Woods Ranch picnic and Kids Pond

A forest Fire near Pine Valley, 10 miles north of St. George, started last week. This is what it looked like from a vantage point on the east side of Cedar City. We'd been for a drive up the canyon and had a picnic at Wood's Ranch on Monday the 2nd of July after we had family pictures taken. But I think these photos are from Wednesday afternoon after our Cascade Falls hike, actually.

Navajo lake.

Overlook at Cascade Falls

Cedar Canyon

Damian on "Top of the Rock"

Not clouds. Smoke from the Pine Valley Fire.

There were a LOT of people on the Cascade Falls hike trail with us.

This is the photo Damian took from The Top of The Rock.

Cascade Falls. It's merely a trickle now.  It drains the east end of Navajo lake via sinkholes and lava tubes, but there is no water in the east end of the lake...so no "falls", just this trickle.

See the smoke in the distance? Not clouds, just smoke.

Again, not clouds, just smoke.  Cascade Falls trail.

The photos below were taken at Woods Ranch on Monday afternoon, July 2.  We'd just spent the morning having family pictures taken on the campus at SUU, then we came home and picnicked up the canyon .It was nice and cool.

Damian (left) and Mike were sacked out on the picnic tables when we got back from our "Kids' Pond" excursion.

Wildflowers.

There is a fish on the left in this photo.  Braeden was convinced he could catch one with his bare hands.  But even after finding some lost line and a hook (actually, hook, line AND sinker!), he wasn't able to catch one.  Good thing. We have plenty of fish at home.

Damian and Tandy took a walk around the pond.

Just three of our families there. We are a formidible bunch!

There were lots of these very pretty bright blue dragonflies all around us in the shoreline grasses.

This is one of my favorite shots.

Jonathan and Rachel.

This is a well-composed photo that Tandy took.

Jonathan, Logan, Braeden

Nick and Logan.

Mike and Logan.

Enjoying our picnic at Woods Ranch.

Caroline, Braeden, Lexi.

Braeden kept getting deeper, and deeper.

Tandy, just swingin' around. Wood's Ranch.

Damian (he can never made a straight face at a camera), Berenice, Mike.

The other half of the gang.

The Picnic of the Dead.