During days of high gas prices Dave and Jan are very grateful that there are so many beautiful places to enjoy as camping options without driving any great distance. It is really nice to be able to drive just sixteen miles up Highway 14 out of Cedar City for a pleasant camping experience at Deer Haven Campground at an 8,500 foot elevation which is considerably cooler than town – and a short distance from the Markagunt Plateau with its elevations of 10,000 to 11,000 feet.

The view from the back of their quiet camp spot was very scenic, and their first camping outing at Deer Haven they were the only people in the campground except for the camp hosts during their first day.

Just outside the entrance to the Deer Haven Campground is the beginning of the Virgin River Rim trail which continues for over 30 miles to Strawberry Point. An afternoon walk on the trail provided some nice scenes of the red cliffs common at the Markagunt Plateau.

The next day it was time to take on the next section of the Virgin River Rim Trail for around 5 miles.

The trail included nice views of Zion National Park in the distance, and nice floral displays on the forest floor.

Three weeks later Dave and Jan returned to Deer Haven for another enjoyable visit. An evening walk after dinner took them to Alpine Pond – a part of beautiful Cedar Breaks National Monument.

Also in the area of Cedar Breaks is a fascinating display of Bristlecone Pine trees – among the oldest living things on earth. Some of the trees at Twisted Forest date back over 2,000 years. They grow in a landscape which looks quite inhospitable – where they are among the few plants suited to the soil.

An evening walk the last night of their stay provided Dave with a nice look at one of the beautiful specimens for which Deer Haven is named – one of several bucks Dave and Jan saw during their stay.

Dave and Jan hope they will never tire of the opportunity to enjoy the beautiful environment which surrounds Cedar City. As the psalmist expresses it: “O LORD, how many are Your works! In wisdom You have made them all; The earth is full of Your possessions.” Psalm 104:24 (NASB)

Dave and Jan headed for Pine Valley in southwest Utah on April 7, intending to camp for two nights and do some hiking in the mountains. When they learned that the campground hadn’t opened yet for the season, their plans changed – but not their desire to return to explore more of Pine Valley. So the opportunity to return came June 9-11. Though they hadn’t reserved a camp spot, and were told there were only two spots left upon their arrival, the spot they chose was almost perfect! Almost perfect because it required a little help from another camper to get Dave and Jan’s rig across the line between the gravel road and the paved road when the time came to leave the campground two days later. A four-wheel drive pull vehicle would have been helpful – but the front-wheel drive Highlander handles the trailer amazingly well most of the time!

They didn’t even need to leave their campsite for some beautiful views of nearby mountains!

It doesn’t take long to “set up camp” with their Kodiak Cub, so before dinner they enjoyed their first hike into the mountains on the Equestrian Trail – beginning perhaps one hundred yards from their camp.

The trail soon headed up toward the Summit Trail which travels along the mountain tops. The Summit Trail is a serious hike for another time, but hiking toward it provided great views of upper Pine Valley.

On the next day Dave and Jan headed up the trail toward Gardner Peak – a serious hiking challenge.

The trail climbed rapidly – providing nice views of the Pine Valley housing district – a bedroom community with no grocery store or gas station, just one nice restaurant serving steak dinners when it is open.

Reaching the rocky ridge toward Gardner Peak led to a nice meadow and some amazing rocks.

The top of the rocky ridge still left miles of trail to the top of Gardner Peak ahead, with the trail challenging to find and follow. And rather than heading up to the peak from the rocky ridge, the trail headed down behind (from the Pine Valley perspective) Gardner Peak, so Dave and Jan hiked another couple of miles before deciding that the peak would have to wait their discovery for another day. The view to the north revealed many miles of forest and distant peaks yet to be explored.

The day ended with a nice walk along the Santa Clara River Walk trail with its beautiful stream.

Dave and Jan are grateful for the chance to camp at Pine Valley – and will probably return from time to time to explore and enjoy much more of the Lord’s amazing handiwork in Southwest Utah!