Sep 7, 2012 - Cedar City, Utah

We got up and planned our ride for the day deciding to hit a few more National Parks and see some more of the beautiful Utah landscape. It started off as any other day until we missed a turnoff and went many miles away from our planned route. In the process we came upon an accident involving a young girl and her baby. It seems the girl ran into a local, who was driving a small truck. The girl’s head rammed into the windshield, making her face bleed in several areas, and her baby in the back seat, who was securely buckled in, was fine. We...

Aug 24, 2012 - Antelope Island in Salt Lake

Our friends Don and Eileen took us for a tour of some of the special places in the Salt Lake City area, one of which is Antelope Island in Salt Lake. Lots of buffalo, two prong horn antelopes, and a small coyote. We also visited a historic ranch which we have pictures of.

Aug 17, 2012 - Exploring Back Roads

Nancy and I are always on the lookout for interesting looking dirt roads to explore and we're finding more and more of them. Many of these roads are quite well maintained and very suitable for boon docking and then others are somewhat more difficult to traverse. The Dixie National Forest maps that we have are not that accurate we've found and sometimes, like today, we're truly exploring, off the map so to speak. We found our way back to civilization, however, without much difficulty.

Aug 16, 2012 - Shingles Fire Aftermath

Being that our days are down to two before we leave, we decided to go exploring the dirt roads down by the Shingle Fire which happened in July. We had recently been down the main road, Hwy 14, but hadn't seen any evidence of the fire from the road. We got a late start today, around 3pm, so the storms were building. We weren't that far down Harris Flats, off of Hwy 14 when we witnessed the destruction of the fire. It started raining on us as we were observing it all from up on the cliffs. What a sad sight to see all that burned timber across...

Aug 14, 2012 - Red Fox & Hummingbird Pictures

A couple a weeks ago Len and I had been told of the fox hole in the park. Recently we had been out there looking for it, but come to find out we had walked right past it a couple of times. Ranger Rob took us out a couple of days ago to show us the den. I don't know how we missed it! Ranger Rob had seen the kits while leading a tour. I thought how cool would this be to experience such a sighting! Last night about an hour before sunset I went for a walk towards the visitor center. As I was walking on the trail from the campground to the V.C....

Aug 11, 2012 - Rampart Rim Trail

The Rampart Rim Trail is an extension of Specter Rim Trail which starts near the Visitor Center. It is a total of 4 miles round trip and drops 800+ ft in elevation from the start of the trail. That's quite a drop, and the return trip requires a slow pace because of the high elevation, but it's well worth the effort. Some of these pictures are similar to others that you've seen before, but they are so beautiful that we feel they are worth repeating. We love this place and hope you can see why in these and other pictures.

Aug 11, 2012 - Twisted Forest Trail

Bristlecone Pines are the oldest living things on this planet and they are in abundance at the high, harsh environment here in the Cedar Breaks area, and nowhere more than in the Twisted Forest that we visited. Also they co-exist with aspen, spruce and limber pines in this area, which rarely happens. At the end of the Twisted Forest Trail we found spectacular views of Cedar Breaks and the surrounding area. The dirt road that we drove on to get there is very well maintained and passes thru aspen and pine forests that we found to be...

Aug 9, 2012 - Kodachrome Basin State Park...

Wow, did we find a gem today! It has been raining daily up at Cedar Breaks and today we decided to head to warmer parts of UT to warm our bones. We took our bikes with us to ride on the 8.6 mile trail up on Hwy 12 to Bryce. It was 90 degrees by the time we hit the trail and after only about 2 1/2 miles as it was all up hill and very hot, we decided to forego biking until later in the afternoon. Plan B as to take a drive and go explore Kodachrome State Park 21 miles beyond Bryce on Hwy 12. Neither Len nor I had been here, but we had heard...

Aug 6, 2012 - Stormy Weather at 10,400 Ft Elevation

Lots of monsoon like storms here at Cedar Breaks at 10,400 ft elevation. Nearly every day brings clouds like these now, some of them with lots of rain, lightening, thunder and hail. The skies are really angry looking at times and both Nancy and I love to watch them as they move across the sky. Very dramatic!! Beautiful sunsets and rainbows often follow these storms.

Jul 29, 2012 - Things we have seen...

We have been enjoying our camp hosting experience here at Cedar Breaks. The monsoon season has hit in full force, so it is hard to get out and explore when the ground is so muddy. Yesterday was our first full day of rain. Noon to 8 pm, but we enjoyed a beautiful sunset last night. These pictures are some of sights that we have been enjoying since our trip to Denver.

Jul 15, 2012 - Boettcher Memorial Tropical Conservatory

One of the last things we checked out at the Denver Botanic Gardens was the Tropical Conservatory. What an amazing place. You walk thru the doors into a tropical jungle. Damp, humid and magnificent. Everywhere you turn was vibrant colors, lush greens and big plants (2 stories high) from all over the world. What a wonderful experience! There is so much to see and we did a quick run through as it was getting late. We will definitely be returning here when we are in Denver next time. This is a must if you find yourself in Denver.

Jul 14, 2012 - Time in Denver & Denver Botanic Gardens

Nancy and I arranged to have 5 days off from our camp hosting duties so that we could take a trip to Denver to visit with Jeff, Linda, Maya and Josie. We left early Thursday morning, the 12th, and drove all day to arrive in Denver at about 6:00 pm. We spent the next 3 days with them and returned to Cedar Breaks on Monday. Two long days on the road, but well worth it as we had a great time. The drive was almost entirely on Rt 89 and I 70 and was really quite spectacular virtually the whole way. Utah and Colorado are very special places, and...