Another great exposure of the Colorado Canyon’s stratigraphy, this one caused by an ancient fault, reactivated during a time of tectonic activity. The western side of the fault was elevated more than 7000 feet higher than the eastern side but, rather than cracking, the sedimentary rock layers folded over the fault line. The surface of the escarpment that was created was eroded away reveling the underlying layers. This image shows the eroded western side of the escarpment:

And this shows the layers revealed:

The stratigraphy is shown below and the layers below the Navajo Sandstone layer are readily recognizable from the Canyonlands post:

The “reef” part of the name “Capitol Reef “came from the perception that this feature was a reef-like obstacle for travel from east to west. The “capitol” part came from a white sandstone feature that resemble the Capitol Building in Washington DC:

Here is a close-up of this feature:

Humans have been present in this area for thousands of years; here are some petrographs left behind by Native Americans:

They seem to bear a resemblance to robots and aliens.

More recently, the Fruita area was inhabited by a Mormon community who created some lovely orchards:

particularly enjoyed the single room schoolhouse, which also served as a community center:

I was enjoying this canyon view from Goosenecks Overlook:

When I was overtaken by a lightning storm that was more severe than the one that I encountered in the Canyonlands. The rain came down very heavily and I chose to shelter in a dry spot under a small overhang. The rainstorm soon turned to hail with stones about ½” in diameter:

All was well while the wind came from behind the overhang. Unfortunately, the direction of the wind changed and it blew the hailstones directly towards me, creating a rather unpleasant experience. I was quickly soaked and it was time to evacuate. Unfortunately, the trail that I had followed had turned into a rivulet of mud:

I was glad to see my Revel, once again the only vehicle left in the parking lot:

Time to leave the Capitol Reef and head for the Great Basin.