[You may view a map of Capitol Reef National Park in PDF format and a map of Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument in PDF format.]

We got up around our usual time, and it was clear and 30°F (-1°C) outside. I made a mug of coffee to go and J started a mug of tea steeping, and we left in the Jeep around 8:30.

We headed along the Burr Trail Road to Capitol Reef National Park and I had Clif Bars for breakfast while driving. We drove up the 4WD road into Muley Twist Canyon a bit, then returned to the Burr Trail Road and photographed the interesting red rock formations near there. The sky had some wispy clouds from contrails, so it was slightly more interesting than a clear blue sky. Then we stopped to photograph a backlit yellow cottonwood, and my favorite images were of a fallen cottonwood leaf (below left) and a Linearleaf Paintbrush (below right).


We continued heading into the park and went down the Burr Trail Switchbacks then headed north on the Notom-Bullfrog Road to get a good vantage point to photograph some formations we discovered on October 20, 2010. The sun was high in the sky, and the clouds had some distinct contrails going every which way, so I didn't shoot.

We headed back towards the RV and stopped to photograph in Long Canyon because there was some nice reflected light on the southeast wall. My favorite image is of an evergreen that reminded J of a bonsai tree (left).

We returned to the RV around 2:10! I had lunch and downloaded the images I took this morning then showered. After J showered, I cut her hair. I worked up a blog entry then downselected the images from this morning. We left in the Jeep around 6:05.
We went to the Hell's Backbone Grill at the Boulder Mountain Lodge in Boulder for dinner. The atmosphere was relaxed but neat, and I was surprised to see the timbers supporting the vaulted ceiling lined with pumpkins. Then J pointed out other types of squash arranged (piled!) throughout the restaurant. We started with an order of Zuc-a-mole (a delectable dip of farm zucchinis, garlic, and onions roasted and blended with green chilies served with organic corn chips) and a glass of Cline los Carneros Syrah, Sonoma '06 (very concentrated flavors of deep plum and cherry with hints of vanilla and coffee). The dip was delicious, and the wine was one of the best I've had in a long time! Then I had Hopi style red peppers stuffed with Utah lamb and red posole (served with our pueblo rice pilaf and organic vegetables), and J had Skillet-Fried Trout (encrusted with blue corn, molasses and peanuts, and served with pueblo rice pilaf and organic vegetables). The lamb was good, but I preferred the trout. When we received the bill, J asked if there was a place where we could buy a spaghetti squash that was grown on their farm. She had been wanting one for a while and it was one of the "organic vegetables" served with our meals and she saw several in the restaurant. Our waitress said that the farmer's market was done for the season, but we could just have one of the spaghetti squashes that was on display because they'd never be able to use up all of the squash they had — what a deal!

After we settled the bill, we went to the office of the Boulder Mountain Lodge to use their Wi-Fi. I wanted to upload some images for a calendar I'm having made, and the connection was slow: 5.5 KB/s. We left around 8:25 after I was able to upload two images.

We went to the Sinclair in Boulder to fill up the Jeep at $3.089/gal. It's amazing what you can charge for gas when your nearest competitors are about 45 mi (70km) away.

We returned to the RV around 8:50 and I started to upload more calendar images through the Verizon Wireless National Access signal. I was surprised that the connection speed was better than the Wi-Fi at the Boulder Mountain Lodge: 15.4 KB/s instead of only 5.5 KB/s. I processed three images for the blog before going to bed.