Cedar Breaks National Monument
On my way to Zion National Park, I turned off the main road in search of a field office for the National Forest near Zion. In general, it seems that forest rangers never know anything outside their district, but the one I talked to in the Dixie National Forest said she believed if I drove down Hwy 12, I might find it. Having no better information, I went in search of this office.
The office was closed as it was too early in the morning. I'd forgotten about "weekend hours". The concept of weekend gets blurry when you can hardly remember what day of the week it is. Instead of waiting around at the office, I happened further down the road to Cedar Breaks National Monument.
No one was at Cedar Breaks when I got there as it too has hours of operation. However, you are able to enter the area even if no one is staffing the front office and visitor center. There's a single road that goes through the monument which reaches an elevation around 10,000 feet above sea level at its peak. So, the temperature when from chilly to winter pretty fast.
There's something about the subalpine zone which I find incredibly beautiful, but I can't really say why. It's the zone just below the treeline. It's remote; the growing conditions are harsh. And, for some reason, lakes at this altitude are especially beautiful. Surrounded by this, I went for a hike.
The sign described the trail as moderately strenuous with some elevation gain/loss, so I headed back to the truck to grab my hiking poles. Ever since I started using hiking poles in 2011, when I attempted to through hike the Superior Hiking Trail, I rarely go without them when there will be elevation changes. What the sign failed to mention was that portions of the trail would be covered in leg deep snow drifts and that other portions of the trail would be completely flooded due to the spring melt.
Trail needs maintenance
I cracked up the first time I fell through the snow. My ankle high shoes were full of snow and I had to take them off to empty them out. Was I never going to escape winter? On several occasions I lost the trail, but I kept reminding myself that the trail was made for "tourists" and couldn't possibly be that challenging. It was funny to be hiking in snow as a couple days ago I'd been melting in the desert heat and crying for cooler temperatures.
The most challenging part of the trail was coming down a rather steep spot where the entire hillside had become a mini waterfall from the spring melt. The trail completely disappeared and there weren't very many good options for crossing the area without getting too wet. I apologized to all the alpine flowers and plants I crushed trying to make my way across.
Subalpine pond
Ones I didn't crush
All my troubles were rewarded as I enjoyed my breakfast overlooking the amphitheater in peace knowing that the horde was busy at the larger parks.
Enjoying the Amphitheater
Fun Fact: The name Cedar Breaks is not accurate as the early people in the region misidentified the juniper for cedar. I was told that there are actually some cedar in the region, but they are small and shrubby.
