Cedar Breaks National Monument

We awoke early this morning to beautiful sunny skies.  After a quick breakfast we headed to Cedar Breaks National Monument. First we took a few pictures from the viewpoints.

A portion of the huge Cedar Breaks amphitheater. In the background is the peak called Brian Head, from which we'll take our last photos of the day.

This is a place we could just go catatonic... staring out into this incredible beauty. This amphitheater is very similar to Bryce Canyon, since both are the two weathered edges of a vast plate of earth that has been uplifted relative to the surroundings. But because this is at a much higher elevation, it has endured much more weathering from freeze/thaw cycles. At Bryce the formations (called "Hoodoos") have not been nearly so brutally eroded. The local Paiute believed that the Hoodoos are the spirits of dead who have been turned to stone, so they did not look at this beauty the same as we do.

We had two hikes in mind for today.  The first one was to two viewpoints on the rim.  We parked our car and while we were preparing to hike we saw three other couples set out for the hike then return in a few minutes with massive globs of mud clinging to their hiking boots which they proceeded to try to clean off without much success.  It seems the trail is not only very muddy but it is a heavy clay mud that is very difficult to clean off your footwear.  We reconsidered and decided to try the other trail which is said to be considerably less muddy, thinking maybe we would walk the view trail later in the day after it had a chance to dry out a bit.

We arrived at the second trailhead and were a bit disheartened to discover that this trail is rated "moderately strenuous."  We weren't at all sure we were ready for "moderately strenuous" at 10,400 ft. elevation.  However, upon reading the fine print we discovered that any hike at this elevation is rated "moderately strenuous" and the one we were setting out to do was four miles with less than 250 vertical ft. in elevation change.  So off we go.  It was a beautiful walk along the rim but through forest so the views were somewhat obscured.  

An outcropping of volcanic andesite rests on the rim of the canyon. Near here we got a serious scolding from a squirrel whose territory we had invaded.

This sweet little pond is right near the cliff edge. The trees are dying from a beetle infestation which happens every 300 years or so. Since it is part of the natural process, and the old dead trees are replaced by healthy young ones the park is not fighting it.

By the end of the hike our boots were completely caked in heavy clay mud.  We arrived back at the parking lot with no desire to try the more muddy hike.

We drove out the other side of the park and we happened upon a gravel road to a viewpoint on the summit of Brian Head.  We parked at 11,307 feet elevation and found an intriguing alpine environment with spectacular views in every direction.  It was one of those magical discoveries that would not have happened if our day had gone as planned...or if we hadn't been daring enough to go off the beaten path. Our Forester was also very pleased with the challenge of a somewhat nasty road.

Looking west into Nevada from Brian Head

The Conservation Corps built this little viewing hut in the 1930's...

We are back at our little apartment in Cedar City.  We have had a quick dinner and done some laundry.  The internet promised by our host has pooped out on us again and we have been informed by Verizon that we are nearing our data limit with them as well so we may or may not be able to put up photos... 

Thursday morning and we have wifi!  Quite functional wifi!  So here are some pics from yesterday.  This morning we head out to Bryce Canyon, then Zion and Grand Canyon North Rim.  Wifi will be sketchy now for at least a week but we will add more when we can.