May 8

There are two road paths from Moab to Capitol Reef NP. One is to take US 191 south out of Moab, then turn west on Utah 95, which goes to Hanksville, the gateway to the park area. I can tell you from past experience, route 95 is scenic beyond belief. You have to drive it some time. The other route is to go back north to I-70, go west to exit 149 (Utah 24), then turn south to Hanksville. Not as scenic, but it is the faster route. I chose the Interstate, because I will take route 95 tomorrow, as I am now “turning around” to head back east.

There are 15 hiking trails around the Fruita (aka Visitor Center) region. More can be found in the farther reaches of the park, but many of those require 4WD vehicles to get to their trailheads. The parking lot for Hickman Bridge was full. This is a 133-foot long natural bridge. At only 2-miles RT and 400’ elevation, it gets a lot of attention. Hikers are allowed to go under and around the bridge, but not on top (same rule at Arches). But I felt I had seen my share of arches/bridges the last two days, so headed to the Capitol Gorge area. Fewer cars/people here, because one has to put their vehicle through a nasty stretch of unpaved road. To compound the problem, the width of the road was not exactly up to Interstate standards. My objective was to hike the Golden Throne trail. It receives the park’s highest level of difficulty (as does some other hikes). The view at the top was worth the energy and time spent. I only saw seven other hikers in the two hours, which was fine by me. Plenty of slickrock sandstone to keep one focused.

The Sulpher Creek Trail starts behind the park’s VC. There was no sign as to where the trail started, so I just followed the path of the water. Turns out this added about 300 yards and two stream crossings to the official trail (which I discovered on the way back). The canyon became tighter and tighter as I worked my way upstream. Finally, around the final bend was the waterfall. It was not as tall or as wide as most of the other waterfalls I have seen on this Quest, but coming out of what seemed to be a big hole in a sandstone cliff made it beautiful. With overhanging cliffs along the way, plenty of shade if one needed that. And the wind never let up, keeping the trek very cool. Somehow on the return I “stumbled” across the proper trail as I started to come out of the canyon. At this point, a Lime Kiln from 1900 was in front of me. Lime is needed to make mortar and cement, and lower acidity of agricultural fields. It is also placed on the lower trunks of trees to keep insects and disease away, which was very helpful for the fruit farms in this valley.

All in all, another wonderful experience at one of our National Parks. The town of Torrey is just 10 miles away, with all the amenities travelers need. Just be sure to make reservations far enough ahead.