17 June 2023 Cedar Breaks NM

 Cedar Breaks NM is like a mini-Bryce Canyon but at 10,000 feet altitude. We drove into Panguitch and took UT143 toward Brian Head. That took us into Cedar Breaks NM from the east. We first turned up to the North Entrance to see the furthest North View Overlook and show the rangers our America Passes (Senior) and pick up park maps. The view looking down into the orange and red hoodoos is probably the best in the park. We worked our way south stopping at each of the overlooks to gawk. All the of the parks trails were still closed due to snow, over 10 feet in places. The wind was blowing hard up the canyon, so standing on the overlooks was a bit chilly. Even Lacy shivered. At the southern most part of the park, we went into the temporary visitor center (The new visitor center is still under construction) to get our passport stamps, post cards and other prized items. David talked with some of the rangers about access to the Bristlecone Pines in the park. Unfortunately, the trail to the grove was still buried under snow, but they told him about another grove of Bristlecone Pine grove in the Dixie National Forest. After we left the park, we turned on UT14 toward Cedar City. Just a short distance down the road was the trail head into the Bristlecone pines. Bill, Leslie and David hiked the short ¼ mile trail to the overlook. These were some of the must robust and tall Bristlecone Pines we have ever seen. They were huge and beautiful. From the overlook we also looked down into the valley that was the watershed for the Virgin River which flows into the Narrows and into Zion National Park. We could see Zion Canyon in the distance and the crack in the earth that is the Zion Narrows. Absolutely Beautiful! Following the Bristlecone Pine hike, we drove on down into Cedar City to stock up on some essentials. We then drove up to Tom and Shanna’s cabin above Cedar City. They have a beautiful log cabin with a view looking west over the city and in the distance we could see Wheeler Peak in Great Basin National Park. Tom and Shanna are doing great. We had a wonderful dinner and enjoyed catching up on how everyone was faring in retirement. We headed back to Hatch just before sunset on UT14. As it got dark, there were deer everywhere along the road and it was a slow nerve racking drive back, but fortunately we did not hit any.