Lisette successfully kept her vow from the night before, getting up in the morning and promptly taking Sheila for a lovely walk around the reservoir again, this time walking for a bit longer to take in the greenery, calm waters, and sounds of the birds tweeting around them. Sheila and Lisette were startled momentarily though, when a Canadian goose seemed to fly out of nowhere from behind them, squawking as it glided past!
After a leisurely morning hanging out at Jackson Flat Reservoir, we made our way back to Kanab to visit the Little Hollywood Museum, which details Kanab's history as the setting for many Wild West films. When we looked online the Museum stated that it would be open, but it was unfortunately closed with no explanation on the door, other than a handwritten "Help Wanted" sign stuck on the glass.
Sand Caves Near Kanab
Luckily, we had better fortune at our next stop, the Sand Caves off Highway 89, just a few miles away. The sand caves were created when mining for the sand in the area. Despite being man-made, the caves are not easy to get up to: it's a short hike to the base of the cave, and there's a rope anchored along the rock face where we hoisted ourselves up (and could also abseil down). From there, it's a sloping walk along the rock to get to the caves. It's well worth the endeavor -- once at the sand caves, we could look out through the gaps to get a wonderful view of the path below, and feel truly on top of the world standing amid nature.
We took turns scaling up the rocks to get to the caves, since Sheila was with us and we weren't sure she'd be able to easily get there. Michael went first, strolled around the caves, then went down and encouraged Lisette to check it out, swapping places to take Sheila and snap some photos of Lisette from ground level.
It was pretty easy for Lisette to get up, but that's because she can't fall upwards! It was a more challenging commitment for her to descend, made even more difficult when she saw a lady in front of her struggling, and decided to climb up the rock instead (which promptly got her a bit stuck). Eventually though, she figured out the right path and was able to get down without a problem. Rock climbing is like a puzzle -- it's not necessarily about being the strongest or fittest, but in identifying the right path to take.
Moqui Cave: A Natural History Museum
Not far from the Sand Caves is Moqui Cave, which was once used by the Anasazi people as a shelter or food store. In the 1950s, it was purchased by Garth and Laura Chamberlain, becoming the first dance hall and bar in southern Utah. Today, it's a museum that includes Native American artifacts, dinosaur tracks, rocks and fossils, as well as the original bar (which serves nonalcoholic drinks), and is still run by the Chamberlain family.
It costs $7 per person to enter Moqui Cave, and a staff member then gave us a brief overview of Moqui Cave, and showed us the bar; we were then free to explore the rest of the area, which includes the museum and a gift shop. It's a compact area, but the highlights were seeing the different arrowheads, pottery and other artifacts from the Puebloan Era, as well as the display of fluorescent minerals (which glowed very vividly in the dark -- anyone with a white clothing will find they'll also light up). We found out later that this fluorescent mineral display is one of the largest in the US.
Angels Rest: A Final Spot for Furry Best Friends
In nearby Kane County, there's a touching but heartwarming spot -- Angels Rest and Angels Overlook. It's a cemetery for the homeless animals (the Best Friends Animal Sanctuary has done a ton of positive work in animal rescue and advocacy), as well as for pet dogs, cats, rabbits, pigs, horses and other animals that have passed away.
It's a bit of a bumpy drive down some gravelly road to get there, but once we arrived we immediately saw dozens of wind chimes and graves marked with painted rocks, pictures, toys, and other items for each pet that is no longer around.
OF COURSE we left Sheila in the RV as we explored the cemetery. It's sad, but it's also moving to see these visual representations of how much people loved their pets, thought of them as best friends and family, and wanted to create a sweet memento to commemorate the impact that these furry beings have had on their lives. Angels Rest is set in a very peaceful reserve, making it a lovely spot to house this cemetery.
Coral Pink Sand Dunes State Park
Our final main stop for the day was the Coral Pink Sand Dunes State Park, which contains unique, pink-hued sand dunes located alongside red sandstone cliffs. It's really fascinating to see sand that is such a pink color! We'd already checked out two other National Parks dedicated to sand dunes (Great Sand Dunes National Park in Colorado and White Sands National Park in New Mexico). All of these parks have different hued sand dunes and features, from vivid coral/pink, towering light brown granules, to glistening white. At all of these parks, visitors can sand board down the dunes (which we did at White Sands since boards are available to rent; we hiked up the tallest sand dunes in Colorado).
At Coral Pink Sand Dunes, the other popular activity in addition to sand boarding is renting a UTV and going on an off-road adventure, as there are hundreds of off-roading trails in the area. Since we'd also had a recent (and phenomenal!) UTV experience in Moab, we decided to skip the $15 fee and run up sand dunes on the fringes of the entrance. It was late afternoon, so the wind was starting to pick up again, but we all had a blast -- Sheila is used to running up sand dunes from when we would take her along the coast in San Francisco, so perhaps this was in her memory as she raced uphill excitedly?
After running, jogging, walking and panting around the sand dunes, we drove to a fantastic open plain where we could once again enjoy the magnificent scenery around us.
Route Map
