Capitol Reef National Park, July 2018

Following a great week ago in Colorado that saw me make two visits to Mount Evans and another to Brainard Lake, the time came for the second leg of my summer road trip. This was to be an epic drive of more than 2,500 miles through seven states in six days, hitting four National Parks and one National Monument while also camping four nights. It would be by far my longest drive by myself, and also my first time camping alone.

I don't think most people seek out as many "firsts" later in life as they should, preferring instead the comfort of the familiar and routine. And while I don't claim to be Teddy Roosevelt by any stretch, seeking the source of uncharted Amazonian rivers at the age of 55, I do still like to discover and experience new things.  So I was eager for this expedition, but also a bit anxious. What if my car broke down? What if I got lost on a hike?  What if my campsite was attacked by a bear, or aliens, or a chupacabra? Valid questions -- well, mostly valid. But Danelle had my itinerary, and I expected to have cell phone service often enough to check in regularly. So I vowed not to make any foolish decisions, and after dropping Zak and Taryn off at the airport for their flight home (slightly disappointingly but not all that surprisingly, this adventure didn't appeal to either of them) I was on the road headed to my first destination: Capitol Reef National Park in Utah.

I was unfortunately greeted by mostly overcast skies, in which conditions I often struggle to shoot landscapes.  Nonetheless, I managed to get a solid seven-image panoramic of Capitol Gorge at the end of the park's helpfully named Scenic Drive.

This rock feature was named Egyptian Temple, quite possibly by someone who had never been to Egypt nor seen a temple.

Some sunlight shone through for this shot of the Slickrock Divide.

The best place to go for sunset seemed to be a spot called Sunset Point.  Like Scenic Drive, I love that folks kept the names of places here simple and straightforward.  The clouds were thick to the west, but a bit less so to the east.

Twilight didn't offer up a lot in the way of color in the sky, but the terrain itself took on some interesting hues.

Following an uneventful night of camping (the best kind, in my opinion) and a hike to Hickman Bridge to catch the sunrise the next morning, it was time to head to my next stop: Death Valley National Park.  But on the way out of Capitol Reef I pulled over several times to take advantage of the early morning light for more shots, like this one of the sun just beginning to rise above the rock formations.

Six images stitched together from Panorama Point.  Yet another helpful name!

This tree was obviously no longer growing.  But even in death, it seemed like it intended to stick around for a while.

Twin Rocks, shown in context with their surroundings...

...and a bit more isolated.

The scenery at Capitol Reef was similar to the other National Parks in Utah, and therefore beautiful.  But it seemed to lack that signature feature of its brethren -- the hoodoos of Bryce Canyon, The Narrows of Zion, and the namesake elements of Canyonlands and Arches.  But still in all a solid start to my journey, in no small part because nothing ate me in my sleep.