Monday, September 15, 2014

The Capitol Reef Visitor's Center has a beautiful view of a feature named the "Castle".  The vertical spires of the Castle were formed in the Wingate Sandstone layer deposited 200 million years ago when this area was a shallow sea.  That's right, we attended the geology talk.  There are actually 18 layers visible in different areas of the park spanning the last 290 million years.

The park surrounds something called the Waterpocket Fold, a flexure of the earth's crust in the heart of the Colorado Plateau.  Several domes located in the park were created by erosion in the upper layer of Navajo sandstone that was reminiscent of the Capitol Building dome. The fold is a 125-mile long barrier to east-west travel.  A barrier to travel was sometimes called a reef, hence, the park's name, Capitol Reef.

Beautiful panoramas were to be found in every direction.

One of the park's more prominent features was Chimney Rock.  The sandstone pillar stands 400 feet tall and appears ready to topple at any moment.

Back at the coach, we watched the cloud drama unfold.  At one point there was a very light sprinkle of rain and a beautiful double rainbow that appeared to be melting as the setting sun painted the clouds below it a soft pink.

Later, as the sun set, the colors continued to impress until it was finally dark!

That is rain in the distance.  It's the end of monsoon season, although they only receive 7 inches a year.