Hiking Chimney Rock & Hickman Bridge

[WasatchWill]

For Martin Luther King Jr. Day Weekend in January, we went back down to Torrey to visit the in-laws. While there, Jessica and I were able to hike the Chimney Rock Loop followed by a short hike to the Hickman Bridge Loop in Capitol Reef National Park.

Chimney Rock & Hickman Bridge
Monday - January 16, 2017

We set off just after breakfast and drove down the road from Torrey down to the Chimney Rock trailhead in the Park. This hike would mark my third time using this trailhead. The first was a solo backpacking trip I did through Capitol Reef a couple years ago and the second was a hike up into Chimney Canyon and down Spring Canyon with Jessica last year. For both of us, this would be the first time we'd hike the Chimney Rock Trail Loop full circle. Weather was cold and breezy but not unbearable starting out. Once we got going, we quickly began to warm up.


Chimney Rock Trailhead

We opted to take a right at the start of the loop and go up the Chimney Rock overlook and then go counter-clockwise around the loop. From the top we were surprised to find that our car remained the only car down at the trailhead. For a holiday with clear skies, and on a free access weekend for the National Parks, I would have expected a few more people on the trail with us. Nope, we'd see nobody for the duration of this hike.


Chimney Rock in shadow


Chimney Rock with a little more light


Looking east toward Chimney Canyon


Chimney Rock Overlook


Chimney Rock Overlook Panorama

From Chimney Rock traversed across the top of Mummy Cliffs, enjoying the views out the south and down toward Fruita. We'd also enjoy views to the east down to the mouth of Chimney Canyon as we circled toward it.


Looking down from the top of Mummy Cliff


Capitol Reef Panorama


Along the Chimney Rock Loop


Looking down toward Fruita. The 'Castle' can also be seen if you look close.


Highway 24 below Mummy Cliff


Heading toward Chimney Canyon


Looking down the Chimney Rock Loop Trail


Getting closer to Chimney Canyon

Along the southeast corner of the loop stands a landmark that has no name as far as I can tell. So we tried to come up with a name for it, but couldn't quite settle on one that fit quite right. We'll keep thinking it over.


An interesting landmark with no official name

From the unnamed landmark we quickly descended down into the mouth of Chimney Canyon. From there, we closed the loop by taking the Chimney Canyon trail back to the west and back down to the car at the trailhead.


At the mouth of Chimney Canyon


Descending back down to the trailhead

Once back at the trailhead, we jumped in the car and made the quick drive a few minutes down the road through Fruita and down to the Hickman Bridge Trailhead. This time, we'd encounter a few cars, but still plenty of spots to park. Hickman Bridge, like Chimney Rock, is usually one of the most popular hikes in Capitol Reef. It's short, but offers a lot of diverse scenery along the way including the Fremont River, views of Capitol Dome, Pectol's Pyramid, a hike through a somewhat narrow canyon, and of course the natural bridge that is Hickman Bridge at the end.



Fremont River at the Hickman Bridge Trailhead


Looking south from Hickman Bridge trail with Pectol's Pyramid to the left

The views to the south were neat in being able to see some snow still lingering on the north facing buttes and pinnacles, including Fern's Nipple, rising from the Waterpocket Fold that makes up most of Capitol Reef's geology.


Unnamed landmark (left) and Fern's Nipple (right)


Fern's Nipple


Unnamed landmark


Approaching the back (west) side of Hickman Bridge


Looking back down toward Pectol's Pyramid


Pectol's Pyramid

There was an unnamed landmark out to the south that I was particularly impressed with and kept turn back to view. With the snow, it reminded me of pictures I'd seen of Chile's Torres Del Paine, the world famous iconic pinnacles in South America's Patagonia region.


When the pinnacles of Capitol Reef look like the pinnacles of Patagonia

At last we arrived at Hickman Bridge. We had chosen to take the little loop trail that runs through it in a clockwise direction this time.


The backside of Hickman Bridge

One popular picture to take of it is with Capitol Dome framed within it out to the east.


Capitol Dome framed within Hickman Bridge

While at Hickman Bridge, we sat down for a hot lunch. We would have had it all to ourselves if not for a group of others that were intent on taking the time to find their way up to the top of the bridge and echoing back to each other. By the time we were finished with lunch, they had finally left though, so we were able to enjoy a few moments of peace and quiet.


Lunch

Unfortunately, time was moving on and so it was time for us to move on back as well.


Leaving Hickman Bridge


Looking back up at the front (east) side of Hickman Bridge


Another look back at Hickman Bridge

Along the way back, I had to take some shots of Jessica with the landmark named after her great great grandfather, Pectol's Pyramid.


Pectol's Pyramid and Pectol's great, great granddaughter (Jessica)


Pectol's Pyramid and Pectol's great, great granddaughter (Jessica)

Back at the car, we loaded up and made our way back to up to Torrey to pick up the kids and return home. It was a great weekend.

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[Reef&Ruins]

Great hikes... and it's cool you have a "family connection" to the park.
Thanks for sharing.

 

[Absarokanaut]

Thanks again for showing us all your slice of paradise, you do good work inspiring others to get out there and care about it.

Your photos like so many here are stunning. Please let me know if you come up here so I can point you somewhere you might not otehrwise think of.

Hope you're out on a great weekend right now.