Circus Adventure: Toquerville Falls.

We've recently decided that with all our visits down south to Sand Hollow and St. George, it's about time we actually start exploring the area and seeing some new things.  There are so many places we haven't discovered yet.

So when I got word that such a thing as Toquerville Falls existed, I knew it had to be added to our Labor Day Weekend trip to Sand Hollow (here).

{pic source here}

We found directions to find the falls on THIS post.  My only correction would be the street you turn on is actually Spring Dr. not Spring St.  A small detail, but one that made us question if we were going the right way.

Be fair warned that you do need a vehicle with higher clearance.  My brother drove a Subaru car up and he scraped a few times.

I would highly suggest find this place.  Being as we visited it on Labor Day Weekend, it was crowded with a lot of people.  But I know others who have visited and had the entire place to themselves.  I'm keeping this puppy on my to do list for the next time we head south so we can check it out and play on it when it's not crowded.  Also, the water in the bottom pool was stirred up when we were there.  I'd like to visit it when we can see the bottom better.

Regardless, we had fun.  

Everyone jumped off the bottom fall, including our dog, Milo.  Now that was a sight to see.  I wish he would have told me he was planning on doing that so I could have caught it on camera.  As it is I only have him checking it out behind West as West jumped...

West (and Strider and Milo)

And then in the water after West pulled him out from under the falling water.  I think Milo got a little disoriented with the water falling all around him and he didn't seem to know what to do.  West had to grab him and pull him out.

Milo, West, Sean

After that people kept asking if we could make our dog jump again.  Truth be told, we're not sure he even did it on purpose the first time.

Please keep in mind, when jumping from a waterfall, it's important to wear a frog floatie.

Cali

Safety first.

Jayme

Tayler

Cali jumping with cousin Brenna.

Casidee

Sean

Brynn

Sean

This would be the trip that Casidee cut open the bottom of her foot.  But not from jumping.  She simply cut it by standing there.  Well, on a sharp rock.  So take note, as I would suggest with any publicly known adventure, take water shoes of some sort.  If the rocks don't get you, the broken glass will.  Generally speaking, not necessarily here at Toquerville Falls.

I think next time we go I'm going to spend a little more time on the upper part of the falls.  I like the view from up there.

Tayler

 And of course we drug all our family and friends with us.  When you go on an adventure with us, you can't miss out on any of it.

Hanging with Grandma Julie.

Rocky Mouth Hike

If you're up for a short, easy hike with a big result at the end then you should check out the Rocky Mouth Trail in Sandy, Utah.

To give it a little perspective: it took us about 7 minutes to get to the top of the hike where the waterfall was.

And we stopped and checked out a few caves on our way.  There's an old mine that you can go into a little bit before you hit a cement wall where the mine was sealed.

And then you end up at the waterfall on the next turn where you can play in the shallow river (depth depending on the season and year, of course) and you can even climb up a level into the waterfall.

To also give it a little perspective, we had a two year old with us and she did just fine.  There's a lot of steps involved which was a lot of work for her little legs, but seriously, it's 7 minutes to the top.

A quarter of a mile to be more exact.

The trailhead is located near 11248 S. Wasatch Blvd. (directly East of the LDS Chapel).  It's just right on Wasatch Blvd.  You hike up a length of wooden stairs into a neighborhood, walk up the street and enter the rest of the trail from there.

 

 

 Jayme was the only one out of my crew who made the hike with me, but we're thinking we need to take the rest of The Circus with us soon.  

Jacob City Mine

I'm so far behind.  I'm just going to take the most recent pictures I have and work backwards from there until I get them all caught up.

Last Saturday we ended up with only Jayme and Sean.  

The Man decided it was high time we pull out the razors and give the kids some "driving lessons" out on the dirt trails.  

Plus, he just likes to find excuses to ride.

Which is okay with me.  I like to have an excuse to hang out with him all day.

West wanted to find the Jacob City loop.  There were old mines and there was supposed to be a ghost town, but being a pretty "public" area, there wasn't much left of actual buildings from people destroying them. Though we did find remnants of mining areas.  

And we found a few entrances for a mine or two.

The mine shafts that went straight down were far too deep of a hole for my liking.  I wouldn't go near them.  It gives my stomach butterflies just looking at this picture.

We let Jayme and Sean have their turn behind the wheel so they can start learning the ropes to driving and also to riding. 

We're usually a desert type folk and when we need to get out and away we usually flee south to Sand Hollow or Moab for the weekend.  Riding in a mountain setting was off our norm but I loved the change of pace and scenery. 

 At one point in the ride I had a little hitch hiker join me.

And she stuck around for a good few minutes, just enjoying the ride and, I'm sure, the company.

 We had a picnic lunch in the shade on some old cement foundation of some sort or other and called it day.

We rode back to the truck, loaded up the machines in the trailer and climbed inside.

I pulled down the visor mirror...

Do I have any dirt on my face?

A sure sign of a good time.

Nailed it.

If you're interested in visiting the Jacob City area you can get there from Stockton.  Head east on Silver Ave. and it will take straight up to the trailhead.  There's a loop trail there, or you can continue up the dirt past the trailhead to where the road forks.  Take the right that inclines down and that will take you to the sites pictured above.  You don't even need four-wheel drive to do it.  Though the road is only wide enough for one vehicle at a time so if you're not on a four wheeler of some sort you may want to park on the dirt road before heading down fork and just hoof it.  It's not that far of a walk from that point.

Cove Fort

If you ever make the long drive down I-15 between Salt Lake City and St. George, and if you're ever making that drive without too much of a hurry, and you have an hour or two to spare, and if you dig seeing historical stuff and learning about how things were done in the "old West," you should take a stop at Cove Fort.

I've heard about the place.  And I've driven by the signs for it countless times in my years of making the trek up and down I-15 to visit with my parents, but I've never had the time to stop.  Usually it was Sunday afternoon and we needed to get back in time for a decent bedtime because we had school and work the next day.  Or it was late Friday evening and we're trying to make it to St. George before midnight.

But this weekend we only spent on night in St. George with my parents.  We came home on a Saturday, and still had Sunday in front of us for sleeping in and relaxing.  And we still had plenty of daylight to burn with no real hurry to burn it.

So I asked The Man if we could stop by and check it out.

And he indulged me.

what do you love about your state?

I had to chisel my car out of ice this morning.

This is especially fun when the driveway also has a layer of ice on it and I'm wearing heels and slacks for work.

These pictures were taken last week, not this morning.  The Man went out and shoveled and unburied my car for me.  That's true love.

I think when it's close enough to be thinking about Easter dresses and dying eggs that we should have tulips blooming, not snow falling.  Though I guess in Utah you get to have both.

{last year about in MAY}

I make myself feel better by telling myself that there are Medicaid Fraud Control Units in all 50 states so I could reasonably apply for a job with any of them now that I have experience with it.  Reason #57 of why I like my job.

There are a few states that I want to find out about.  The pros and cons of living in them, and mostly how the weather is, what are the downsides of the weather etc.  Like how Utah has snow 9 months out of 12.  I often ask myself, blizzard or hurricane?

Hurricane.

Of course, I say that with out ever having been in one.

Maybe I should return to my 4th grade roots and do state reports.
Georgia
South Carolina
North Carolina
Louisiana
Alabama
Mississippi
Texas
Arizona

See a trend here?  I want south east.
I'd be okay with Arizona though.  I can handle 9 months a reasonable temps and 3 of blistering hot.  It just doesn't have ocean front.

And California, I have fun cousins there.  It's just the ocean is cold on that side of the US.

I wish I knew more people who have lived in these states so I could get a better feel for how it is to actually be there.

Anyone out there know someone who can help me?  I'd love to know.  What do you love about the state you live in?  What don't you love?