Labor Day Weekend and the End of Summer

It is hard to believe that summer is winding down. It seems like this summer has flown by more quickly than any other in recent memory. Before summer ended we wanted to take advantage of another Daybreak opportunity so we rented some paddle boards and took them out on the lake. It was so nice and relaxing. The weather was perfect and the lake is so beautiful. We loved it. I am sure this is the first of many afternoons we will spend paddle boarding on Daybreak lake.

For Labor Day weekend we headed to Zions national park with Alison's family. We left Friday after work, which meant we didn't arrive at camp until almost 10pm. This year we stayed on the Springdale side of the park. This meant we were right in the heart of everything - shops, restaurants, and the crowds.

We woke up Saturday morning and made biscuits for breakfast. Last week Blake, Debbie, Alison, and I were watching Lonesome Dove. Augustus makes delicious-looking sourdough biscuits in a dutch oven and we thought we should make some while we were camping. We looked up a few recipes and immediately worked on our sourdough start. We fed it every day for a week. It was a smashing success - we had a delicious breakfast of sourdough biscuits and gravy.

Our view from camp 

After breakfast, Alison and I drove out to Kannaraville to hike Kannaraville falls. We have always wanted to do this hike, but never really had the opportunity. It was a great hike, especially since it was a warm day. You spend a lot of the hike walking through the cool water. It is around 3 miles into the main falls, but overall it isn't too challenging. It really wasn't terribly crowded either, until we got to the main falls. It was packed. There was a 30-45 minutes wait to climb up the ladder at the falls. After you got up there was a line to come back down. We decided it wasn't worth the wait, since it really wouldn't be that difficult for us to come back and do this hike on a less busy day. We had a great time on this hike. We haven't done much hiking this year. There were too many other things going on. It was really pleasant to be outdoors enjoying this beautiful state we live in.

“Where wilderness can still be found, the ancientness of the land and the nobility of man's struggle emerge. Wilderness is vastly different from the clutter and clatter of much of our civilized world. In the wilderness, one experiences exhilaration and joy. In freedom and simplicity, in its vitality and immense variety, happiness may not only be pursued; it is ofttimes found.”

― Harvey Broome

On Saturday evening we went on another hike with Jake, Meg, and Debbie. Last year on Labor Day weekend while we hiked Angel's landing Jake and Meg hiked Observation point starting on the Ponderosa side of Zions. This year we really wanted to do this hike with them. We got a bit of a late start. Despite the late hour the woods we hiked through were beautiful. For most of our hike, the sun was setting. We reached the end at the perfect time to catch the last rays of sunshine.

While we had the beautiful views of the sunset it also meant we had to hike back in the dark. We picked up our pace on the way back and made it out a little quicker than we hiked in. Debbie and Alison were not thrilled about hiking in the dark, but overall the hike was still fun and the views were incredible.

On Sunday Alison and I hung out with Blake and Debbie. We drove over to Snow Canyon near St. George. None of us had been over to that area. It was similar to the beauty of Zions without so many crowds. We did a short hike to see some pioneer names written on the cliffs and a lot of driving around.

After Snow Canyon, we decided to take the Jeep into Zions. We pulled the top off so that we could have great open-air views of the park. Fortunately, the line to get into Zions was a lot shorter than earlier in the day. We started off with Blake driving and Alison in the front seat. Alison would stand up in the front to get even better views. When we got to the first big tunnel there was a long line of cars. We had a Chinese fire drill. Alison ended up driving and I was in the front seat. I was standing up to get some pictures. A little way after the second tunnel we passed a park ranger who pulled us over. It was a bad deal. I was in trouble for standing up in the Jeep and when he asked Alison for her driver's license she didn't have it with her. The ranger took our information and headed back to his vehicle. Blake was laughing reminiscing about when he was pulled over for riding a car, saddle and all, in Ephraim. This was a pretty comical situation. I did end up getting a ticket. We really couldn't protest. The ticket was a bummer, but standing up in the Jeep driving through Zions was a pretty fun experience.

We drove home Sunday night. Alison has three classes going at once for the first few weeks of this semester and it has been an overwhelming amount of work. Grad school is tough. We came home so that Alison would have time on Monday to get her homework done.

It was a good decision. Alison was able to get everything she needed to do. It will make the week go much more smoothly. We even had time to take a walk around Daybreak lake.