Valley of the Gods to Capitol Reef

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9 April, Thursday - Just outside of Mexican Hat we stopped to photograph Mexican Hat, the formation, not the town. A little ways farther and we turned towards Bluff and then north onto a gravel road signed "Valley of the Gods". It was a 17-mile route through a smaller-scale Monument Valley. Great, closeup views of red rock towers, fins, spires and Buttes! Back on the main highway (SR 261) we drove right at a red rock wall not knowing if we would go around it or through it. It turned out that the Moki Dugway went right up the face of it in a series of switchbacks, some of which were unpaved. [Apparently the MD was constructed to bring loads of uranium ore to the mill at Mexican Hat, where the tailings are now covered by a limestone cap which looks from a distance like a gray lake.] That put us up on Cedar Mesa where we stopped at a ranger station and noted all the hiking opportunities in the area. The mesa is also home to Natural Bridges National Monument. We picked up some information at the visitors center then drove part of the loop until we reached the overlook and trailhead for Kachina Natural Bridge. We hiked down the 1.2 miles and 600 vertical feet to the bottom of the canyon and got some photos of the bridge and the nearby petroglyphs and ruins - different here from those in Bandelier - more like pithouses than pueblos, more Fremont culture than Ancient Pueblo/Anasazi. It was sunny and warm so we had a picnic at the Bears Ears overlook before heading off Cedar Mesa down White Canyon, past Hite to an overlook near Lake Powell. We filled our gas tank at Hanksville not wanting to be low in country where the gas stations seemed few and far between. Then we drove up the Fremont River canyon all the way to Capitol Reef National Park. Since it was warm enough and not too windy we set up our tent in the NP campground and cooked supper. At 1900 there was a good natural history Q&A at the amphitheater where we got a couple of our questions answered.