Zion National Park, Watchman Campground, Utah
Today was a lot of driving, but broken up by passing thru 2 different National Parks and a National Monument. (What's the difference between a Park and a Monument? Answer: A Park is proclaimed by congress and a monument is proclaimed by a president).
Driving thru Capitol Reef National Park.
Capitol Reef National Park is unique because it's really about two things: the scenery and the pioneers who settled there. The rock colors and formation are amazing.
Capitol Reef got its name because the initial Mormon settlers thought one of the rock formations reminded them of the Capitol Building. The Reef name because the rocks form a waterpocket fold which is reminiscent of a barrier reef in an ocean.
Within the park is one of the original Morman settlements. The park is still maintaining the fruit orchards that the settlers planted here in the 1880's.
Today we were able to pick our own apricots off the trees. (Free if you just eat them right there, $2 a pound to carry them out). We opted to just eat them off the tree.
This park also sells little pies made from the fruit trees. Yum!! Canyonland has better scenery, but Capitol Reef has pie...so I call it a tie.
The bottom picture is a Mormon family cabin. They lived here with 13 children!! Only made it a year before moving on. Gee, I wonder why? (Seriously, how do you fit 15 people in this space?). Everyone...turn!
Driving thru Grand Staircase-Esclante National Monument is surreal. It feels like you are on the Thunder Mountain ride in Disneyland for a good hour. Up and down, snaking back and forth, while surrounded by colorful rock formations. It's the quintessential scenery from the Westerns we watched as kids.
We pulled into Zion about 5. We usually enter Zion from the Western side. Today, we entered from Checkerboard Mountain on the Eastern Side. As luck would have it we were greeted by a herd of big horn sheep grazing. Loved the babies on the rocks! These guys are so sure footed on these slippery sandstone rocks.
We have a sweet little camp spot in the park. Our plan is to chill out for a couple of days and enjoy the park.
We rode our bikes into town in search of something for dinner. On our way back we woefully tried to take selfies while riding. It was a pitiful attempt, maybe something to do with the Polygamy Porter.
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