Pioneer Day...beating the heat and getting out

We decided to head for the hills, as usual, to make good use of our day off for Pioneer Day.  I guess you could say we did get a little inkling of some of the pioneer life in dealing with the weather along the trail....and actually loved it.  I'm sure dealing with it day after day might have been quite another story.  We got out of the heat by going up to Brian Head and then over towards Cedar Breaks area to do the Rattlesnake Trail.  It's only a 4 mile trail down to the junction with High Mountain Trail, but you drop 3200 feet in that 4 miles and then climb back up the same, so it's quite a work out, but also worth it.  We only saw evidence of other people - their tent and gear were at the junction.  Other than that, we had the place to ourselves.  Probably because we're the only ones dumb enough to enjoy hiking in the monsoon thunderstorms.  A couple of times we had to hunker down in a grove of trees and let it pass.  It was perfect temperature wise and every now and then the sun would peek out and we'd shed our jackets or ponchos for a while.  It was good to be out enjoying the rain and such a beautiful place!  We found some great campsites for future use too.

Just a few of the great views

More views and cool rocks and plants

More gorgeous stuff, view from our shelter grove during a real downpour,  Paul in steamy glasses.

It was interesting to watch the water change.  The first creek we walked by looked like this...pretty clear.

Then another creek - clay colored - joined it.

Here is where they joined up.

After they mixed, we had this color.

 

On the way back, after lots of rain, our clear creek had turned reddish.

Here's the same spot earlier while it was still clear.

We  stopped in Cedar City to eat dinner at the park and there was our creek, joined by many additions along the way.  Now it was a thick, sluggish, chocolate mass. 

When they get the road fixed at the bottom, we are looking forward to hiking from the top clear out to the bottom of this hike.  The last half is in the river, and it isn't something you want to do during the monsoon season and without a shuttle vehicle at the end.