The trip started smoothly, a nice drive down my all time favorite highway I25 then to I70. Traffic wasn’t too bad and we only dealt with minimal snow. We ended up pressing on through Grand Junction and stopped to rest in Green River Utah. It kind of reminded me of an old mining town or something. There really wasn’t much, more of a stop for truckers and folks who didn’t want to pay the wild prices of hotels in Moab. It was a much different vibe there, but the views were half bad and the hotel we stayed in was relatively new.
Sunrise. Green River, Utah
I woke up early that morning to catch the sunrise. It was surprisingly cold, really wish I had packed my gloves as I walked away from the hotel for about a 1/2 mile. The view south is what you see above, it kind of looked like Mars. Yes of course I wish there was some moody clouds to go with the sunlight, but you can’t win every time. After an incredible continental breakfast (not really) we pressed on south for our next stop.
First on our list was Capital Reef National Park. Driving towards this park is mostly flat, but you can see mountains off in the distance, and the view is awesome. The park had a few hikes, which we took one that was only a few miles but the views were great.
Hickman Bridge Trail
Interesting rocks
View from Hickman Bridge Trail
Capital Reef National Park is a perfect place for all ages and skill levels of hiking. I would recommend it to anyone looking for a wild desert experience. There’s even some roads that you can drive if you don’t want to hike. I do suggest a higher profile vehicle though, just in case. After our hike we got some souvenirs, and a nice old man told us a back way to get to our next stop. Which I’ll speak more about in part 2 of the trip.