Cedar Breaks

On our way home from our family reunion, we drove over to Cedar Breaks National Monument. It was right off our route, so I couldn't just drive past without stopping. We had the time, after all, and you know how much I love going to National Parks.

One of my sisters came along with us, bringing her husband, one of her kids, and his fiancée and daughter.

We went to the canyon, and took a look at what it had to offer.

It had a pretty familiar appearance to us.

I suppose it wasn't particularly wise to go to Cedar Breaks just two months after going to Bryce Canyon, because they are really similar.

Kind of funny, because I remember the narrator of the movie that they showed us in the Bryce Canyon visitor center saying that Bryce Canyon is like no other place on earth. I think they may have oversold that a little.

All the same, we had a good time. We bought Little a Junior Rangers hat in the gift shop, and he filled out his booklet to receive his Junior Rangers badge.

Since we'd just seen a similar...and much bigger...canyon, we didn't spend much time there.

We quickly moved on to the Alpine Pond Trail for a hike. This was one of only two or three trails in the whole place. And, because Cedar Breaks is all the way up at 10,000 feet elevation, the snow was still just now melting in June. The trail, therefore, hadn't had a lot of time to get cleared. 

There was an upper trail and a lower trail, that you could take in a loop. Except the lower trail was still pretty much impassable, especially with a couple of toddlers in tow. Turns out the lower trail was the one that took you to the pond, so we never got to see it, except from away far off. 

The little ones did really find the snow to be pretty fun. They kept making snowballs each time we passed another non-melted patch, and threw them at whoever was closest. 

Little was really tired, and pretty grumpy and easily brought to tears during our hike. By the time we finally turned around, I was really glad to do so.

Once we got back, we hopped in the car and headed straight home. 

Oh, by the way, if you're following my patch collection...and I know that all of you are...here's the patch I got for Cedar Breaks: