Staycation UEA

My UEA school break needed to be a "staycation" this year.  I thoroughly enjoyed it!  We started it out with a moonlit walk in Snow Canyon.  Didn't take any pictures, but loved the cool peaceful darkness with moon shadows making it all beautiful.  The next morning I wanted to go back and visit one of the places we had walked in the dark, but got sidetracked when I saw the Johnson's Canyon trail was open again.  I went there and then got sidetracked again wanting to go up and see where that waterfall at the end of the canyon originated.  That entailed scrambling up to the top of the canyon in not the greatest of conditions for a person not all that comfortable in high, exposed places.  I had to stop and recommit myself to keep going to the top a couple of times when I was feeling a bit uncomfortable.  Actually, I probably should have just stopped then, but I didn't.  I did get to the top and it was beautiful and I even spied a coyote.  But, I could have gotten to the same place in a safer way.  I wandered around up there enjoying the beautiful scenery and putting off going back down the way I came.  Eventually I just had to accept that what goes up must come down...and this time on the very same route.  I was lucky to find my footprints regularly in the sandy spots so I didn't have to reinvent the route.  I was glad to get to the bottom safe and sound.  On the way out I got sidetracked again and explored the spring at the mouth of the Canyon - Snow Springs.  Finally I got back on trail and made it home in time for lunch.  I loved all of my off trail wanderings even if those high places do give me a bit of the fantods at times.

fan·tod  ˈfanˌtäd/noun informal plural noun: fantods   
1.a state or attack of uneasiness or unreasonableness.

Beautiful desert morning, giant turtle head rock in the wash, flowers among the Old Man Sage, Johnson Arch.

The views on the way to and at the top.  There were lots of amazing carved washes.  I never did get to the top of the wash that feeds the waterfall as it was just too inaccessible.  Lots of beautiful vistas. A short, but very deep slot canyon that I did not go into.  (Dumb has to give in to good sense once in a while.)

Friday afternoon we took off to explore and camp out at Pinto Springs.  It was delightful.  No one was there but us.  We decided to hike the Paradise Trail and spent a couple of hours on it before we decided that it wasn't going to get any better than an old 4-wheeler trail through some pretty, but not very exciting Pinion and Juniper forest.  There was one little stand of Aspens.  We got back and got dinner going and set up camp just as it got dark.  We had a wonderful Dutch Oven stew and cornbread.  It got very cold and our hot chocolate and cookies from Veyo Pies were a welcome desert.  We listened to Ender's Shadow for a while and then hit the sack.  It was a nice full moon night.  Next morning we were awakened as the first hunters on the first day of the hunt arrived in the area.  Brrr...it was cold.  Frost was on the grass and ice on the seeps around the camp.  After breakfast and clean up we decided that a better hike would be to follow the stream up to find the head waters of Pinto Spring.  It was very interesting to find the places where water just came out of the ground, then it would be a dry stream bed for a while and then start up again.  We got way up high and found a spot where it just came out of rock.  On the way down a different way, we found amazing dry waterfalls that we hope to visit next year when they are running.  We also got high enough to enjoy the beautiful colors of the Maples.  Then it was time to head for home.  In the afternoon we took dinner up to Lou's for the family members that had come to help Juge and Lance unload at their new house in Cedar City.  It will be fun to have them a little closer!  The cousins were having a great time playing together.  

Our campsite, the lonely little Aspen grove among the sagebrush, icy, frozen water with autumn leaves on top. 

Paul in a seep area with several springs feeding it, a place where it came bubbling up, dammed up area and the rock where much of it seemed to originate.  There were places where is was running very deep from several different springs feeding it and other places where the stream bed was completely dry.  Very interesting.  We talked to someone familiar with the area and they said there are many springs in this area that run year round.  

Beautiful Maple leaves, looking down on Paul at the bottom of a dry waterfall, Bonnie at the bottom.  There were others that made this drop look pretty short.  

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