The Big 5 Finale: Capitol Reef National Park

We couldn't leave Utah without making it to the last national park in the state: Capitol Reef. Although it was a good 3.5 hours from our house, we planned it out so that we could hit Grand Staircase - Escalante National Monument on our way back, killing two birds with one stone. 

Our first stop in Capitol Reef was Cassidy Arch, a moderate 3 mile hike where the end destination was a natural arch, yup you guessed it. We decided to do this trail because this we'd actually be able to walk on top of the arch, something we haven't been able to do yet in any of the other national parks. 

Turns out this spot is pretty popular for repelling because there was a ton of groups waiting to repel down through the arch. 

This was the view from the other end of the ledge, we drove in on the road below.

One thing really unique about Capitol Reef was the blue/green sand. I tried to capture the layer in the picture below but like most of the scenery, pictures simply don't do it justice. 

We made our way back to the visitor center and proceeded with our plan for the day, we'd take a scenic drive down the entire length of the park and a dirt road that would put us in Grand Staircase - Escalante National Monument for the second half of the day. Without cell service, we were navigating based off the physical map of the park and managed to take a few wrong turns but quickly course corrected to find the right route.

The drive took about 2 hours as expected and as soon as the road turned to dirt, we helped two stuck motorcycles get out of sand pits. I instantly got nervous that Alejandro (my Mazda3) was going to get stuck but we stayed positive and hopeful since the ranger said we wouldn't have a problem in 4 wheel drive.

This drive was great, we got to see more blue sand and wind up the switchbacks to get a top-down view of where we drove through. 

Our original plan for Escalante was Lower Calf Creek Falls trail but at this point it was 4:30pm and sunset was around 6:30pm so we were crunched for time and wouldn't be able to do the 6 miles comfortably. Instead, we opted for Upper Calf Creek falls which was half the distance and the same end-destination but just a different viewpoint. 

I wanted to see a waterfall since we hadn't done any hikes that had one yet. It was pretty spectacular that this was in the middle of the desert. 

I tried to convince my co-pilot that this was the fountain of youth so I started splashing water on my face. Who knows! It was refreshing after a long day.