As plans for the trip were being made, the idea was to do a "loop" through southern Utah, going from Zion National Park to Bryce National Park, then over to the Moab/Canyonlands National Park/Arches National Park area, finally turning south towards Monument Valley. These were the parks I was familiar with, but as I mapped out the route I saw Capitol Reef and thought to myself "cool, another park we can drive through on the way." Then I didn't give it much thought after that, other than it being another spot on the map.
The drive over from Bryce (going through a corner of Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument on the way) was spectacular. We pulled into the Torrey, Utah, where we were spending the night, late in the afternoon, and decided to continue on and explore the area a bit before settling in for the night.
We drove into the park and were immediately struck by the beauty of the area. Spectacular cliffs and domes lined the road. When we turned down a short side road I saw this lone tree and had to take a few shots of it silhouetted against the moody evening sky...
Turning and facing west, I liked the blue sky peeking out through the clouds with the moon present as well....
Then turning back towards the east I was drawn towards the spectacular clouds...
That morning we took the scenic drive that included a trip through the Capitol Gorge area of the park before heading down the road towards Moab. I can say without reservation that Capitol Reef was one of the highlights of the trip, and I would not hesitate to go back there again and explore the area further.
Nikon D7000, Nikkor 18-55 DX
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