Much of the time, our travels, and my writings, are about the places we see. Plants, animals, geology, sights and scenes. Initially, there are some minor sights to share…

Still-producing oil fields east of Paso Robles – – –

The new solar facility west of Las Vegas, an other-worldly scenario alongside I-15. The white light shows incredible intensity as the ground reflectors beam the sun up into the collection towers.

Easter week traffic was (predictably) the pits.

But this trip is tending to be a little different, at least to begin with. We scooted quickly (2 days) across three states to St. George, Utah, and met up with Mike and Georgina, our nephew and niece newly-married pair. Great folks to see, spend time with, and catch up with under any circumstances – but this time, we also shared with them the latter stages of a property search that they’ve been pursuing for several months now. So, in addition to just “chewing the fat”, we also were able to have long discussions of a more pragmatic nature.

Our initial meeting place was a completely unexceptional overnight stay at the Temple View RV park in St. George. A nice enough place, but it’s still just an RV park – a place where RVers park side-by-side, no views, highway and city sounds permeating the day and night. Some folks seem to like it, but for us it’s just a temporary necessity while we find other digs.

Thursday evening, we got permission to camp on one of the properties that Mike is considering, and (after a bit of a rocky ride) we parked Howie at the top of an impressive ridge overlooking Diamond Valley, just 12 miles or so north of St. George. The impressive ranges of the mountains of the Dixie National Forest loom in the background.

Mike and Karin chat at sunset on the edge of the ridge – – – Diamond Valley residential area in the background.

Behind the property to the east, the rising bluffs of the Dixie National Forest provide a gorgeous backdrop.

At 4,800 feet, Thursday night had cooled down to a brisk 27F by early morning, but the rising desert sun warmed things up quickly. The area is wide, vast, quiet, and beautifully peaceful. Highway 18 threads its way several miles away, tiny vehicles plying their way across the valley landscape. Multiple volcanic geologies are easily visible in the area, with a couple of prominent cinder cones viewable from the property.

After sunrise, Friday morning presented us with a grand “front yard” view of the area around Diamond Valley and the distant Snow Canyon State Park. You can see one of the cinder cones just to right of the right-hand wiper blade.

Later Friday morning, one of the neighbors, adjacent the property, showed up to chat a bit. Wow, talk about stumbling on a really interesting guy. Kirk is an excavator, a miner, skydiver and philanthropist. Add to that a shooter, hiker, conservationist, and overall lover of wide-open spaces (like the four of us are). Kirk is also involved in community projects and infrastructure in Gana, Africa, where he spends quite a bit of time. A true bundle of diversity and experience, we all got along with him instantly.

We hiked around the ridgeline, and talked at length about building possibilities (if/when Mike acquires the land parcel). As you might imagine, the morning was not short on topics and spirited conversations. We all talked and talked and pleasantly whiled away some hours. Kirk had some other things to attend to and he had to leave, all too soon. We really enjoyed meeting him and getting to know him a bit. This was yet another example of the extraordinary way that travel has of expanding your horizons, acquaintances, and learning experiences. We always come away from encounters like this more educated, more enriched, and more amazed at how many really cool people there are to be found in the world.

Later in the afternoon, we four hiked way across the area to the north, then east up into BLM land and the Dixie forest and eventually back to “camp”. Only a couple of miles probably. Only…. It felt like we crossed 427 deep rocky gulches along the way, but it was probably only five or so. The terrain is very rough, and cut by multiple deep drainages. Surface is mostly lava rock, juniper and pinion pine and the usual desert scrub. A lot of wildlife lives in the area, and we see live animals (deer and rabbits) and tons of tracks and droppings. In general, we feel very much in “the wild” as we traipse (carefully) across the landscape. Temperature is in the 60’s and wind is light. Perfect.

Outbound along the powerline road – – –

These big towers hold up a huge load, and they’re mounted with 16 two-inch-diameter bolts, through a 3” thick solid steel base plate. Somebody did some very serious structural engineering on this design, quite admirable (to a fellow engineer anyway).

The powerline road was the easy section. It ended at a big gulch, and we had to cross this type of terrain to continue to explore the area. Here’s an example of just a small drainage:

And (the ladies crossing) a much deeper one, very rough and rocky:

The area is very volcanic, and lava outcroppings like this one are abundant.

Along the way, Georgina enjoys a late-afternoon snack of aged venison jerky – – –

(Naw, just kidding – this is likely a mountain-lion kill from some time ago.)

And, it being Friday, as evening darkens, I cook up some cod filets with Mr. Coleman’s help – – –

The sun sets, the evening cools, we all chat a bit and head to our respective RV’s for a good night’s sleep.