Capital Reef - Hickman Bridge Trail

Saterday we decided to get out of town and take a day off since DarRell has been working NON-STOP and is just plain burned out. I've been wanting to head out to Wayne County for some time now and everyone of the kids have made a trip out with DarRell to Torrey while he's been working there. He needed to go take a bill out there and do a bit of repairs so we decided to head out during a weekend and enjoy some time out there as a family. I spent some time online looking through websites looking for something fun that we could all do as a family. Since Capitol Reef is just barely outside of Torrey, i decided on a nice little trail hike that we could all do. I feel so guilty now knowing that Capitol Reef is only a hour away and super accesable and we've never been out there to enjoy it. After looking through all the many trails and hikes they have out there, i decided on the Hickman Bridge Trail.

It was absolutely beautiful! It's only a two mile round trip hike and even Sam was able to walk most of it (DarRell ended up carring him the last 1/4 mile because both Sam and Rianne had to go to the bathroom). There were SO many different awesome things to look at on the way up AND on the way down. We bought a trail guide at the trailhead which ended up being a really good addition to the hike and showed you points of interest you normally wouldn't see or pay attention to. Daylon passed off a lot of scout stuff on this trip which was a nice bonus to the trip. It was definetaly a trip we want to take over and over again. We've got the summer planned out for more trips out to Capitol Reef to do some of the other easier hikes/trails and we CAN'T wait!

Some of my favorite highlights:

The begining of the trail. It starts out just beautiful and has this rock wall against the drop off into the river and the first set of rock stairs just above it. It's just beautiful.

Daylon found the "Loch Ness Rockster". It's a formation that i had read about while looking on the internet. Totally didn't even realize we had gotten a picture of it until i uploaded the pictures onto my computer.

The Hickman Bridge itself. It's amazing! I wish i would have gotten a bit of a better picture from the back side. A repeat visit is definately in order.

Sam's hole. It was just big enough for him. This is one of my most favorite pictures from the trip.

This tree up against the rock stairs was too good to pass by without a picture with everyone. Just wishing i got a picture with all of us in it. I'd almost want to use it on Christmas cards or something.

Watching DarRell helping Sam down the steeper parts. Sam was so independant the whole way. Once he got to a spot he could handle. He didn't want help from anyone.













Two of my favorite pictures of me and the kids. The first one has all the great black volcanic rocks in the background and the second one has a great hiding spot that the kids liked to go play in.