The second day of our trip to Southern Utah was just as great as the first. The only problem was that my (Julie) left achilles tendon was really stiff, swollen, and sore from hiking in the sand the day before. It kept giving out on me so we unfortunately had to skip one of the hikes I was most looking forward to, Lower Calf Creek Falls. But we’ll hit it next time.

So we headed to Capitol Reef National Park and took the Scenic Drive to Capitol Gorge. We drove up the gorge which is amazingly cool because you wind around on a dirt road surrounded by shear cliffs on either side most of the way. By the time we got to the trailhead at the end my ankle had loosened up enough to walk, so deeper into the gorge we went. It’s pretty neat and you can see a register of names high up on the cliff face.

After this we left the park and ate at a little place on top of a plateau. The food wasn’t that great, but the scenery was. We ate outside and played darts and horseshoes. It was just nice to take our time and not have to be anywhere.

We then stopped in at the Anasazi Museum. Kind of interesting, but it was mostly a place to kill time while my ankle finished healing.

The drive to Kodachrome, along with all of Highway 12, was just beautiful. We made it to the park about 45 minutes before sunset so we were able to get some spectacular light when the clouds decided to part. Hardly anyone else was in the park so it was quiet and serene. We swore we’d bring the kids back to camp in a few months and that plan is still in effect.

We decided we better get on towards the Bryce Canyon area in order to find somewhere to sleep. We ended up getting a little cabin and had a fun time taking goofy pictures before calling it a day.

Again, SO MUCH FUN!!! Such a beautiful part of our state where not too many locals go. It boggles my mind as to why. I’ll say it again, GO! You’ll thank me.   

To see more pictures of Day 2, click here and they start on Page 2.