From Zion National Park we toured our way toward St. George, on the Utah-Arizona border. Rick and Judy secured a camp spot for us at Snow Canyon State Campground just north of St. George. It is a beautiful campground in a valley of red rock formations that was discovered by white settlers when they looked for some lost cows in the area. There is evidence that native people were inhabitants thousands of years before that.
We took a hike up the Lost Pinion Trail that took us through narrow cracks between rocks and opened into small meadows of beautiful soft green sage plants unlike I have ever seen before. Another day took us on foot up to the North Galoot with vistas in every direction. While I struggled for breath at times I went on every hike and climbed every peak I set my sights on. The quiet nature of the park and the large distances between campsites made this stay a favorite for Carla and me.
We took a day to tour Brigham Young’s winter home in St. George and view the large Mormon Cathedral (the first Mormon Cathedral in Utah). I had wanted to get a better feeling for the man behind the image of Brigham Young. Although he spent winters here with one of his wives and no children for several years there, it yielded few clues about his inner nature.
Perhaps what was missing was for me the biggest clue. Neither Carla nor I felt any spiritual uplift while at his house. Our guides were a sweet couple, obviously devoted Mormons, but even with their enthusiasm there was little I took away about “The Prophet.” Perhaps since it is not my path to God I have no resonance with the man, but I had wanted to get a spiritual measure of this powerful man in Mormon history. He had a large library of books and was a voracious reader. He learned to read from his mother, had only 16 days of formal education but was instrumental in launching two universities that continue to educate today.
From St. George Utah we left the state, crossed the corner of Arizona and entered our sixth state, Nevada. Letting Ram be our guide we drove south and came to Valley of Fire State Park. We were charmed as we entered the campground, it had all the appearances of a movie set for the Flintstones and the town of Bedrock. Rounded red rocks in surprising shapes and thousands of little caves and delightful contours met us at every angle.
The next day we took a tour of the road leading up to the White Domes, we hiked through Rainbow Vista and at the end of the road we took the steep climb down to the Narrows at the White Domes. The Narrows are wide enough to let one person pass through at a time, with a winding path that would make a serpent’s trail look straight, and cliffs rose straight up on either side beyond sight. The entire walk was most wonderful and was a demonstration of how far I have come in these past weeks; this walk would have been inconceivable just a week ago. Nevada has demonstrated that Utah has nothing on it in terms of beautiful canyons and unusual rock formations here at Valley of Fire.
Picture: Carla ready to enter The Narrows
Both at Snow Canyon and here at Valley of Fire we have had little or no phone/internet connection. Tonight we will drive 45 minutes each way to make a Skype call to the Victoria Center and I hope to be able to send this posting out at that same time. Know that you continue in our thoughts and prayers, and that this Pilgrimage North America continues to yield a wonderful prescription of extraordinary locations and purifying vibrations.