Following years of drought conditions in Southwest Utah, the Cedar City area this year has enjoyed numerous weather events which have ended talk, for the time being, of drought. There have been some rains, but there have been some significant snow events as well – so Dave has been getting quite a bit of exercise shoveling snow (which he enjoys). Cedar Mountain has been covered with snow much of the season.

Snowy conditions have focused attention on the city’s paved recreation trails for many of the walks/hikes Dave and Jan enjoy.

But ten miles west of Cedar City is a range of peaks known as Three Peaks Recreation Area which dries up more quickly than the much higher mountains east of Cedar City, so Dave decided one Saturday to check out its trails to see if they were dry enough to hike, and the trail up Rocky Peak was almost completely dry.

The Three Peaks area is dotted with Utah Juniper trees (along with some Pinon Pines). Cedar City would have been more properly named Juniper City if the early settlers had realized that the trees they were seeing were not Cedars. Dave enjoys the Junipers, even after they have lost their foliage, because they continue to be quite scenic when they are bare “skeletons.”

From the top of Rocky Peak the view back to Cedar City in the east is a nice view of the mountains east of town.

After a picnic lunch in the campground below Rocky Peak, Dave discovered another trailhead of which he hadn’t been aware.

The Twilight Zone trail turned out to be primarily a bike path originating 3.2 miles back at the Mountain Bike Trailhead from which Dave (and, at least once, his grandson Ryan) have ridden some of the many trails which originate at that spot. It turned out to be a pleasant walk along a trail which was fairly dry – through there were a few muddy and snowy patches.

It was a nice day for a hike along a trail where mud and snow were not prohibitive – a trail Dave plans to return to for a bike ride in warmer, drier and maybe even sunnier weather. Dave is almost always alert to the creative genius the Lord has exercised in all that He has made for mankind to enjoy in beautiful places – including beautiful places around Cedar City.

Winter weather in southwest Utah creates some challenges when it comes to exercise, but Dave and Jan enjoy the season. One exercise comes from the challenge of snow removal – and living on a corner lot provides more sidewalk space to clear when it snows – as it has done several times during the 2022/2023 winter season.

Jan enjoyed introducing one of our good neighbors to cross-country skiing on the golf course across the street from our houses.

While the ladies were skiing, the grandchildren were having fun sledding down the hill at the golf course with a boy from the neighborhood – joined eventually by the neighbor who had taken off the skis for some sledding fun on her own and with Dave and Jan’s granddaughter Erin.

Ryan took a break from sledding with the neighbor boy to climb to the top of the hill as “king on the mountain.”

On another day Dave and Jan enjoyed a hike along the beautiful mountains east of town along the East Bench trail.

Snow-covered mountains across the valley to the west of town invite further exploration in a warmer season, so there are lots of recreation opportunities in the Cedar City area for the enjoyment of residents all year long.

Dave and Jan are very grateful for the Lord’s gracious provision of a beautiful setting to enjoy during their retirement years!

Dave and Jan are enjoying the cooler weather which comes with the fall and winter season in Cedar City. With temperatures ranging between the mid thirties during the days and the teens or twenties during the nights (with some cooler nights getting below ten degrees), Dave doesn’t get much outdoor bike riding in because it is hard to keep fingers from frost bite when it gets below forty degrees. But Dave rides his “trainer” bike (his 58-year-old Bianchi “ten speed” – serving as a stationary bike) for six miles in the garage most mornings and many evenings. There are still some cool walks and even hikes to be enjoyed, there is snow to shovel (which Dave enjoys), and there is cross-country skiing to enjoy either up on the Markagunt Plateau (10,000 foot elevation) or, when there is a good snow accumulation in town (as there has already been several times this season), right across the street on the Rocky Ridge Golf Course.

One of the things which Dave and Jan found very appealing about Cedar City during their early visits to town before moving from California is the system of paved walking and biking trails in the city. The Coal Creek Trail passes through the east side of town just three or four blocks from the house they live in, tying together several of the city’s nice parks. And at Cedar Canyon Park the Coal Creek Trail turns up beautiful Cedar Canyon, or forks south to become the East Bench Trail which skirts the eastern part of the city. Trail crews are out with their snow removal equipment early on snowy days to make the trails accessible for people who enjoy taking a brisk walk in scenic beauty without leaving town. So Dave enjoyed a five-mile walk from home recently on the bike trail he enjoys riding in warmer weather.

Cedar Mountain rises up in the background from Cedar Canyon Park – through which Coal Creek flows down from the mountains on the east of town – though the creek is largely frozen during much of the fall and winter season.

The trail passes through scenic terrain, characteristic of “color country,” between snowy canyon walls with their north exposure and canyon walls whose south exposure tends to clear of snow more quickly.

Two fairly robust water falls flow through the canyon year round – though the cool weather sometimes slows their flow considerably.

Snowy scenes probably mean more to people who know the Lord as their Savior and recognize the Bible as God’s inspired word because of the Lord’s challenge to His ancient servant Job in Job 38:22: “Have you entered the storehouses of the snow, Or have you seen the storehouses of the hail?” For a fascinating description of the storehouses of the snow go on the internet to John1010Project.com and watch the video “The Jewels of Winter.” Snowy scenes are beautiful, but the Lord’s creativity in the details is (as always) amazing!

With the fall season kicking into gear Dave and Jan headed for the Beaver City area for a final camping outing before getting their camping trailer winterized. Hoping to camp at the Little Cottonwood Forest Service Campground, they discovered that it was already closed for the season, but a Forest Service employee recommended nearby Little Reservoir Campground. It was a very good recommendation.

An evening drive revealed some beautiful lakes in the area – beautified by the golden colors of innumerable Aspen trees.

The next day’s hike to Spruce Lake was a little underwhelming with respect to the lake itself, but the fall colors were spectacular.

A private picnic at another campground which was closed for the season included more bright fall colors to enjoy – followed by a long loop drive on a good dirt road to the top of the Tushar Mountains with views of the Kents Lakes (upper lake pictured) along the way.

Closer to home Dave and Jan and a neighbor enjoyed the fall colors at Navajo Lake and Aspen Mirror Lake on Cedar Mountain.

As the Apostle Paul observed in his message to the citizens of Lystra (Acts 14:17), the Lord has left earth’s citizens with a clear witness of His goodness by supplying rains from heaven and fruitful seasons. Besides the satisfaction He provides for human hearts by the food and gladness He sends into our lives, He displays His goodness in the beauty of each of the seasons!

The road to Bryce Canyon from Cedar City travels through Red Canyon – a drive Dave and Jan have taken quite a few times since moving to Utah. But, except for stops a time or two at the visitors’ center at Red Canyon and a short hike with Andrew and Alissa’s family two years back in nearby Losee Canyon, they had never camped at Red Canyon or explored the trails in the area. So this year was the time to learn more – and it was time well spent!

Views from the campground itself already provided very beautiful scenes of the area’s abundant red rocks!

And an evening hike from the campground after setting up and eating dinner was already a scenic and satisfying experience.

The next day was an opportunity to take the Thunder Mountain trail up into the heights above the Red Canyon. After hiking around a mile there was a sign marking the entrance to Red Rock Canyon with some spectacular red rock “hoodos.”

The voices Dave and Jan began hearing as they approached the steep ascent to the heights turned out to be the voices of cyclists on their mountain bikes. It was amazing to see cyclists climbing and descending such steep trails, but there were quite a few of them – including some women who were on multi-day treks through the region. And there were horse riders on the trail as well!

The day was a beautiful day for the hike, and the scenery was breathtakingly beautiful in almost every direction.

Jan found a comfortable place to relax following lunch at an elevation somewhere in the neighborhood of 8,500 to 9,000 ft. where panoramic views made the effort to climb to the top of the ridge well worth while – with many miles of additional trails to travel for the really ambitious (including the mountain bicyclists and the horse riders).

Because there are many additional trails to explore in the Red Canyon area, Dave and Jan expect to return for more discoveries in months and years ahead – if the Lord’s return doesn’t bring this troubled age to an end, as many believe it well might. If the Lord’s return does interrupt future adventures in Red Canyon we have been assured that there are even better adventures ahead for those of us who know the Lord Jesus Christ as our personal Savior! Dave and Jan hope that includes you!

Since their son Stephen and his family have moved to Cedar City, Dave and Jan have many contacts with their grandchildren in Stephen and Meagan’s family, Ryan and Erin. So here are a few pictures of shared activities with Ryan (8) and Erin (5).

A visit to Cedar City’s nearby Frontier Homestead State Park Museum exposed Ryan and Erin to several aspects of Cedar City’s earlier years and experiences. Ryan, for example, sampled frontier clothing – including formal wear and jail clothing.

He also tried on the infamous dunce cap which unruly students had to wear, and joined his sister Erin in the traces of an early form of hauling equipment.

Ryan and Erin tried their hand at panning for gold (which yielded only “fool’s gold”), and Erin tried her hand at roping a steer (which very patiently stood still for the experience).

A fall stop in nearby Parawan (15 miles north of Cedar City) featured a few minutes on the playground.

Driving further to the city of Beaver, the family enjoyed a picnic meal of barbecued hot dogs along Beaver Creek at the beautiful Ponderosa Picnic area provided by the Forest Service. No pictures of the picnic, but it was hard to resist pictures of the beauty of the fall forest along the stream which Ryan explored.

Returning to Beaver City the family enjoyed a stop at a much larger playground for a few minutes, before paying a visit to one of the city’s best known businesses, The Creamery, for some good ice cream.

Dave and Jan are very grateful for the Lord’s provision of family to enjoy. They always look forward to visits from time to time with their son-in-law Andrew and daughter Alissa and their four boys who live in South Dakota, but it is also a blessing to have some family members living nearby in Cedar City.

One week after Dave and Jan discovered and hiked up Henderson Hill on the road to Yankee Basin in the Parowan area, they returned to a trailhead they had noticed on the other side of the road in the same area. From the top of Henderson Hill they had looked down on some beautiful red rock cliffs and had decided to get up closer. The Vermillion Castle trail provided the opportunity to do just that.

The trail climbed steeply, with views of the red cliffs characteristic of the area to the west.

In addition to the abundant red rock, the area also includes quite a few examples of conglomerate rock.

Joining Dave and Jan for this hike was a good neighbor and friend, Kathleen, who also loves the area.

Though the trail was steep, it was only a little over a quarter of a mile before the “castle” began to come into view. The red rock and conglomerate were also accompanied by what appears to be limestone.

Dave and Jan (and Kathleen too) are always very impressed with the workmanship of the Creator who formed the earth, then reformed it in the waters of the worldwide flood of Noah’s day. The “castle” is a fitting habitation for the one described as “King of kings, and Lord of lords” in His word, the Bible.

Psalm 24:10 (NASB)
¹⁰  Who is this King of glory? The LORD of hosts, He is the King of glory. Selah.

Dave and Jan were hoping to take a hike on a Monday when summer temperatures in Cedar City were projected to be uncomfortably warm (in the 90’s), so they headed up I-15 to Parawan (15 miles), then east toward Brian Head, turning off that highway toward Yankee Meadow. Dave remembered having seen a sign for a trailhead along the road, and it turned out to be the Henderson Hill trailhead.

Across the road the scenery was already very promising – as so many places are in Southern Utah.

The trail crossed a small stream, then headed up the narrow canyon between two hills keeping Dave and Jan guessing which one was going to turn out to be Henderson Hill.

Henderson Hill is a mild-sounding name for the trail which ascended very steeply in many places. Not a heavily traveled trail, it helps to have a little imagination at points along the way as to where it goes!

Arriving at a beautiful meadow was one of the many enjoyments of the day’s hike, and there were some colorful floral displays at many points along the way even in the final weeks of the summer season.

Arriving at a saddle between the two hills revealed a colorful display of the red rocky terrain to the west.

The climb to the next saddle provided a very scenic spot for a lunch break in another meadow area which, to Jan’s delight, was filled with small colorful rocks which would be perfect to put through a rock polisher.

The final ascent to the top of Henderson Hill provided beautiful views of the red rock formations in the valley below in which the trailhead was located. Another trailhead on the other side of the road offered the promise of an opportunity to get up closer and more personal on another day’s hiking adventure.

During their lunch break Dave and Jan couldn’t resist the urge to worship the Creator in song with the familiar words of Psalm 8:9: “O LORD, our Lord, How majestic is Your name in all the earth”!

Dave and Jan were planning to head up I-15 to the small town of Beaver three weeks ago for a three day camping experience, but Jan came down with a “bug” for two or three days, so their plans were changed. They did go to Beaver for a one-night stay in a motel when Jan was feeling better, but they still wanted to camp east of Beaver, so they made plans for another trip – until it occurred to Jan that she had committed herself to join some other ladies in the neighborhood for a joint birthday celebration (four ladies in their immediate neighborhood were born in August). So Dave decided to try a solo camping trip to the area.

Little Cottonwood forest service campground was a very pleasant stay. Just seven miles east of Beaver, it is located along the Beaver Canyon scenic highway beside Beaver Creek. Though it was raining lightly on Thursday evening, Dave rode his mountain bike down the highway for an interesting ride on the Mammoth Crossing trail up into the hills east of the city of Beaver. On Friday morning Dave drove up scenic Highway 153 to the turn off for Big John’s Flat – a dirt road which travels for many miles among the peaks of the Tushar Mountain range. Like Highway 14 into the mountains east of Cedar City, Highway 153 is already a scenic treat in itself.

The dirt road from Big John’s Flat to Marysdale, 23 miles away, is narrow, rocky and twisted, but it offers beautiful views of the many mountains and valleys in the Tushar Mountain region.

When Dave’s Toyota Highlander, a two-wheel drive vehicle, could not go further because of a muddy section in the road, he parked off-road and hiked further up the road and onto a trail which headed up toward Delano Peak, the highest peak in the Tushar Mountains – over 12,000 feet high. Mud Lake was soon fading away as the elevation increased.

At the summit of the road it became evident that clouds could present an obstacle to visibility up higher.

As the trail up the mountain diverged from the dirt road, a sign of things to come appeared on the trail.

The man who first told Dave and Jan about the Tushar Mountains had mentioned that it was possible to see Mountain Goats with binoculars in the region. Dave was privileged to see them without binoculars, and a telephoto lens and the advantage of editing software brought them up even closer.

A picnic lunch spot at the rocky precipice of a deep mountain gorge included a cool dose of stinging hail!

Continuing up the mountain, the peak Dave was headed for became so obscured in a cloud that he couldn’t tell which route to take, as the trail had become very intermittent and even the immediate surroundings were obscured in deep fog, so arriving at the top of Delano Peak will have to wait for another day – but it was a very enjoyable attempt! And there were some very cheery mountain flowers to enjoy along the trail.

Psalm 104:18 (NASB) tells the reader that “The high mountains are for the wild goats; The cliffs are a refuge for the shephanim.” Whether there are any “shephanim” in the Tushar Mountains or not, the sound of pika (probably a similar animal) could be heard along the trail. As he enjoyed the beauty of the mountains Dave was thinking, along with the psalmist, (Psalm 104:1 NASB) “Bless the LORD, O my soul! O LORD my God, You are very great; You are clothed with splendor and majesty”!

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)