Visitors from St. Louis! Revisiting Yant Flat and Ashdown Gorge with Nancy and Tim
We were so excited when we heard Tom’s niece Nancy and her husband Tim were coming to Utah. They had graciously hosted us twice at their house in St. Louis, showing us (mostly me) around the city and taking us downtown to the Gateway Arch, and we so happy to be able to return the favor and get to spend time with them. Tom drew up the hiking itinerary choosing two unique hikes which happen to be two of our favorites: Yant Flat and Ashdown Gorge. We also made a brief stop in the red cliffs while we were driving through the national forest on the way to Yant Flat.
I’m not going to post a lot of the photos I took since I’ve already shared photos of the three places before. Just kidding. But I am going to attempt to not show you duplicates of things you’ve seen before. But there were some differences that make some of these places worth showing again: At Yant Flat the lower sun and late hour of the day intensified the colors of the peach and cream sandstone and in the two weeks since I’d hiked the Rattlesnake Trail the aspens leaves had ripened into fiery yellow. Also, this time I knew the water levels were going to be low while hiking through Ashdown so I brought my regular camera with the larger lens that could better capture the scale of the gorge. Plus, I have photos taken by Tim and Nancy too. So no, I’m not really going to only post a few pictures, but hopefully they’ll be a bit different.
I’m pretty sure we all had a great time: The company was excellent, the scenery great, and the weather perfect. It was a lot of fun too, pointing out neat things and finding details none of us had seen before.
Overlooking Silver Reef and the Red Cliffs, Dixie National Forest, Utah
Tom and I and Abby at the Silver Reef overlook, Dixie National Forest, Utah
View from climbing the sandstone, Dixie National Forest, Utah
Yant Flat, Dixie National Forest, Utah
Tim at Yant Flat, Dixie National Forest, Utah
Tom and Abby, Yant Flat, Dixie National Forest, Utah
Tim at Yant Flat, Dixie National Forest, Utah
Yant Flat, Dixie National Forest, Utah
Me at Yant Flat, Dixie National Forest, Utah
Tim at Yant Flat, Dixie National Forest, Utah
Ephemeral pools, Yant Flat, Dixie National Forest, Utah
View from the top of a butte, Yant Flat, Dixie National Forest, Utah
Yant Flat, Dixie National Forest, Utah
Late day sun making the colors vibrant at Yant Flat, Dixie National Forest, Utah
Walking back from Yant Flat looking at the Pine Valley Mountains, Dixie National Forest, Utah
Rest stop: Tim, Terry, Nancy, and Tom, Rattlesnake Trail, Ashdown Gorge Wilderness, Dixie National Forest, Utah
An old carving I hadn’t seen last time, Rattlesnake Trail, Ashdown Gorge Wilderness, Dixie National Forest, Utah
Rattlesnake Trail, Ashdown Gorge Wilderness, Dixie National Forest, Utah
Tom on the Rattlesnake Trail, Ashdown Gorge Wilderness, Dixie National Forest, Utah
Nancy and Terry crossing the big meadow on the Rattlesnake Trail, Ashdown Gorge Wilderness, Dixie National Forest, Utah
Crossing the big meadow on the Rattlesnake Trail, Ashdown Gorge Wilderness, Dixie National Forest, Utah
Rattlesnake Trail, Ashdown Gorge Wilderness, Dixie National Forest, Utah
Descending into the gorge, Ashdown Gorge Wilderness, Dixie National Forest, Utah
Nancy, Ashdown Gorge Wilderness, Dixie National Forest, Utah
Ashdown Gorge Wilderness, Dixie National Forest, Utah
Terry and I, Ashdown Gorge Wilderness, Dixie National Forest, Utah
Ashdown Gorge Wilderness, Dixie National Forest, Utah
Nancy’s picture of all of us, Ashdown Gorge Wilderness, Dixie National Forest, Utah
Walking through Ashdown Gorge Wilderness, Dixie National Forest, Utah
Nancy and Tim, Ashdown Gorge Wilderness, Dixie National Forest, Utah
Nancy and Abby, Ashdown Gorge Wilderness, Dixie National Forest, Utah (photo by Tim)
Ashdown Gorge Wilderness, Dixie National Forest, Utah
Ashdown Gorge Wilderness, Dixie National Forest, Utah
Tim and Nancy, Ashdown Gorge Wilderness, Dixie National Forest, Utah
Tim hiking in the side canyon to the waterfalls, Ashdown Gorge Wilderness, Dixie National Forest, Utah
Tim and Nancy looking up, Ashdown Gorge Wilderness, Dixie National Forest, Utah
Ashdown Gorge Wilderness, Dixie National Forest, Utah
Ashdown Gorge Wilderness, Dixie National Forest, Utah
Ashdown Gorge Wilderness, Dixie National Forest, Utah
Tom’s photo of us in Ashdown Gorge Wilderness, Dixie National Forest, Utah
Ashdown Gorge Wilderness, Dixie National Forest, Utah
Nancy, Tom, and I, Ashdown Gorge Wilderness, Dixie National Forest, Utah
Hi , Im doing a spur of the moment trip, well actually its spur of the low priced airplane ticket trip…. Which has directed me to Vegas, no worries Im not interested in Vegas just the low cost flight there,,, My passion is photography which has me doing much research , hence i come upon your blog . ….Looking for Locations your blog has filled me with numerous resourcses, Love Your photos by the way and sense of scale in them…. Funny thing is things are so Grand out there but yet its still a small world in many ways <<, Coming across your blog i noticed your friends which happen to be from St. Louis and believe or not that is where I'm am from…. So yes i will be in Utah soon and more than likely visiting Yant Flat, yes your photos are that good…. After much research and hearing about the lotto for the Wave I like the potential at Yant Flats ….Do you have anymore insider info you can give another St.Louisan…. Places on my list so far and will have to narrow down as i have very little time are, Cedar Breaks, Kanarra creek , Markagunt High Plateau,Snow canyon, Paria canyon…. and thats just one day ha ha ha i wish…. but i plan on working then east and south working down to Grand Canyon from here….. Ps thanks for your Blog and info
Hi Tom,
Most of the photos on my blog come from hikes and so aren’t exactly photo stops if you know what I mean. I would start with the places you’ve listed though some will be inaccessible unless you want to walk a few miles. Unfortunately by now the aspen in the mountains would have shed their leaves, otherwise I might be able to point you to some nice roadside areas to see them. I would however recommend driving up Brian Head Peak (forest road to the north of Cedar Breaks); from there you’ll get 360 views. My other recommendation is that you drive Rt 9 through Zion NP. Amazing sights just from the road. Hope you have a wonderful trip. Thank you for the compliments!
Hi I followed Caroline’s link to your blog. My goodness Meghan, are you the poster girl for happiness, health and vitality, or what? I think I will take up hiking, pumpernickel bread and berries myself. In all seriousness this place looks amazing. Looking forward to exploring more when I have a bit more time. Louise
Thank you, Louise! Hiking life definitely suits me. Southern Utah suits me too – I smile a lot more with all this beauty around me. 🙂 Thanks for reading!
Pingback: Yant Flat, Dixie National Forest, Utah: Sandstone Drama | Writes of Passage
Yang Flat is sick! That place looks out of this world! And, I just wanna know, do you have amazing weather everywhere you go?! You have captured so much beauty and joy and life in these photos, Meghan. I’m so glad that you’ve only posted a few ! 😉 xo
I am in love with the sandstone there, Liz. I do get a lot of sunny, cloudless days in Utah which I am grateful for (and still in awe about) after spending my pre-travel life in New York and New England! I’m happy you enjoyed the photos, an thank you for your kind words. xoxo