Saturday September 16 to Durango

 Another beautiful day! We spent some time poking around Capitol Reef NP, one of our favorite parks. The Red rock cliffs are amazing! Lots of orchards here, too, mostly apples....some U-Pick.

We continued west on Rt 24 to Hanksville, then south on Rt 95. This is a great road!! First interesting stop was where we crossed the Colorado River and upper reaches of Lake Powell. We learned about a guy named Hike who lived around here. His town was buried under water. The lake is nowhere near here now, but you can see a launching place down below, high and dry. Views from here are awesome!

Next stop was Natural Bridges National Monument. Quite a surprise! A 10 mile loop road takes you to viewpoints and hikes to a number of natural bridges. We enjoyed lunch at their picnic area.

Continuing on 95 and just beyond the Colorado line, we leave the rocky formations and canyons and enter rich agricultural land. The mountains return as we come into Cortez and on to Durango. We reached our hotel at about 6:30. Dinner at a wild pizza place called Home Town Pizza.

Ride the rails tomorrow!