Utah Vacation-St. George

Today, Susan needed to pick up a prescription from Amazon and the nearest drop location was in St. George, so we planned the day around that. There are two ways to get to St. George from here. The first way is faster and involves driving through Arizona. The second way is a little slower, but involves driving through Zion. We chose the latter.

Zion National Park East entrance

Driving through Zion is just spectacular. I don’t know what else to say about it. Heading West this time, we did see things from a different angle, and it was morning this time, so things were lit differently, but otherwise, it was one awe-inspiring view after another all the way through. The tunnel is amazing in itself, but what is even more amazing is that it has holes cut in the side to let in air and light. While driving through, passengers can get a glimpse of what is about to be revealed by looking through these giant windows.

View through a window in the Zion tunnel

Once out the other side, the scene is unbelievably dramatic. Photos can’t grasp the enormity of the site. Andrew captured a few shots with the highway winding down to try to give the scene some perspective.

Mountains viewed from the highway after leaving the tunnel

On the other side, we drove through Springdale again, and this time it seemed different. The crowds were gone and the town seemed inviting. Maybe we’ll stop and explore it later.

Susan’s prescription was at a drop box in a drug store in St. George. It just so happened that the St. George Visitor Center was literally next door. While Susan checked on her order, Andrew and I walked next door. The Visitor Center had lots of good information about the area and plenty of stuffed animals to help identify the wildlife that one may encounter. Meanwhile, two other visitors were getting the scoop from the employee working the desk. We casually eavesdropped on the conversation and decided that we wanted to do the same thing.

We decided to explore Snow Canyon. Snow Canyon is a State Park just outside St. George. We drove over and entered the park. The park is about five miles long and has many sites and pull outs. We traveled from one end to the other, then decided which stops to visit.

Our first stop was Jenny’s Canyon and Overlook. This was a short hike through soft sand and a short climb up an embankment. The canyon was a short slot canyon and the overlook provided a nice view from about 50 feet above the floor below.

David in Jenny's Canyon

Next came lunch in a picnic area, followed by the Lava Flow Trail. This trail took us over an old lava flow, including three lava tube entrances. Susan and Andrew surprised me when they climbed down into the tube entrance and disappeared from sight. They were down there for a few minutes before Susan returned. Andrew was nowhere to be seen. A few minutes later, he popped out of the rocks about 10 feet away. He found another entrance that I hadn’t seen.

Further along the trail, we found the mother of lava tube entrances. We all climbed down the hard, sharp lava rock and into the cave below. It was nice and cool, and extremely dark. We explored for awhile using our phone lights to see where we were going. I was the first to leave and as expected, Andrew was the last.

Susan in a lava tube on the Lava Flow Trail

The trail continued a little further to a large rock outcropping near the edge of a steep hill leading into a long valley. We all climbed to the top and had a great view of the valley and most of the park.

Panoramic view from an outcropping on the Lava Flow Trail

On the way back to the car, I spotted my first Jack Rabbit of the trip and it reminded me of someone. I had been looking for one at each stop. I pursued it for a time, but it was very elusive, hiding behind the sage brush, so I didn’t get a picture, and I eventually let it go.

After the park, we headed back to town to pick up the prescription, then started heading back to Kanab. We stopped briefly at the Natural Food Store, then continued along the Arizona route.

Along the way, Andrew wanted to fly his drone. The sun was about an hour from setting and the magic light was making everything glow. We came across a particularly amazing mountain outside Hurricane and decided to stop at the Gem Trailhead. The trailhead included both hiking and biking trails. I asked a rider where the trail went, expecting that it went up into the mountains, but he said it went out in the desert at the base of the mountain. I was hoping Andrew might get some video of some bikers flying down the slopes.

Andrew got his drone ready for flight and started the long climb to the top of the mountain. It took a while, but eventually he reached the top and got some great pictures and video of the mountain and the distant mountains.

Drone's eye view from the top of the mountain on Gem Trail

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