Dave and Jan have hiked on parts of the Summit Trail which makes its way along the ridge of the mountain range identified on area maps as the Pine Valley Wilderness Range south and west of Cedar City. Hiking the entire trail would probably require some backpacking with an overnight stay somewhere in the heights – something which doesn’t sound appealing to them. So when they found a trailhead which indicated that its destination was the Summit Trail in just two miles they decided to try it out on a pleasant fall day.

The trail sign which caught Dave and Jan’s attention when they discovered it indicated that Gordon Spring was just a half mile ahead, with the Summit Trail only a mile and a half farther along.

Fall colors were on display in the shrubs and the trees along the trail.

Gordon Springs had been turned into a watering hole for livestock and wild animals of the area.

The trail began to climb more steeply beyond the Gordon Spring watering hole.

The view from a lunch spot beside the trail began to reveal distant mountains toward Cedar City.

Around a mile of steep climbing led to the intersection with the Summit Trail and the realization that Dave and Jan had passed the intersection before without knowing that it existed – with miles to go before the Summit Trail would actually get the hiker to the summit for which the trail was named. Though the return trip resulted in some slips for both Dave and Jan due to the steepness and rocky surface of the trail, they sustained no injuries and enjoyed another hiking adventure in the mountains of Southwest Utah.

As Dave has been known to say about creation’s beauty – “the Lord does nice work!”