Stretching from just west of Hanksville, Utah south and west for almost 100 miles, the Capitol (yep, spelled with the "O") Reef National Park was named because cowboys trying to drive their herds found the multitude of canyons and sheer rock faces impenetrable--and named them "Reefs," their use of a local word to express their frustration with navigating in this harsh but beautiful place. "Capitol" describes the many white cliffs and their windblown and water carved faces and flutes and curves that some said resembled the US Capitol building.
We spent three days in and around various parts of this Park, a spectacular and rugged area of wild and weird shapes, huge canyons, twisting backroads and paths--many unsafe in rain storms as the water backs up then roars through the narrow canyons. The wind has twisted the pinyon pine into some unique gargoyle shapes. The cliff faces change colors as one moves west and with the light. Deep dark browns, almost purple,chalk white--with the full palate of colors in between. Sometimes the colors within a given rock face changed by layer. Blue skies, great white cumulus clouds, and green pinyon' pines, some stunted by the wind and lack of water, provided a colorful backdrop in many places. In some canyons along the Fremont River huge and very old cottonwood trees, bent and gnarled after 100's of years fighting the wind, provided great green canopies that almost covered the road as it curved to follow the path of the river through the deep and narrow chutes.