Our final stop on this short end of summer break getaway was Cedar Breaks National Monument. Here is what Wikipedia has to say about this amazing place:
Cedar Breaks National Monument is a U.S. National Monument located in the U.S. state of Utah near Cedar City. Cedar Breaks is a natural amphitheater, stretching across 3 miles (4.8 km), with a depth of over 2,000 feet (610 m). The elevation of the rim of the amphitheater is over 10,000 feet (3,000 m) above sea level.
The rock of the amphitheater is more eroded than, but otherwise similar to, formations at nearby Bryce Canyon National Park, Red Canyon in Dixie National Forest, and select areas of Cedar Mountain (SR-14). Because of its elevation, snow often makes parts of the park inaccessible to vehicles from October through May. Its rim visitor center is open from June through October. Several hundred thousand people visit the monument annually. The monument area is the headwaters of Mammoth Creek, a tributary of the Sevier River.[3]
Before we left our hotel room to drive to Cedar Breaks, I was looking in a Utah hiking book, and noticed an interesting looking trail called Alpine Pond Trail. I only saw it on a map and could not find a description anywhere in the hiking book. It looked like about the right length and location for a nice afternoon hike, however, so I decided to look for it as we drove. I never saw a sign for it, until we turned into what we thought was a park information center (with what I hoped was a restroom - it wasn't). There was a sign and when we got close enough to read it - it was the trail head for the Alpine Pond Trail!
This awesome little trail had it all. I think it would rate in my top five all-time favorite trails.
The trail was well-marked and easy to follow.
We finally got some rain here in Utah, so the growth on the trail was lush and green.
There were plenty of tall pines.
There were also a lot of other trees including quaking aspens. I bet this trail is amazing in the fall when leaves change.
There were also wildflowers along the trail.
I really liked these little lavender flowers.
There was some altitude change along the trail as you can see from the these stair-stepped switch backs. At an altitude of 10,000 feet, it was easy to get winded, but we all did OK.
You could see views of the red rocks of the Cedar Breaks "amphitheaters" between the trees.
Of course, true to the name of the trail, there was a shallow alpine pond, filled with tiny little fish and tadpoles.
Charly liked watching the little fish and tadpoles.
It really was a great place.
We all enjoyed it.
After the hike, we stopped at some view areas. Cedar Breaks has some amazing vistas. These are some of my favorites.
You can see the ominous dark clouds in all of these pictures. Those dark clouds caused some damaging rains and flooding about 20-30 miles west of where we were when these pictures were taken. We were unaffected by the rain, and didn't even get wet until later that evening when we were back in Panguitch getting our take-out dinner from a restaurant.
As we were leaving Cedar Breaks, these little fellow came right up to us as we were getting in our car. It was as if he had come to say goodbye.
Our end of summer family getaway was a fun and enjoyable couple of days. We love family vacations, and only wish more of the family could have been with us - but we will take whoever we can get. Thanks for stopping by and sharing the beauty of our visit to Bryce Canyon and Cedar Breaks.
😊Deb💜
"The best things in life are the people we love, the places we've been, and the memories we've made along the way."
~Anonymous
