Capitol Reef is, as I'm sure you've guessed, not really a reef at all, but is so called because the early settlers thought it looked a bit like one, and I suppose it does, in a way. Only, you know, without the water...and the fish. In reality it is an arid, rocky wilderness, having as its centrepiece a series of smooth-sided rock formations that together are known as the Waterpocket Fold. It is the least popular of all Utah's national parks, which seems a shame, because we liked it very much, although it was quite nice not to have to fight past fellow tourists all the time. The Reef felt more authentically Western than, say, Monument Valley, which, though incredible, suffers a little through overexposure. It also, apparently, used to be a favoured hangout of Butch Cassidy and his Hole in the Wall gang, which makes it well worth seeing in my opinion.
We had some fun shouting things at Echo Cliff, which is exactly what you think it is, and took a good look at some of the abandoned buildings left over from when the Mormons settled here, including a one-room school building so small that it made Sark school seem like Eton. Capitol Reef is also home to some truly remarkable 'petroglyphs' - pictures etched into the cliff-face by the Fremont Indians more than 1000 years ago. As one of the recurring images is a bighorn sheep, it is thought that the Indians
carved the symbols in response to a famine, hoping to conduce the gods to provide more game to hunt. But who knows - it could have just been graffiti.
The following day we went to Bryce Canyon, which is an extremely odd place; an eerie landscape of jutting red rock pillars called 'hoodoos' that are quite enchanting. These sandstone sentinels keep watch over dramatic vistas of the Utah desert that sweep in all directions to the horizon. It's very beautiful, in a weird sort of way. Also very orange. 'Bryce Canyon' is a misnomer, as it is not really a canyon at all, but I can see how they made the mistake. The other part of the
name recalls Mormon settler Ebenezer Bryce, who memorably declared, with a delicate sense of understatement, that it would be 'a helluva place to lose a cow'.
Bryce Canyon is higher than anywhere I've ever been before, and I've certainly been feeling some of the giddy effects of the altitude. It probably doesn't help that I've spent the majority of my life at more or less sea level (actually in the sea as often as possible), although Scarlett seems relatively unaffected, so maybe I'm just being pathetic. Fortunately we only spent a few hours there before descending to a less ridiculous altitude, so it's all good.
That's your lot for now. We only have a few days left on the road before we return to Los Angeles and then head back to Boston, and then home. A week to go. Bet you're excited.
- Adam
No comments:
Post a Comment