Day 12, Part 2: Wednesday, May 3rd, 2006
Escalante, Utah to Moab, Utah

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After following the trail through many dips and bends, I finally make it to Calf Creek Falls, at the end of the canyon.

About ten people that I passed up on the trail--before I investigated the pictographs--are already at the falls. Most of them are sitting in the shade of the trees by the pool of water at the bottom of the falls. One older guy with a tripod is taking pictures.

I do the same.

Up in the rocks at the top of the falls, you can see places where the water is seeping straight through the sandstone, instead of going over the falls. Small patches of green plants are hanging on the black edges of the walls wherever the water comes out.

Like all of my temporary compatriots at the falls, I decide to eat my lunch in the shade of the trees by the pool of water. From time to time, as I munch through my sandwich, banana and cookies, I can feel the cool mist from the falls sprinkling over my skin. It's not long, though, before I pack up and start on my way out of the canyon, knowing that I still have a long way to go before I'm done for the day.

On the trail back to the parking lot, I can't resist the temptation to take yet another picture of a skeletonized juniper tree.


The road north from Calf Creek Canyon offers some spectacular views of the Henry Mountains, the last mountain range to be discovered in the continental United States. At their feet is one of the jagged red ridges of Capitol Reef National Park, where I'm headed next.

I visited Capitol Reef in 1998 with my friend, Steve--whom I will be seeing at the end of the trip, in Iowa--but he got all the best pictures. Now that I'm back, I immediately set to work trying to rectify that situation.

I don't stay long enough--or stray far enough from the road--to get any great pictures of the blood red Capitol Reef, though. There's a thunderstorm chasing me, so I hurry on my way towards the unknown world east of the park.

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