Dave and Jan have enjoyed exploring their surroundings in Cedar City during the three months they have lived in the area. And now that the challenges of landscaping are moving closer to the finish line (the initial one, at least), they have begun to explore things a little further out. A recent drive through part of the Grand Staircase Escalante National Monument in south central Utah was a very pleasant surprise – but no pictures, because California fires were clouding the air. Next was a very enjoyable overnight trip to the North Rim of the Grand Canyon – but no pictures, because Dave made a mistake, after editing them, by failing to load them on the computer before deleting them from the camera’s disk (Oh well. Guess they’ll have to do it again!). But here are a few pictures of some of the things to be enjoyed both in town and in the area.
Coal Creek flows through town from nearby Cedar Mountain and seems to flow year round – though it sometimes turns red with the red-colored soil which washes down out of the mountains when it rains.
Cedar Canyon comes down out of the mountains at Canyon Park – a nearby park Dave and Jan enjoy walking to and from, and through which Dave takes his daily morning bike ride up the paved trail into the mouth of the canyon with its amazing red rock walls.
Rainbow Canyon is just over the ridge from Dave and Jan’s house and is the site of walks almost every evening – with or without Jan’s dog Lola (whose white hairs turn pink because of the red tint in the soil in the canyon)
Hiking up the washes which drain into Rainbow Canyon leads to a popular hiking trail, Razorback Trail – so named because it descends to Highway 14 down a razor-thin ridge which can be avoided by hiking up or down the Razorback Wash.
Driving up Highway 14 (a few blocks from the Balsleys’ house) about eight miles brings a person to Woods Ranch County Recreation area with its beautiful forests of Quaking Aspen and Colorado Blue Spruce and other attractive forest foliage.
A recent evening walk took Dave and Jan in search of The Thirteenth Hole Trail – so named because it is located near the thirteenth hole of the beautiful Cedar Ridge Golf Course. The trail is part of a series of hiking trails associated with the Thunderbird Gardens trail system. The evening sun turns the red rock of the canyon ablaze.
This sunset shot taken from the Thirteenth Hole Trail is a sample of the sunsets which are frequently enjoyed in Cedar City – visible from Dave and Jan’s sliding glass door to the back yard.
A recent drive took Dave and Jan to Coral Pink Sand Dunes State Park off Highway 89 a few miles south of the road through Zion National Park. A popular sport at the park is sand surfing on some of the larger dunes (not pictured here) – apparently not as easy as it might sound on the basis of the performance of the surfers Dave and Jan witnessed.
A favorite local attraction for Dave and Jan (though not nearly as crowded as the larger and better known Zion National Park) is Kolob Canyon, the western part of Zion National Park just off of Interstate 15 only 20 miles south of Cedar City, where they enjoyed a beautiful hike in early September. Even a good camera can’t begin to take in what the Lord has designed the human eye to see.
There is so much beauty to be enjoyed in Southern Utah, and Dave and Jan are grateful to the Lord for the opportunity they are having to begin to enjoy more and more of it!
Cedar City Balsleys 
Love your pictures!!! Judy