Cedar Breaks National Monument, Utah

Believe it or not, this tree is over 1700 years old!!!

We had a wonderful ride 43 miles over rt. 14 up and over the mountains ascending 4000 feet in 18 miles! Jo and Pete (that would be Ole' Dusty Pete) went with us for the afternoon to Cedar Breaks National Monument. It is called a mini Bryce Canyon. The really nice part was there are only two walking hikes. None of the trails go down into the canyon. But you can walk the rim - awfully close to the edge. The terrain is rough gravel - very "slippery" if you were to lose your footing. The drop is 2000 feet! Forget getting back up!

Check out that trail so close to the drop!

From Cedar Breaks ...

(If you click on that Cedar Breaks link above, it will take you to more pics I didn't post here.)
The many colors of the different "layers" are compared to a wedding cake. Much more colorful than Bryce.

Another cool thing is that the dead wood looks like drift wood. The wind, rather than the water works its power on the surface of things (rocks included!) to wear them down. Really interesting shapes.

There was and older couple near the visitor's center. The woman was pressing the man for details. He responded, "It has been over 60 years since I was here. I can't remember how it looked!" He told me he drove up the dirt road in his 43 Chevy with his buddies hoping they would find what they were looking for. He said there were no railings or fences, no visitor's center, no paved walkways! They drove up hoping to find this really cool view!! WOW! He said cameras were few and far between so he had no printed record of his visit.

The walk took us through Bristle Brush Pines (not cedars) including the oldest one dated as 1700 years old. It actually still has some living branches. The "bristles" are actually soft - like a bottle brush. It is crazy that they can grow in the sandy ground. I wanted to get a whole pic of this incredibly old tree - but there was this rude group totally camped out under the tree with their lunch, backpacks . . . so it would have not been what I wanted. They even had a dog with them even though it was clearly posted that dogs were not allowed on the trail! Tourists!!! Part of this 1700 year old tree is the first pic on this post.

The surrounding forest is full of tons of wildflowers. In fact, the month of July is their Wildflower Festival. They were just starting to bloom. Tons of columbine and lupine - very pretty. I want to go back for one of the ranger wildflower talk/walks. And bring the right camera lens to get the best pics.

We continued on to Cedar City for lunch and a visit to a REAL grocery store.

Now we are busy planning our 4th picnic. I think I'm on dessert duty. Last night I made gumbo and everyone (our neighbors: Jo, Pete, Evelyn, Mel, Betty, Jay, Arlon) brought something for a great picnic. You know - THIS is what it is all about! Getting together with people you meet and enjoy spending time with!!! In fact, Bill and Mel were still outside at 10:30pm looking and photographing the moon through the binoculars . . . great shots - full moon!

Cool place, cool people, great time!
Love to you all,
Jody