Cathedrals of Stone

THE TRIP – Day 5

Richfield, Utah – Hurricane, Utah 
Kolob Canyons

157 miles

We had a short day of driving ahead of us before we arrived at a hotel near Zion National Park where we planned to spend the following day. A little research the previous night found a second, less developed section of Zion called Kolob Canyons that had an entrance and a scenic drive easily accessible from Interstate 15. This unplanned stop looked like a nice way to spend the afternoon. The twisty five mile road had many scenic pull-offs, with a parking area at its end and a trailhead for an even more scenic hike. We drove through towering rocks of rose-colored sandstone along a paved road of similar reddish hue. The roadside geological rock formations we had seen previously along the Utah highways paled in comparison to these rocks. These rocks were awesome, not in a “Hey, that's neat!” way but in a holy, magnificent, overpowering “...This...is...awe...some...” way. In a perfect world, I would have brought a lawn chair, found some shade, and just sat for hours, alternating between worshiping God and just sitting in silent awe in His presence within the walls of this incredible cathedral.  But I ended up doing a much abbreviated version of that, moving on from overlook to overlook, praising God and soaking in the ever-changing rock formations, marveling that the Creator of the universe was so inordinately fond of rocks and, of course, taking photos. We parked at the end of Kolob Canyons Road and headed out on the trail which led to an overlook facing south toward the distant north rim of the Grand Canyon. The path was lined with wildflowers, many of which I had never seen before, flowering cacti, and some cute, photogenic lizards. And the views continued to be ...awe...some... 

 

After our hike and return drive, we checked into our hotel and went to a local diner-type restaurant for dinner. Here we had the first of what would be three “Oneonta” encounters on our trip. My husband was wearing a tee-shirt from our alma mater, a small state school in Oneonta, New York. When we lived in New York, we regularly ran into people from New York who had never heard of it. Here, in a small restaurant in tiny Hurricane, Utah, a women from Utica, New York came up to us and commented on us being from New York, having recognized the Oneonta tee-shirt. Small school, small world...

As he was drawing near—already on the way down the Mount of Olives—the whole multitude of his disciples began to rejoice and praise God with a loud voice for all the mighty works that they had seen, saying, “Blessed is the King who comes in the name of the Lord! Peace in heaven and glory in the highest!” And some of the Pharisees in the crowd said to him, “Teacher, rebuke your disciples.” He answered, “I tell you, if these were silent, the very stones would cry out.” - Luke 19:37-40

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Tax Dollars Well Spent

THE TRIP – Day 6

Zion National Park

50 miles