What a day! Left a bit later than usual because the visitor center at Cedar Breaks National Monument doesn’t open until 0900. UT-14 immediately enters a very scenic canyon, so I stopped multiple times to take pictures. At Red Hollow Trailhead I watched the movement of the sun change the color of the rock from bright pink to dull red.
I’m entering the Dixie National Forest and stop now and then to take pictures when the light is right.
Cedar Breaks is like Bryce, only higher (at 10,500’) and with much less traffic. Plenty of hoodoos, perhaps a bit less colorful since Bryce’s display a slightly lower geological layer. Lots and lots of pictures!
I left at about 1000, heading down to lower altitudes. Imagine my surprise finding a lava flow next to the road, when all else has been sedimentary. Panguiitch Lake is a busy man-made one on the Sevier River. Panguitch itself has wide streets, lots of motels, and a wide valley with plenty of irrigated fields. The river has a kind of milky surface, thanks to overnight rains.
I pass a tourism attraction – Butch Cassidy’s boyhood home, an outlaw who achieved immortality thanks to a movie with big-name stars, Circleville has some architecturally interesting houses. Kingston Canyon has some weird rock formations and no place to pull over for pictures. A bit farther along, I see 4 parallel contrails – a perfect clef, just needs some clouds for notes.
I have lunch in Koosharem, cross Wayne Summit (8400’), a finally drop down into the Fremont River valley, home of several towns and Capitol Reef National Park. I explore a bit and take lots more pictures.
Did you know that Capitol Reef has a Chimney Rock? This is #2 of 3 Chimney Rocks I will have seen before the end of the trip (as I explained to an Aussie tourist I met there).
And Capitol Reef also has some petroglyphs – of course I took pictures:
Finally got to the Motel Torrey in Torrey (elev 7000’) at 1600 and started to recover from a strenuous day at altitude.
For the day: 199.8 miles, for the trip 3437.6
Tomorrow: more exploration of Capitol Reef area, a scenic drive to Natural Bridges, and RON at Blanding.
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