One issue with being a travel blogger is that you might be on the road for days at a time, thus preventing some timely blog posts. I hope that you will agree that this trip was worth the wait. I cannot believe that I have never ventured South to the incredible area of Capitol Reef National Park. In my quest for doing new things this year, I added a trip to this beautiful area on to my list of things to do. I am so glad that I did. Capitol Reef certainly delivered in the beauty and natural surroundings department. It's hard to put into words the beautiful scenery. How does one describe an area of the country that God spent extra time on?
Driving into Capitol Reef (which is about 3.5 hours from Park City, by the way) was the beginning of the scenery slide show. Beautiful red rocks are at every turn in the road. This particular National Park is one of the least visited in the country. I am not sure of the reason, perhaps because of it's close proximity to the "bigger" parks such as Bryce Canyon and Zion. However, it would be a shame for folks to miss this park. It's an area that is so different from say, Zion National Park. The geography and rock formations will blow you away.
Since we arrived in the afternoon, we decided that the first day in the park would be more of a driving tour. The Visitor Center is a great starting off point to lead you into which direction and activity that you want to embark on. We decided that for the first time we would take the scenic drive. This drive is approximately 20 miles round trip. Stay on it until the end as this is by far the best scenery of all. You may see some signs along the way that deter you, but all you have to do is look up into nature. If the skies are clear, proceed on your way.
Around every bend in the road was a surprise and elicited another ohh and ahh. It was amazing to see so much nature and variations in the view all tucked into one park. We wrapped up this day by checking into the Capital Reef Resort (www.capitolreefresort.com). Overlooking the red cliffs and 1 mile from Capitol Reef National Park, this casual resort is 3 miles from the quaint town of Torrey. The rooms were comfortable, spacious and the resort itself had an awesome hot tub which will be quite the treat after hiking in the red rocks all day. After unpacking our bags, we headed into the town of Torrey to check out a great restaurant for dinner called Cafe Diablo (http://cafediablo.net). This little gem is completely unexpected when you look at what surrounds it. It's got amazing gourmet food. Everything from Rattlesnake Cakes to Pumpkin Seed Trout. Every bite of my Watermelon and Feta Salad to start was amazing. This was followed up by Pomegranate Ribs and some Butternut Squash Raviolis which were the special that day. Each bite was embedding such fond memories in my taste buds that I can still cherish it to this day. It's making me want to jump in the car and head back down.
“One cannot think well, love well, sleep well, if one has not dined well.” ― Virginia Woolf, A Room of One's Own
Until tommorow's hike & adventure,
P.A. Walker
