8/22 - Utah Scenic Byway 12 and Capital Reef National Park (2)

A quick look at Capital Reef National Park

I reluctantly turned onto Utah 24 after my lunch break. Deep in my heart, I wished that the beautiful drive continued longer. But all beautiful things come to the end, a scenic drive is no exception.

I did not do much homework for the capital Reef National Park, as I knew I would just pass through the park without much time to explore. But as I approached the park on Utah 24, I realized this is a bad idea. The formation of big rock mountains at the park is beautiful and unique, I wished I had studied more and allocated more time for this park.

Heading towards Capital Reef NP on Utah 24

My stay at the park started with a short film at the visitor center. Capital Reef National Park got its name shortly after the Civil war. At that time, new settlers moved from the East coast toward the wilderness in the west. When they passed by, they realized this place is a natural military fortress (i.e. difficult to attack) by their experience in the army. Furthermore, the dome-shaped big mountains resembles the roofs of capital buildings, hence the name Capital Reef was coined.

Doom-shaped large rocks are the defining feature of Capital Reef NP
One doom connects to another....
A close-up shot

This is a big park that I visited only a very small portion. Exploring the large of the park requires hiking, for which I had no time. After a short discussion with the rangers at the visitor center, I decided to go on the scenic drive to the South of the visitor center. It is a 12-mile, unpaved road that takes me into the depth of high-rising rock formations. As I started the drive, soon I discovered that each of the dome-shaped mountains, as the rock piles in the Bryce Canyon National Park, has its unique shape. The wandering road cuts through valleys, setting up good viewing angels for various mountains. As this was an unpaved road, I had to drive slowly and had plenty time to take in the views from behind the driving wheel.

Looking up to the big rocks
Dark clouds gathered and provided a different flavor of view
End of the drive continues on with a hiking trail. But I had no time to explore.
Driving on the dirt road - An unique experience to me.
and it really makes the car dirty... Clouds were particularly beautiful on that day.

I turned around at the end of scenic drive - There was a trailhead for hiking, but I decided to skip. It started to drizzle a little bit as I followed the road back to the main road. As it was already 3 P.M. and I still had some distance to drive, I decided to stop exploring the park and headed straight East on Utah 24. I knew there were much more to see, but I wanted to complete my planned itinerary for the day.

Heading East into the rain.

Too bad that I had to leave this picturesque place in a hurry

This part of the country is really lightly visited. Compared to Zion or Bryce, I saw very few cars and visitors on the park road. Perhaps it is because the Capital Reef hides itself deep in the mountains. However, the view here is certainly not inferior to the other parks. I just scratched the surface in exploring its beauty during my short stay.

The rain, the rainbow, and the sunset

I continued on Utah 24 and then turned onto US-89, according to the plan. It showered intermittently. After leaving the mountainous area in the Capital Reef National Park, US-89 featured an open view in all directions. There were really few cars on that road. I counted less than 100 in my one-hour drive on the road. With the great open view and light traffic, it made me feel like I was traveling in a different space, and my car was the only remaining man-made object in the world. It was a weird feeling of solitude but also a pleasant driving experience.

On US-89, thanks to the open view, I could observe the rain like never before. I could see it rained at a particular area. The rain looked like silver silk hanging from the cloud atop, but it was also constantly moving and changing. There were three or four such rain spots surrounding the car, with various distance, size, and density. I sit within the grand stage prepared by the mother nature, observing the rain like never before - It was impossible for me to see scenes like this in overcrowded cities. From time to time, lightening connected the cloud above and the land below with a short, bright thin stripe - great special effects for this stage, but that was beyond my capability to capture this moment with a camera. Sometimes I could see from distance that I was going to drive into a rain spot, entered it as expected, and left in a few minutes. That was really interesting to me. I drove through this spectacular show with awe, and finally reached the intersection of I-70.

The rain fell here and there...
Sometimes like a thick curtain...
Sometimes like silk....

When I merged onto I-70 I briefly thought that I had taken a wrong turn. The interstate freeway here is very different from the interstates I knew in LA - always jammed, always busy. There were so few cars that I needed the sign to assure me that it was indeed I-70. I continued on I-70 to reach my terminal stop for the day, Green River.

Yes, this is the interstate highway. No cars.

While I did the grocery shopping, I again saw something that I have seen for many times but never saw it like on the day - the rainbow and the neon. At the parking lot of a grocery store, I saw a pair of complete, 180 degree rainbow and neon next to each other. It was so beautiful, and it was unfortunate for me that I never appreciated it this way. Towards the end of the day, I again gazed with amazement at the sunset at the street of Green River.

The most complete rainbow and neon I have ever seen in my life.
...followed by a glorious sunset.

Overall, it had been a day for me to re-discover the beauty of simple undeveloped nature - the endless open view, the rain, the rainbow, and the sunset. All are common concepts yet I never realized they can be this beautiful growing up in crowded cities. I was a nice eye-opening experience with unfamiliar ordinary.

I checked into a Motel-6 here for the night. It provided a decent room for budget-minded travelers, and I thought I could really use some budget control after I calculated my expenditure the day before. There was still a long road ahead.