Friday, September 11, 2015

St. George Vacation: Pt. 2.


See Part 1: Day 1 and 2 here.

Day 3: Exploring St. George.

As far as I know, I have never stepped foot into St. George before. If my parents ever took me, I was too little to remember. Anyway, I was honestly quite shocked to realize it wasn’t a small town, no it is a sprawling city in the desert. So we decided to explore.

The first thing to grab my attention was the Dinosaur Discovery Museum at Johnson farm.

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It is a great little museum with TONS of dinosaur footprints. I highly recommend it.

After that we stopped to get a bite to eat at a place that was right next to the Visitor Center. So we stopped in to see what other fun stuff we could find. Surprisingly, there was an official guide that offered a couple petroglyph locations. Now that is my kind of adventure!

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Next stop was Bloomington Petroglyph Park. It is a big boulder, but there are a lot of petroglyphs on it.

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The next one sent us the 4 miles south across the Arizona State Line. So, I can cross Arizona off my list of states I have visited.

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Unfortunately this one turned out to be a bust. It did say dirt roads, but they were not very good dirt roads that were hilly so we decided to turn back. But not before I got out and stepped a physical foot into the state.

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Pink and white hills (DBP).

We then decided to check out historic down town. There is a self guided walking tour you can take, Stop by the St. George Chamber Of Commerce on 100 e. St George Blvd. to pick up a guide map.

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The historic Dixie sign.

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The Dixie State D.

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The Jail House. Assumed to be built around 1880 by Sherriff Hardy.

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Apparent that is was used as a jail because the original bars are still in the windows.

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Brigham Young’s Winter Home.

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Kitty Corner from Brigham Young’s Winter Home sits Seven Wives Bed and Breakfast. It makes me giggle.

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Old looking fire truck, with an old looking logo.. a little google-fu later it would appear that this is the logo for the modern Life Is Good Company who sells apparel.

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Continuing on the St. George is weird theme, palm trees. Now that I think about it, I remember a news story last year, or the one before, that an unusual cold snap almost killed them off. But, I really had no idea how common they were down here.

After this we grabbed some dinner, then watched our 3rd and final show at Tuacahn. Vacation goes by so quickly!

Day 4: Cedar Breaks National Monument and the drive home.

The next morning we had breakfast with Mah, spent a little time visiting, and then said good by to her and to St. George.

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The Virgin River (DBP).

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Red cliffs (DBP).

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Lava rocks all over the mountain side (DBP).

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On the way down we passed a sign for Cedar Breaks National Monument. Neither of us had ever been, it didn’t seem too far out of the way, so we thought we’d go check it out. More photos in the link.

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Pretty colored mountains (DBP).

I was hoping we could swing by Freemont Indian State Park, but we were running out of daylight. Cedar Breaks took a little longer than I had planned. Meh, next time.

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Mt. Nebo (DBP). There is a great scenic byway on the back side of this that is a fun adventure.

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Mt. Olympus getting the last rays of light (DBP).

And that concludes our fun adventure down in St George. I know there are some other exciting things to do, and if I return, I will do so during a less hot time of year so that we can explore.

Cedar Breaks National Monument


On our way home from our St. George Vacation we decided to check out Cedar Breaks National Monument. We passed a sign for it on the way down, and it didn’t appear to be too far out of the way so we decided to check it out.

Fee area: $5.00 per person.

To get here from the South (St. George) Take i15 to exit 57 e/business loop in Cedar City. Take a right on UT-14 and follow it up Cedar Canyon for 25 miles to the monument (actually 25.6 from the exit you took from i15), there was a left turn near the top, but it was signed. From the North, you will take exit 78 in Parowan, follow it east up Parowan Canyon for 19.8 miles to the monument.

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Pink and white striped hillside (DBP).

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Cedar Canyon is rather pretty (DBP).

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I believe this is what we are heading towards (DBP).

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And we have arrived! That was a little further out of the way than I anticipated and that canyon had some intense moments but it wasn’t too, too bad. There is a $5.00 per person area use fee.

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Alright. Bryce Canyon is not particularly unique.

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You can just see Brian Head Peak in the top left here.

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All previous images taken from Point Supreme. Elevation: 10,350. From St. George.s elevation of 2,860 ft. that is quite the elevation change!

Next stop, Sunset View Overlook. Elevation: 10,354.

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Nice views.

Sunset Point

Panoramic.

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Autumn is trying to get started up here (DBP).

Up next: Chessmen Ridge. Elevation 10,460. The highest overlook in the park.

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I believe this is the ridge from the name.

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Cool little arch.

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chessman ridge

Panoramic.

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More early fall (DBP).

Next stop: North View Overlook. Elevation 10,435 ft.

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I like the different coloring in this one.

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North View

Panoramic.

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Well, that is Cedar Breaks! Now to hop over this summit, which is a bit lower than Sunset Point, and drive down Parowan Canyon.

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Brian Head ski resort/town. Random reservoir (DBP).

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The tightest hairpin turn I have ever experienced. Speed Limit 15 MPH, and trust me, they mean it (DBP).

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Strange looking hoodoos (DBP).

I didn’t get a picture, but there is seriously a side canyon called Second Left Hand Canyon. o.O

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Big cow (DBP).

Well that was fun. I am glad that we checked it out. I’m not sure if I would make an effort to see it again, because seriously Bryce Canyon is way better. However it is neat. There are a couple trails but not a lot and none appeared to go down amongst the hoodoos.

Well it would appear, Bryce Canyon is not unique at all. Devil’s Kitchen at the south end of The Nebo Loop Byway is referred to as the Mini Bryce. Cedar Breaks can be referred to as Bryce Jr. Again, it was neat, but you will have a much more exciting time at Bryce which is not too far away, seriously, an hour and 15 minutes.

As for difficulty, we didn’t do any of the few trails, but all the lookouts are paved, and easy to walk out to, the longest one being Point Supreme. DR2.

Pets must be leashed, but are not allowed on any of the trails, or in the visitor center.

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