With a week in Kanab, we had our choice of parks to visit on the first day. We decided to avoid the popular parks, like Zion and Bryce Canyon, because it was a Sunday. The weather forecast was for a hot day so we wanted to go to a park with a high elevation - over 10,000 feet. We went to Cedar Breaks National Monument, about a 90-minute drive.
It was a nice drive except that we missed the turn for the park and ended up in Cedar City. That mistake cost us an hour. It was a perfect day in Cedar Breaks, though, with temperatures in the 60's for our single hike along the 1.9 mile Spectra Point Trail. The views were into a beautiful canyon filled with formations like balanced rocks, hoodoos, and arches.
Of course, we were always on the lookout for critters. The best we could do this day was a chipmunk, but what a fine chipmunk he was.
Near the end of the trail was a very old-looking tree. It was, in fact, a 1,700 year old bristlecone pine tree. It made a nice backdrop for our group of hikers.
It was obvious from the odor of burning wood that a fire was in the area. As we moved around the park, we stopped at various overlooks and got different vantages of the fire. It was relatively small and the expectation was that it would burn itself out, although there were some flare-ups while we were there/
We ate a late lunch on the return trip at Aunt Sue's Chalet in Duck Creek. It was pretty good as a last-minute choice. After lunch, we still had a lot of daylight so we headed to Pink Coral Sand Dunes State Park on the way home. There was nothing to do there except admire the dunes. It seems to be used extensively by ATVs and occasionally by ski-boarders, but not while we were there.
After a fun day, we headed home to an easy meal of spaghetti.
Susan’s quote of the day: "I'll be the "ho" for a old-time photo." This happened after a sequence of events. First, we saw a sign advertising "ho" made pies with a scantily-clad cartoon woman pictured. Then the conversation turned to Deadwood, a place we visited earlier this trip, and the famous people buried in the cemetery there. One was the madame in the town. This was followed by a sign advertising old-time photos. John expressed no interest in such things so Susan worked on changing his mind. It didn't work.
The highlights - Cedar Breaks.
The regrets - None.
Today's total miles - 211
Today's miles from start to destination - 0
Today's miles on side trips - 211
Today's miles driven by Paul - 211
Today's miles driven by Susan - 0
Today's hours in car - 5 1/2
Total Miles Hiked - 1.9
Cumulative total miles - 4,933
Cumulative miles from start to destination - 3,668
Cumulative miles on side trips - 1,265
Cumulative miles driven by Paul - 4,346
Cumulative miles driven by Susan - 587
Cumulative hours in car - 98
Cumulative Miles Hiked - 18.8
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