threatening sky.
Rocks. They have cute names. One is called 'Prairie Dog', not sure whether it's the one on the right.

戴娆 《绽放》

这两天听《北京欢迎你》（奥运真的要来了！）听到自发轰鸣，需要听点别的来解一解。



这个戴娆，出道多年一直不是太红，不过声音倒是不错的。说到小戴，这世界真小。当年有一个校友回北京花一年的时间把医学博士读完，这期间呢就认识了刚刚出道的小戴。小戴亲赠亲笔签名CD一张，我亲眼见过，称谓写的是，XX大哥。想当年我还在电台放过她的歌，可惜我能力不够大，台子也太小，没把她捧红啊。

Grand Staircase - Escalante National Monument

From Bryce Canyon National Park to Torrey there are still some 110 miles. I left Bryce Canyon around 6pm, and didn't get to Torrey until 9:15pm. According to the owner of the little cabin I reserved, "it is bed time already." In between the two points, scenic Route 12 transverses the rolling terrain of Grand Staircase - Escalante National Monument. It was really a rewarding experience driving on Route 12, although it is sometimes winding and you have to be really concentrating on the road, not the scene.

An hour out of Bryce Canyon, the view is very different.

The sun is quite low by now.

At sunset.


Doesn't this look like the Great Smokies? I will post those pictures at a later time.



I captured the most beautiful scene with my eyes, not my camera. I was driving on the ridge of a hill at sunset. The road wound along, turning north and west. The land beside the road was filled with withered grass, having already gone through its life cycle by the end of June. It was a shimmering field of gold in the setting sun, sparkling lights reflected by the stalks undulating in a gentle breeze.

Bryce Canyon National Park

On my way from Panguitch to Bryce Canyon, I got really excited when I first saw Red Canyon. You can see why: red rocks everywhere!

This lady rode a motorcycle. Her family were on their motorcycle vacation. Turned out that she and her husband visited China almost 30 years ago! She'd be really surprised to see the new China if she were gonna go now!


Till I got to the Sunset Point of Bryce Canyon National Park (oh I skipped the Sunrise Point on the way in), I realized that this was the real excitement of the day. My first sight of Bryce Canyon:
Hoodoos everywhere!


Sentinel (I think it might be the skinny pointy hoodoo on the upper left corner)
Thors Hammer
Navajo Loop Trail
flora

fauna. Ignore what's hanging on his behind. He is attempted by food. Bad tourists!
Two Bridges
The clouds that caught us in the afternoon

It must be really difficult to grow in this place!
This must be Wall Street:
Now we need to go up! Navajo Loop has 167m elevation change.
Looking down. Hmm, apparently I didn't align my lens hood correctly.
Hoodoos
More hoodoos
Lucky lunch
The (white) alligator! (on top)
Grottos
Bryce Amphitheater seen from Bryce Point: left
middle
right. Yes, it's a hell of a place to lose a cow! (Mr. Ebenezer Bryce's answer to what he thought about the canyon.)
Now the power of my Tamron 18-250mm lens. Here is the wide angle. There is a road crew working on the trail on the lower right corner. But can you tell?
Here is the telephoto. What are they doing with all these boxes?
Picturesque. Down there lies the little town Tropic, where Mr. Ebenezer Bryce used to live.
Silent City


Yovimpa Point, very close to Rainbow Point. It's raining out there, but no rainbow.
Young branch on a pine tree on Bristlecone Loop Trail. I must have missed the 1600-year-old pine!

Agua Canyon. The hoodoo on the left looks like a person's profile.
Natural Bridge
Deer at twilight
Thus ends my visit to the beautiful Bryce Canyon National Park.