2nd June 2025

Well, what do I know? 🤨

I said yesterday that we would not be hiking today and of course we did! 🤷‍♀️

But, first of all, the most important news of the morning is that Si has had one of his photos go into Explore on Flickr.! 👏 Flickr is an online site for photographers to show their pictures.

The photographers among you may know this already, but everyday, Flickr choose 500 of the best photos from the millions they receive on a daily basis and put them into Explore, so it’s very special. This is the photo taken when we were in the Grand Tetons and is called ‘Teton Sunset’.

It was originally our intention today to do another ‘first’ and drive two hours to the Temples of the Sun and the Moon, two iconic sandstone monoliths located in the Cathedral Valley here in Capitol Reef but we were warned by a Ranger not to attempt it as rain was expected and the roads would become impassable due to the sand turning to mud and we could become stuck! 😔

So, instead of a ‘first’ for both of us we decided to do a ‘first’ for me and a ‘second’ for Si. We drove to Goosenecks Point Overlook and Sunset Point, they were a ‘first’ for me as the last time we were here I caught Covid so Si hiked up alone whilst I sat in the Car, hence a ‘second’ visit for him.

After that we decided to hike to Hickman Bridge. We both did that the last time we were here and before I realised I had Covid.

The hike was a two mile round trip, classed as ‘moderate’ with an elevation gain of 400 feet. It seemed much longer and after yesterday’s hike to Cassidy Arch, our legs were not happy! 😂

It has been overcast all day and this evening we’ve had some rain. The temperature this morning was 62ºF (17ºC) and the highest it rose to was 73ºF (23ºC).

We had our last dinner here in Capitol Reef Resort at the Pioneer Kitchen again. The food is excellent and the staff lovely and very attentive.

Tomorrow is a driving day, a long 6.5 hours to Williams in northern Arizona. It is known as a gateway to Grand Canyon National Park via the Grand Canyon Railway and is situated on the Historic Route 66.

Route 66, also known as “The Mother Road,” is a historic U.S. highway established in 1926 that ran from Chicago, Illinois, to Santa Monica, California covering 2,448 miles.

Williams was the last town on Historic Route 66 to be bypassed by Interstate 40. The community, bypassed on 13 October 1984, continues to thrive on tourism.

We shall be passing by Monument Valley en-route so we intend to stop and take some photographs there too. It is said to be one of the most photographed places in the world.

The Valley’s landscape has been a backdrop to many Hollywood movies and television shows, beginning with several John Wayne films including “Stagecoach” in 1939 and “Forrest Gump” in 1994.

Well, they say things happen for a reason!  We were originally going to stay on the North Rim of the Grand Canyon in the Grand Canyon Lodge cabins after leaving Capitol Reef National Park, but Si saw a report that things were not as they should be with accommodation and food so we cancelled our stay and decided to go and stay in Williams and travel by train to the Canyon instead.

Are we glad we did, because we’ve just seen a report that as of today there is a power outage on the North Rim and all visitor services are closed until further notice. 😱Grand Canyon Lodge has cancelled reservations for tonight and dining/food services are suspended. People will have to travel outside the park for food and fuel as the Lodge is the only place to eat. Nightmare!

It must have been fate that made Si read that report or we could have found ourselves sleeping in the car!!! 🤣

Thanks, as always, for reading and following us on our adventures.