We got up early to get an early start on our hike to Hickman Bridge. Then I noticed our inverter readout. We were very low on battery power. Generator hours in the campground are 8:00 - 10:00 a.m. and 5:00 - 7:00 p.m. during this time of year. If we missed the morning opportunity while we were hiking to Hickman Bridge, we would have to give up sunset shooting to ensure we had battery power for the evening. We decided to put off the hike to Hickman Bridge until tomorrow and recharge all our batteries in the morning. Our choice of a beautifully shaded campsite, eliminated the option of letting our solar panels re-charge our batteries, so we had no choice but to run the generator. It took 75 minutes to fully re-charge our batteries, so they must have been very low.
When the batteries were finally charged and our omelets were eaten, we drove
to the east side of the park to photograph along the road. On
our way back, we stopped at the petroglyph stop
where we met
another couple who owned an Allegro that was just a year newer
than ours. We compared war stories of the motorhome problems
we've had. We had quite a few initial quality issues with ours,
but they've had a lot more ongoing issues with their motorhome.
Their issues were based on 18 months of constant use, including
a trip to Alaska. They certainly seemed to be enjoying their retirement.
The strangest story was the day they looked back and discovered their tow vehicle had come unhooked
and was rolling away from them. Their next stop was Phoenix to buy a new tow vehicle.
We returned to camp for lunch and our midday hiatus.
We returned to the areas we had scouted west of the Visitor Center for the golden light hours. The sky was initially clouding over to the west, but as sunset neared, the sun dropped below the masses of clouds. The lighting near Whiskey Flat and the Fluted Wall was perfect. The interplay between the shadows and the warm, shifting light provided amazing photo opportunities.
Then we dropped down a couple more miles to the turnout for The Castle. The sun was about to be obscured by a ridge behind us, so we were going to have to shoot quickly. The lighting held, and we had just enough time to catch the light on the foreground knees as well as the sharp cliffs of the Entrada sandstone.
When the sun was obscured by the ridge, we drove back up the road to
Panorama Point
for sunset. The sun played peek-a-boo through the clouds, but we had a few minutes of very good light. Today was definitely our best day
of shooting in Capitol Reef.
We returned to camp, grilled hot dogs for dinner and prepared to break camp. Our plan is to get up early, hike to Hickman Bridge,
and then leave for Bryce Canyon.
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