Dave and Jan hosted their grandson Ryan one week-end in March while his parents were celebrating their anniversary and his sister was staying with friends. They decided, on Saturday morning to take a hike in the canyon leading to Yankee Meadow, but discovered that the road was still buried in snow. So they back-tracked a few miles to the Megawatt trail system just south of Parawan to hike and picnic in an area they had not explored before.

The name probably comes from nearby power lines which pass through the park where Parawan also has a disk-golf course, but the characteristic red rocks of color country were a very prominent feature.

Ryan, who recently turned 10, has always shown an affinity for climbing rocks like the ones here.

Though red rocks were prominent in the area, there were also some impressive black rock features to be seen below the horizon from parts of the trail Dave, Jan and Ryan were hiking.

Because there were still several hours of afternoon light left after their hike on the trails in the hills south of Parawan, the family returned to Cedar City where there are some significant and interesting rock formations just east of Dave and Jan’s house at an area called Thunderbird Gardens, named in honor of the Thunderbirds of Southern Utah University. The “gardens” are the site of several interesting trailheads into the hills surrounding the parking lot. Ryan enjoyed exploring and climbing on the rocks before engaging his grandparents in a game of “hide and seek” among the rocks which are so prominent in the area.

As you can tell, Dave and Jan had a fun afternoon with Ryan. And congratulations to Stephen and Meagan as they celebrated their twelfth anniversary with a trip to the Salt Lake area where they enjoyed spending some time with friends from their church family in Cedar City who recently moved north.