ST. GEORGE, UT
Today I did a couple easy hikes right in the heart of St. George.
Owen's Loop
The first hike was Owens Loop, a 3-mile round-trip trail with its trailhead right in the middle of St. George. You climb to the top of a red cliff butte and the trail loops around the perimeter of that butte with stunning views of the city to the south. It didn't hurt that the cloud game was on point that day. :) It had rained earlier and the clearing sky certainly adds to the beauty.
In the picture above, right in the center, you can see a large white structure. This is the St. George Utah Temple of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. It was completed in 1877. Also, note the couple on the red cliff in the lower left-hand corner of the photo for perspective.
Below is the view from Owens Loop looking north. I couldn't figure out right away why this view was so striking to me and then I realized ... it's the first time I've see GRASS since I left Virginia! The Dixie Red Hills Golf Course greens look oddly out of place, but the green is a nice striking contrast to the red rocks I'm growing accustomed to.
In the photo above, also notice the snow-capped mountains in the background. No one told me this, but looking at a map, I'd bet $1 these are mountains in Pine Valley. I'd bet another dollar one of those peaks is Burger Peak that I tried to hike on Sunday, but turned around due to snow. And I'd bet another nickel that the rain we got in St. George today was delivered as snow at that 10,000' elevation and that these peaks have even more snow today than they did on Sunday. And now that I'm potentially down $2.05, I'm going to quit betting.
The Crack at Pioneer Park
Pioneer Park is another little treasure, located right in the middle of St. George. It's a perfect place for families with lots of rock formations for kids to scramble on, and short easy trails.
I saw a little sign for "The Narrows" and went to check it out. There was a man with his three daughters in there. I breezed past and came to a dead end where the narrows kept, well, narrowing to a tiny slit. I turned around and said to the family, "Oh, I didn't realize it's a dead end."
The family quickly corrected me and said, "Actually, no. You can climb through that crack all the way to the end."
Wrong. There is no way *I* will climb through that crack!
I watched as the girls started their way through The Crack, all of them turned sideways, shuffling their way through very slowly. I took just one picture of them when their backs were turned because I didn't want to be a total creeper, filming strangers. But here's that photo showing just HOW NARROW it is!
You have to make your way through The Crack sideways, shuffling your feet along. The dad told me The Crack goes all the way through and up and you come out on the cliff above and then climb around to the right and down.
I could hear the girls talking and laughing as they made their way through. One commented that she had come to a point where she needed to step up, but couldn't bend her knee to actually step up. I guess that's where you'd have to pivot your toe out to the left and step up with a high knee to your elbow. UGH! My heart is racing with claustrophobic thoughts just typing this.
The dad did NOT follow the girls through, explaining that his shoulders and chest were too big. I asked him if he would take a picture of me:
Even though I'm smiling in the picture above, my chest is caving in from the claustrophobia. I had a hat on, but had to take it off because I couldn't turn my head from left to right without the bill getting caught on the rock in front of me. Even in this photo above, my ponytail scraped the wall behind me as I turned my head to look back.
I can't even imagine getting all the way through this, with that feeling of being trapped and the walls LITERALLY closing in around you!
Meanwhile, the dad snapped the pic of me and I got the heck out. I went outside, up, and around to see where The Crack ends. Here's a picture:
And another pic with me in it for perspective. Can you imagine if you were just taking a stroll along this spot and all of a sudden a bunch of people start emerging from the earth?
And now, a little video to put it all together. I am totally amused at my music choice. :)
Red Hills Desert Garden
Whew! Now that we've all breathed through that panic attack, let's highlight the nice little bonus at Pioneer Park: Red Hills Desert Garden. This is a lovely garden that highlights (and labels) all the desert flora and just happened to be in bloom while I was there. How pretty is this?
The garden is full of cactus and trees and flowers and sage and tons of other desert plants, bridges, walkways, fish tanks, and more. Very well done!
Overall, a great little park, right in the middle of St. George, and perfect for families and children.