Volcanos at Snow Canyon

First of all I'm sad that we just now discovered this amazing place only 1.5hrs from Vegas! Snow Canyon State Park is just outside of St George in Southern Utah. Our first day we hiked about 4 miles along the Butterfly trail and Lava flow trail to the lava caves. I'm fairly certain that I saw a gila monster along the trail, but he ran off when he saw us, so I didn't get a great look at him. We did come across a 5ft snake crossing the road (we were in the truck!). Rattlesnakes are out right now at the park!

 

A nice couple from Holland took this picture for us. When I took theirs in return, Asher actually posed holding hands with them, ha! When we later returned to our campsite, it turns out they were camped right next to us! The kids invited them over to our campfire and we enjoyed a nice night with them. Another great part of camping, meeting people from all over the world!

After seeing all the lava rocks, I was on a mission to find the volcano. I did and I climbed it! It was a strenuous climb, the trail less than a foot wide at parts with a steep drop-off and steady wind, but it did have a nice view of the area from the top. HOWEVER when I reached the top, the wind seriously kicked up to dangerous levels with gusting. I'm not even joking when I say I was on my knees praying to God to help me get down safely! For a few seconds I even entertained the idea of staying put and waiting for rescue! I do wish I had better conditions because there was a trail around the whole rim of the volcano that I would have liked to hike.

On the trail heading back, I came across a message from the kids:

When I reached the truck I found they were having their own little tailgate picnic while waiting for me to return.

The next day we spent the morning on the sand dunes. I LOVE sand dunes! The ones in Death Valley are my favorite, but they require a serious hike to get to the best ones. Here, they aren't as big, but it's a super short hike from the parking area, so that makes it nice. I only took a few photos as the sand has claimed 2 of my cameras, so I'm extra cautious now!

They spent much of the rest of the day playing in the sand at our campsite. Not a bad spot!

Our friend Andy, aka "Double A", lives in St George. He's the one who told us about Snow Canyon. He joined us at our campfire and we made plans for a big hike on our last day. It was a 5 mile hike up Red Mountain to an overlook that gave us an amazing view of the entire canyon and surrounding areas. The kids normally hike well, but this time they preferred to be carried. Journey loves Double A and fortunately he ended up carrying her most of the way.

Now back to Vegas to wrap things up......