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)

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!

While Dave and Jan were enjoying the visit of their daughter and family from South Dakota, the two families met up at the Jacob Lake Forest Service campground near the entrance to the north rim of the Grand Canyon. Every visit to the canyon is another look at the Lord’s amazing ability to carve beauty with the force of water. Though the secular scientific community sees it as the work of the Colorado River over millions of years, the flood of Noah’s day probably best explains the amazing scenery of the Grand Canyon and the side canyons which adjoin it.

Silas enjoyed the view of local wildlife across the highway from our campground.

The visit at the canyon began with the exploration of the Roaring Springs side canyon and the short hike down the trail to Bright Angel Point – probably the most popular viewpoint at the north rim.

From Bright Angel Point the far wall of the Grand Canyon is visible in the distance – toward the the San Francisco Peaks which are just north of the city of Flagstaff somewhere around 75-100 miles away.

Andrew and the boys (Ephraim, Levi, Elijah and Silas) posed along the trail. Dave failed to get the whole family in a more posed setting because he was taking pictures with Alissa’s camera and phone before taking a few shots with his own equipment.

The next stop was a picnic lunch along the road leading from the north rim facilities along the Roaring Spring side canyon which is already a serious canyon in its own right!

The two families drove next to the Cape Royal portion of the Grand Canyon – back toward the entrance station driving north. Paved trails over flat canyon ledge territory afforded some spectacular views.

A prominent feature at Cape Royal is the Angels’ Window hole in the rock on a significant rocky outcropping. Looking carefully you may be able to see some of the people on the outcropping, but Dave got a close up of Andrew and the boys on top of the outcropping as well.

Another short walk on a branch of the paved trail to the south offered beautiful scenery – including a site for people who wish to hold their weddings at a very memorable location.

As anyone can plainly see (whether they agree with Dave’s perspective from a Biblical viewpoint or not), the north rim of the Grand Canyon is an amazing piece of real estate! Dave and Jan see in it evidence of the Lord’s creative handiwork even in His judgment of the sinful human race in the flood of Noah’s day!

Dave and Jan recently enjoyed a visit from their daughter Alissa and her husband (Rev. Andrew Crandall) and four sons. Because Dave and Jan’s son, Stephen, and family moved to Cedar City in November to assume ownership of the Top Spot Drive Inn and Gas Station, a visit from the Crandalls brought the whole family together in the same place, resulting in some good times for all. This was the Crandalls’ first time to see the house Stephen and family live in, so it provided an opportunity for some family photos – like this one taken on the stairway in Stephen and Meagan’s house.

Top to bottom, and left to right: Jan and Dave Balsley, Meagan and Stephen Balsley, Levi C., Erin B, Ryan B., Elijah C., Andrew and Alissa Crandall, Silas C. and Ephraim C.

Ephraim, Levi and Andrew spent time putting a puzzle together, and Andrew displayed a finished puzzle which held together when he lifted it up by its corners from the table where it was assembled.

The Crandall boys enjoyed finding fossils in a wash within easy walking distance from Dave and Jan’s.

The Crandall family enjoyed finding “who dunnit” as they played several games of Clue together.

Both families enjoyed some meals at Stephen’s restaurant, but only Alissa captured a meal with a photo. While Stephen was running his business, both families headed out to nearby Three Peaks for a picnic and some rock climbing and a game of hide and seek among the rocks in the park. Can you find the boy hiding in the rocks? And a telephoto lens brought Alissa up close from her spot a hundred yards up on a ridge!

Some good meals were enjoyed by both families, and there was a belated birthday recognition for Alissa.

Dave and Jan are grateful that the Crandall family is willing to make the lengthy trek from South Dakota to enjoy the amazing beauty of Southwestern Utah – making such a family reunion possible. And there was more to be enjoyed – like the Air B&B stay the Crandalls enjoyed in the Page, Arizona area, and the camping trip the senior Balsleys and Crandalls enjoyed at the north rim of the Grand Canyon. But we’ll save some of the story for the next edition of the Cedar City Balsleys – thankful for the joys which come with family life, especially for families who enjoy a common relationship with the Lord as our family does!

The Cedar City area offers many opportunities for fun family outings – many of which these days are spent primarily with Stephen and Meagan’s children, Ryan (8) and Erin (5), while Stephen and Meagan tend to the business of managing the Top Spot Drive Inn Restaurant and Gas Station. So Dave and Jan enjoyed a recent hike up a wash near their house where there are fossils to be found! Here are two rocks with fossils in them from Jan’s collection.

Ryan and Erin enjoyed success in scouring the wash in search of some fossils of their own.

As a part of the celebration of Cinco de Mayo, Cedar City held an event which included a “slow roll” around several downtown city blocks which were blocked off for the occasion. Dave and Erin and Ryan took it in on their bicycles while Jan walked to keep an eye on Erin.

On another evening, when Meagan was helping with restaurant duties, Dave and Jan took Ryan and Erin to nearby Three Peaks County Recreation Area for a barbecue meal and some hiking on the rocks.

There are many things to see and do in southwestern Utah, and Dave and Jan are looking forward to spending some time with not only their son Stephen’s family, but also their daughter Alissa’s family. As Dr. James Dobson famously observed, nobody ever arrived at the end of their earthly days saying “I wish I had spent more time in the office”! Dave and Jan are grateful for the blessing of their family!

You have probably heard that “the best made plans of mice and men are often going awry.” Well, it wasn’t exactly a case of a “best made plan,” but Dave and Jan decided to go camping at Pine Valley southwest of Cedar City in Utah. When they arrived in Pine Valley they discovered that the Forest Service Campground in the valley was still closed for the winter season (though it was now spring – the second week-end in April). So they drove south and west a few miles to Gunstock State Park. The state park, nestled among beautiful red rocks, appeared to be primarily a park for water sports and fishing, and the campground was under construction (or re-construction, as the case may have been). After checking on some camping options north of St. George (at Silver Reef and the town of Leeds), they ended up at the KOA in the town of Hurricane.

Though the KOA was just to the east of Interstate 15, it was located in a very scenic area. Thursday evening, after dinner, Dave and Jan hiked into a canyon just south of the campground and followed Quail Creek to the reservoir where Quail Creek State Park is located not far from some very scenic cliffs. On Friday morning they crossed under the freeway to Red Cliffs, a very popular destination for hikers. All of the parking at the Forest Service campground and parking lot was filled to capacity, but there is a large dirt parking lot west of I-15 where there was plenty of parking, and a trailhead leading to many of the trails in the Red Cliffs area.

The hike on the White Reef trail was an enjoyable hike to the north toward Silver Reef, once a silver mining town but now a sparsely populated upscale housing community.

The White Reef trail eventually connected with a trail heading back to the south along the Red Cliffs after passing over a small creek which flows southeast through the valley between the White Reef and the Red Cliffs.

A picnic stop at the Forest Service recreation area offered this additional scenic view before completing the hike by returning east along Quail Creek to the dirt parking lot where the hike started.

After their evening dinner Dave and Jan headed back to the Silver Reef area for an additional short hike on a well-used trail with some beautiful vistas of the mountain regions surrounding Silver Reef.

As Solomon wisely observed (Proverbs 16:9), “The mind of man plans his way, But the LORD directs his steps.” So it was – but Dave and Jan were pleased with the way the Lord’s direction turned out. They’ll plan again for another camping outing to Pine Valley sometime soon – wondering as they do how their plans will compare with the Lord’s direction!