The city of Kanab, Utah is southeast of Cedar City along the border between Utah and Arizona. Located in red rock country, it is a popular vacation destination which has also been the scene of numerous western-themed movies. With a population of only around 5,000, it offers some nice accommodations for visitors in terms of lodging and dining, and it is located in an area of significant geological beauty. Dave and Jan chose to do some exploration in the Kanab area the first week of June – setting up at a Bureau of Land Management campground called Ponderosa Grove Campground around 15 miles northwest of Kanab.

After a visit to the Visitors’ Center in Kanab, they headed east of town on the highway, then north for around 10-12 miles in search of a “slot canyon” known as Paria Box. What they discovered was the entrance to Paria Canyon which takes those who hike it for fifty miles upstream in a narrow canyon which has no exits along the route! Because the Paria River was filling even the canyon entrance, Dave and Jan only got close enough to take some pictures – enjoying some of the picturesque geology and some of the spring flowers in the process.

Canyon Entrance

Driving back toward Kanab, Dave and Jan enjoyed stopping for a short hike at the Toadstools Trailhead, one of many interesting locations which are a part of the Grand Staircase Escalante National Monument.

Ponderosa Pines Campground is only a few miles east of Coral Pink Sand Dunes State Park – a park which includes large dunes of colorful sand which visitors can climb or glide down on sand boards something like the boards used in skiing. What Dave and Jan didn’t realize when they checked into the camp ground was the fact that they were just across the highway from the coral pink sands of the Moquith Mountain Wilderness Study Area with coral pink sands in smaller dunes, featuring a variety of plant species and some natural beauty of its own – including views of the rocky bluffs just north of Kanab.

There is much more beauty to explore and experience in the Kanab area, but Dave and Jan were happy for their introduction to another example of the Lord’s amazing creativity in the world He made. As the psalmist challenged, in Psalm 148:5, “Let them [us] praise the name of the LORD, For He commanded and they were created.”

Dave and Jan began the month of August with a return to beautiful Pine Valley, Utah for a three-day, two night camping adventure. They camped in the same spot in the “Equestrian Campground” where they first camped at Pine Valley and shortened their stay (during a fall camping outing) because heavy rain set in, pretty much confining them to their trailer. This time the weather was beautiful and the outing was very pleasant.

The first evening Dave delayed dinner a little by riding up the Santa Clara River Walk to the top of the canyon, then riding back out of the canyon on a trail which occupies what was once a canal dug by some of the early settlers to provide water for the community of Pine Valley. Riding the trail down from the Canal Trail back to the campground on the Gardner Peak Trail got him back for dinner much more quickly than the same stretch of trail which he and Jan walked the last time they were camping in the valley. But he and Jan decided to retrace the route he rode on foot the next day for a very pleasant hike of around five or six miles.

Views of a part of the Pine Valley community began to open up as the trail climbed the mountain.

A “forest” of interesting high desert plants provided interesting framing for both the mountain and the valley.

The Canal Trail is bordered on the north by the mountain, and on the south by a berm of dirt which must have taken many strong pioneer men (and women?) a long, long time to create with a lot of effort!

Views from the trail provided glimpses of some of the rocky ledges on the way to the top of Gardner Peak.

The Canal Trail came to an end in a walk-in camping area which served as a nice lunch stop.

The hike back down the canyon to the Equestrian Campground was a very pleasant walk on the Santa Clara River Walk which includes beautiful forest scenery along the Santa Clara River – an important source of the water supply for St. George, the sizeable city at the edge of the Mohave Desert 45-50 miles south.

The Pine Valley Reservoir is a favorite destination for fishermen from around the Pine Valley area.

Pine Valley is one of the many beautiful recreation destinations within an hour or two from Cedar City which Dave and Jan thoroughly enjoy being able to visit and explore in their senior years – along with the many other activities and ministries available in the Cedar City area. The hiring of a new pastor for the church they attend on Sunday mornings offers the prospect of increasing activity and ministry in the community, even as Dave and Jan plan to continue exploring the amazing beauty around the area!