We said goodbye to Parowan Gap and headed toward the mountains just east of Cedar City. We had come through this route in the fall in the opposite direction and I remember being stressed out by both the climb up and the descent (the brakes were not working well at that point). Now we had everything working well on the truck and trailer and we (mostly I) were much more comfortable with big ups and downs while towing. We had also gotten better at shifting gears in order to relieve brake usage and get more power on the uphills.
We climbed up to almost 10,000 feet and stopped for an incredibly short hike. The Bristlecone Pine Trail was only a half mile long, but indeed took us to a stand of bristlecone pines. I had been fascinated by the idea of these smallish, but incredibly old trees and was glad to be able to get to see some finally.
Next we dropped the trailer at the entrance to Cedar Breaks National Monument and took the truck in to explore. It seemed like the park was just starting to open up for the summer season. Many of the trails were still closed due to snow and we saw some people just starting to put signs back up around the park.
We drove around the edge of the cliffs that were the focal point of the park – very similar to Bryce Canyon and lovely. No hikes were open along the edge, but we stopped at a bunch of viewpoints.
We were able to find one trail open and enjoyed the trail to Alpine Pond, although it was slower going above 10,000 feet elevation.
We briefly went out of the park to climb up to Brian Head, the highest point in the area at 11,296 feet. We had to trudge through a bit of snow in our Chacos, but the views at the top were lovely. We also got to watch a couple of guys trying to paraglide off the top to limited success – there just wasn’t quite enough wind to make it easy. We also talked to a woman who as acclimating to the elevation before she ran the Bryce Canyon 100. She averages 3000 miles running a year. Insane! We’ve done about 440 miles (recorded) on this trip, mostly hiking, but a little bit of paddling or biking.
And then back out to the Dixie national Forest to find a site for the night. Here again, things were just starting to open up. Campgrounds were still closed, but we found a lovely spot off a forest road and soaked up the sun to combat chilly temps.
The next morning we headed to a nearby hike. In Cedar Breaks, we had been able to look northwest down the cliffs into the surrounding lower elevations. Now we hiked along the rim of cliffs to the south. We looked down into the Virgin River Valley and could see all the way to the big features of Zion off in the distance. It was so green here – tiny spring flowers in bloom, an incredible variety of conifers (shrub and tree) and just-starting-to leaf aspens. We alternated between looking out at the vistas and inward to try to spot deer (successfully), elk (not successfully), and lizards.
A horny toad! 
That’s Zion, poking up in the distance
We added on a little side jaunt to Cascade Falls from the same trailhead. We got some more nice views along the way and it was nice to hike down a little on the side of the cliffs. The falls themselves were a little underwhelming, but then we did just come from Yosemite.
And then back to Scarlet to pack up and hit the road. Luckily, a nearby campground opened up as it was Friday of Memorial Day weekend, so we were able to dump and refill the trailer before we headed down to the mountain to our next destination.