Inspiration: Cedar Breaks

Southern Utah has been an inspiration for me most of my life. Colors, flowers, smells. Oh my, there really is no bottled smell that can replicate the pine and aspen smell of Cedar Mountain. And when you come home covered in red dust? You know you have been in a beautiful place.

The family went up to Cedar Breaks and were surprised by all the wildflowers. I never knew that Columbine was a native wildflower in Utah!

The lupines were also a surprise. They were everywhere. And when we found plants that had no flowers, we were enchanted by the "water diamonds" gathering in their leaves. I explained to Jack that these were cups of water for the animals. He then proceeded to dump them out. Sophia was a little more appreciative and just said "ooooh!"

This was a random road that we chanced upon. The road not taken...but it was lovely to look at.

My favorite overlook in Cedar breaks is Chessman Overlook. The park is so small that, really, this is one of the only overlooks. But that's okay - it's spectacular enough to make up for it. The light was also cooperating for taking pictures. Streaming through the clouds, playing peek-a-boo in the woods.

Another picture to showcase the wildflowers against the overlook:

And while we were hiking, we were amazed by all the dead trees. Even amid the destruction, though, there was the promise of new growth...

The best part? Not being hot. The day was not too hot even in the valley, but when we got out of the car in Cedar Breaks, we were cold. So cold that Bonnie dug out a towel from the car to use as a jacket.

Wow, a picture of the whole family. How often does that happen?

When we went on the hike, though, it ceased to be cold. The forest sheltered us from the wind, and it just became the perfect temperature for a walk. This place reminds me so much of family, since it is only a few miles from where we always vacationed as children with my mother's family. This was Doug's first trip here. He was impressed with the views and really enjoyed the hiking.

A wall at the visitor's center, with a wildflower
growing out of the crevice at the bottom

There were even wildflowers at the visitor's center. By the time we were done with our hike, I had ceased to wonder how many were planted by hand. Honestly, it took a long hike in the woods to realize that this was not a man-made landscape. Maybe I'll try planting lupines again. Since they're native, they should be easy to plant, right? Just because they didn't work last year...