Tuesday we decided to hike the trail to Hickman's Bridge. The trail starts on Utah 24 to the east of the visitor center. We stopped in the visitor center on our way to the trailhead. There were 2 mothers with 6 boys outside the visitor center. The boys were running amok with no guidance: climbing walls, yelling and going in planted areas that were under restoration.
As we started up the trail we were having trouble reading the trail markings. In wooded areas, the trails are marked by painting a slash mark on a tree. Well, in areas without many trees, the markings are stacked rocks! 
We took several wrong turns, but realized our mistakes before we had gone too far. 
Unfortunately, we missed a turn later on the trail and went to Hickman's Bridge from the south side, not the north like we should have!
After purchasing a hiking stick medallion we were off to the trailhead. We passed the parking area for the petroglyphs and saw the moms with the six boys and heaved a sigh of relief that they weren't hiking to Hickman Bridge.
We started the trail at the overlook for Capitol Dome. That is how Capitol Reef National Park was named--one of the first formations seen when entering the valley looked like the dome on the Capitol in Washington, D.C.
As we started up the trail we were having trouble reading the trail markings. In wooded areas, the trails are marked by painting a slash mark on a tree. Well, in areas without many trees, the markings are stacked rocks! We took several wrong turns, but realized our mistakes before we had gone too far. Unfortunately, we missed a turn later on the trail and went to Hickman's Bridge from the south side, not the north like we should have! As we approached the bridge, Joyce heard hooligans yelling and screaming in the area. She looked around a rock and sure enough there were boys running amok in the area below the bridge. Joyce said, "Our favorite group is here!" Just a few moments later she looked around a rock and saw a mom and 2 of the boys---oops! Foot in mouth disease strikes again!
The mom came out a few seconds later and we talked. She grew up in Idaho and had been to Florida one time. We talked about the difference in climate. Then she said she was sorry her group interrupted our quiet hike. Joyce replied with the fact she was a retired teacher and was used to noise. The mom countered with everyone needs a dose of reality once in a while. Joyce wanted to say that people should show respect at national parks, but she held back!
We continued on our hike in the right direction! We met a couple just before the area where we made our wrong turn and advised them which way to go. They were thankful for the information.
We returned to the rv and planned our next hike! Capitol Reef has many great hikes with different views of rock formations. Each one looks different at different times of the day!
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