... AND THE REST OF THE STORY...

 One day we planned to stay in town and go to the annual kite festival. 

What an opportunity for colorful photos - to say nothing of the

great fun and frolic!

We got there, amidst what seemed like 100,000 other folks, and asked,
"Where are the kites?"

Answer: "No wind/no kites"

So, this was the only thing we saw in the sky that morning, right from the back patio at home:

 We visited the St. George history center and temple in town:

 My cousins had walked up Snow Canyon the day before I arrived, and wanted to take me back

for a "treasure hunt", to see if I could find the "Pioneer Names".

Dusk descended as we walked, thrilling in the perfect air and stillness.  It seemed

that we had the canyon all to ourselves and we loved every hushed moment:

We scuttled over places like this as I searched for historic markings:

To stop, get stable footing and turn around was to glimpse different

auras as the day collected itself into perfect finality:

Yes!  I found them; the "Pioneer Names":

That was dusk; this is dawn of another day, climbing all over Sugarloaf, a promontory overlooking

the city of St. George:

No trail to follow; it was "pick-your-own-best-footing":

We were alone until we descended.  These other hikers show the perspective and size:

Pine Valley Range peeking over Sugarloaf:

Jo and MaryLou peeking out from shadowy recesses:

I and Vickie peeking at who-knows-what:

Is it any wonder I found it hard to leave?:

MONDAY, APRIL 17th

Our day in Zion National Park was under an unfortunate bland, grey "nothingness" cover.

But sometimes a blatant contrast was evident, even without texture or color in the sky.

Of course, one does not always need a brilliant blue sky, but opportunities for photographs

are disappointing when there is a wash-out, without even clouds:

My impression was of massiveness all around:

This was the beginning to a trail back to "The Grotto";

The waterfall at "The Grotto":

At "The Grotto":

A hint of blue sky?  It was gone in a shutter-click:

Some contrasts under the bleak sky:

The Court of the Three Patriarchs:

This interesting sky looks like I did some photoshopping - nope;

just a momentary backlight in the moody atmosphere:

We never did get wet, and it was plenty warm.

This is the view from the place we decided to pull up some boulders and

have our picnic lunch:

This is the waterfall at "Weeping Rock". 

We opted to take the steep walk to go behind the falls:

Almost there:

From under the falls at "Weeping Rock":

It was refreshing!

A last look back at contrasting colossals:

Temple of Sinawava, taken through vehicle window:

Appropriate shot for the last pic of the day, myself and Jo:

( I made it small because it is from a different camera with different pixels)

FRIDAY, APRIL 15th

Our priority is to "indulge" ourselves - great idea, eh?

We breakfasted at Twentyfivemain, and sat at outside tables in the morning warmth.

This hot chocolate was served in a soup bowl!

Today's hike was up  north of Ivins in the Red Cliffs Desert Region.

I loved these tents (we had to cross through a campground to get to a trailhead),

looking like some desert beetles we have seen, hunkered down in the shade:

Unlike our previous hikes which climbed high above the desert floor, this one was on a trail following the Quail River through a narrow gorge.

We were always looking up at red cliffs, towering formations looming over us.

We thought the tip of this one looked like a Zuni fetish bear:

The canyon was deep, but the sun still cut through enough that it was a hot hike. 

We were grateful for the coolness in darker places; plus the shadows made for

interesting colors in the cliffs:

Four happy hikers: Joe, Vickie, Lou, and this ML:

What a fun surprise to find this purple bush in the depths of the gorge.  The individual blooms

resembled a lilac, but nothing else about it did:

Sometimes the trail diverted from the riverside.

Jo, Lou, and Vic scramble ahead:

I call this one "Fire in the Hole".

(Another reminder here that I never enhance the color of my photos.)

This is the kind of illumination we had for most of the hike:

And then there were the cooling caves:

Often the opening for a trail was so narrow that we had to cross the river several times. 

And yes, we got our feet wet, as the trail was only as wide as the river itself.

We did lots of rock-jumping and teetering:

Here is an example, where I went on ahead:

Red cliffs were not the only beautiful sight. 

This is desert globemallow, brilliant unto itself:

Thursday, April 14th

Early morning out the back of MaryLou and Fred's home:

Every day has been warm, dry, sunny, and bright:

 This is early morning, but it shows the little squatty waterfall in the back yard which makes such a pleasant,

relaxing sound, and which is especially lulling at bedtime: 

 Today our hike was up into Snow Canyon, through the petrified dunes and

black rock lava cave areas:

 We actually had to traverse and descend these petrified "tubes".

They are immense.  A person would be dwarfed by or lost in the smallest green outcropping here:

 So far our days include a strenuous hike in the first and longest part of the day, followed by a visit to an historic site.

Late this afternoon we visited the Brigham Young home in St. George:

 This view is from the front porch of the Brigham Young home, and the walkway is lined with almond trees, now covered with the  hard, felt-like green casings of almonds:

Also a view from ML's back yard. Sunset on a perfect day!