Cathedral Loop Trail

1152 October 3, 2024 Cathedral Loop Trail

I took a walk in and around the campground.  It was really windy and cold and not that much fun!  This is our view though.

We came to Capitol Reef National Park with the goal of seeing Cathedral Valley after talking to a guy when we were camped in Dinosaur National Monument. 

Capitol Reef is a 90-mile fold in the Earth’s crust.  “For 200 million years layers of sediment formed.  About 75-35 million years ago, tectonic forces uplifted them, forming the Waterpocket Fold- North America’s longest monocline.”  Since then, wind and water erosion have shaped this landscape.  This information comes form the Cathedral Loop Road Guide that we used to find our way.

First, we packed the Jeep with food and lots of water and then filled with gas and then we turned off of Route 24 onto Hartnet Road.  The first thing we saw was a sign that read:  Road is Impassable to Most Vehicles.  This is Tim’s favorite kind of sign.  It keeps a lot of people out!  Yesterday, all the trailheads and pullouts and historic sites for the National Park were stuffed with people.  This dirt and gravel 4WD road would definitely be the road less traveled!

The guidebook encourages a clockwise loop.  This means that at the beginning of the trip there is a place to ford the Fremont River.  If you cannot cross the river, you should not go.  We had no trouble crossing but we were glad to have our Jeep!

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After the river, we saw a grader moving in our direction.  Yay!  We had heard that there was a lot of gravel washboard road to traverse…this guy just made the road smooth!  Thank you, Mr. Operator!

There were lots of rocks!  The thing about this park is that it is incredibly geologically diverse.  It is very scientifically interesting.  There are lots of WOW rock formations but the thing that really gets me is the how and why.  How was this formed?  How did this get here?  What forces of nature conspired to create this?

Ranchers drilled a well for their livestock.  This is still an active well.  At this stop, we met two German guys.  They were traveling through in a rented Jeep.  I got to practice my German but it was quickly clear that I need lots of practice!  Fortunately for all of us, the guys spoke excellent English.  They may have given us ideas for a future adventure!

We passed through the Bentonite Hills.  Bentonite is a clay and when it is wet, it becomes extremely sticky and slick.  It makes the roads here impassable.  The sun was shining brightly on this day!

We took a spur road and then we turned back to get back on the loop.

At the Lower South Desert Overlook, we hiked ¼ mile to the viewpoint. 

We stopped again on a knoll for our breakfast.

Juniper bushes have blue “berries” that are actually drought resistant cones!

We hiked the 1-mile trail at Lower Cathedral Vally Overlook.  Most of the hike was across the scrubby desert and through a couple of washes.  The trail was marked by stone cairns.  Toward the end, there was a steep climb on loose rock up to the ridgeline.  Tim asked if I wanted to continue?!?  Yes!  We were almost there!  Tim was very patient as I carefully picked my way over the boulders and obstacles all the way up the incline. 

Why do we climb?   For this!  We had a beautiful view of the Temple of the Sun and the Temple of the moon in the valley below. 

Distance is so distorted here.  The visibility was perfect at 25 miles or greater.  You cannot appreciate the size of things until you are close!

Balanced rock.

We have seen lots of volcanic rock and lava flows but we have seen no volcanoes.

We took a spur road to the Upper Cathedral Vally Overlook.  We could see the huge cathedral-like monoliths.

At about 42 miles, we were at the high point of the Cathedral Loop and just beyond that, was the Cathedral Valley Campground.  There are just six first come-first serve sites.  They are free.  We didn’t get the one with the best view but we could walk through the trees and to the edge of the cliffs.

Pinyon tree.

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We settled for the evening, enjoying some plum cider from Etta Place.  We could hear our neighbors but it was peaceful nonetheless.  After sunset, we had our campfire and listened to some Jack Johnson.  Nice!