UTAH, 2011: Impromptu Exploration

Yesterday we finished work at a reasonable time and with some surplus energy so we went looking for the remnants of Tropic's predecessor, Loseeville. The directions were pretty sketchy: follow the road across from the pizza shop beyond BV hill til you see the old cemetery. As soon as we crested the hill, we looked into a lush, fertile valley of irrigated fields--so different from the area surrounding the town that it seemed we'd entered another world. The old cemetery, surrounded by wire fencing, is in what's now a hay field but obviously maintained if not frequently mowed. Loseeville was named for that family, which is well represented in the graveyard. Further along that lane we found a retirement home for aged refrigerators and a picturesque weathered barn and corral.

Entrance to Loseeville cemetery

Frigidaire cemetery

Intrigued by the unfamiliar landscape, we traveled farther down the valley. Soon we were beyond the irrigated land and into scrubby vegetation interspersed with shale buttes and wide, sandy washes. Although we hadn't driven very far, we'd seen a mind-boggling variety of environments. I guess easterners aren't used to such dramatic changes in topography occurring within the space of a mile or two.

It was so invigorating to spend an afternoon away from the RV that we extended it by climbing the hill above 'the Dump.' This waterfall was created when the early Mormon settlers hand-dug a canal from the east fork of the Sevier River to the edge of the plateau to bring irrigation water to their fields in the valley below what's now Bryce Canyon National Park. A short, steep climb up scree slopes to a sandstone wall of hoo-doos and windows with good views of the waterfall, into the park and out to Powell Point.