Grand Wash

The early morning in shadows

Thursday the 12th, we rose early and got out quick.  We were both excited.  Our plan was to walk the Grand Wash in Capitol Reef National Park.  

We have taken this walk a couple of times before, and to me, it is the best of all day hikes.  I don't know how, or where you would find anything to beat it.  We arrived around 7:30 am at the trail head on Hwy 24 east of the visitor center by a few miles.  Grand Wash is a 5 mile round trip walk, but to my liking it is relatively level with little elevation change.  We were the first to arrive that morning, and indeed, until we reached the halfway point, we didn't see another person .  As we returning back down the wash, we ran into more and more people as the sun rose higher.   

The early morning was glorious.  It was cool enough for me to wear a windbreaker and long pants.  The shadows as the sun began its climb highlighted the character of the cliffs and rock formations.  Above, the sky was a true Western blue. The mighty rock walls on each side of the wash at times tower 300 to 400 feet on each side, and narrow in on you near the middle of the walk.  All that is heard is the light wind,  and the songs of the cliff swallows and the canyon wrens.  We strolled slowly and took in as much of it as we could, stopping often to point at one spectacular view after another.  We saw trees growing out of what seemed to be sheer rock, beautiful flowers of many types, and rocks carved by wind and water that no human artist could match.

As we moved through the wash, I began to think a nickname for this hike might be the Wow! Walk.  We said "Wow" pretty often as we walked along.  This day hike alone is worth the trip to Capitol Reef National Park.  What a great morning.