Surrounded by the Dixie National Forest, Cedar Breaks National Monument is a gorgeous getaway not too far east from Cedar City, Utah. We went this morning to hike and to enjoy the display of wildflowers which, we realized, had peaked about two weeks ago.
I was glad to be wearing pants, as opposed to shorts, since the vegetation was so thick in some places that it hung down into the narrow trail.
I would intersperse some photos of it in this post but when I hit "Click to add an image," nothing happens. [Expletive omitted] Consequently, you'll have to shift over to the blog Photo Album, where I posted a few pictures from the hike.
We took the Alpine Pond Trail which is at about 10,300 ft elevation. The trail winds through fields of wildflowers and stands of forest that include aspen, spruce, fir, and bristlecone pine. Thousands of the spruce were killed off back in the 90s by a terrible bark beetle infestation.
The trail skirts a huge geologic amphitheater that is nearly 1/2 mile deep, featuring red & white rock layers composed of limestone, shale, and sandstone. About 55 million years ago -- give or take -- it was a lake.
The wildflower display was a wonder, filled with a vast variety of colors and complexities, drunken bees buzzing all around us the while. The blue lupine and the scarlet paintbrush were particularly spectacular. Columbine and small sunflowers and more than I could name over-taxed our ability to identify them all.
We left Cedar Breaks just tired enough to know we'd had a grand hike, but not too tired to complete the day in an upright position.