pointed at the foaming water with glee. A small group of us hung over the rail and thrust our faces toward the misty spray from the falls. We shared a sense of discovery, of finding a stunning place well off the beaten path. There are no coffee-table books or tourist guides dedi- cated to Cascade Falls, although there could be. On our way back to our campsite, we stopped at another lava tube cave, the Ice Cave. Much like Mammoth Cave, it appeared to be just a large, unexpected hole in the ground. However, this cave is unique because, even at the end of August, it contained remnants of last year’s snowpack. The snow was dirty, and the pile wasn’t thick any longer, but it was ice cold just the same. We were loving this rich outdoor playground, but we were ready for a taste of civilization, and the small town of Panguitch delivered. Pan- guitch was settled by stouthearted Mormons in 1864, and the entire
community is now listed on the National Register of Historic Places. The library has a brochure for a self- guided walking tour that takes in many of the delightful brick homes and community buildings. The story behind Quilt Walk Park caught our imaginations. During the tiny Panguitch settlement’s first winter 150 years ago, the settlers ran out of food. On the verge of starvation, the community sent seven men on a 40-mile trek over snow-covered mountain peaks to neigh- boring Parowan for help. Making no progress in the deep snow, the men were nearing their wits’ end when they threw out a quilt and gathered on it to pray together. Suddenly they noticed that the quilt kept them from sinking into the snow, and instantly they took out all their quilts and began tossing them ahead and walking across them. They did this all the way to Parowan and all the way back, lugging much needed sacks of flour with them on their return trip.
On another day we visited nearby Tropic, home of pioneer Ebenezer Bryce, the namesake of Bryce Canyon. The door to his tiny log cabin stood ajar, and a brief look inside the 9-foot-by-9- foot room convinced us that those early settlers were made of very tough stock. It is hard to imagine spending a snow- bound winter in that wee cabin, its short walls your only shelter. I f the Mormons of those days could see past the rugged, treacherous, life- threatening nature of the terrain, they must have been astounded by the beauty of the land they found in Utah. Today, tourists from all over the world hustle down the highway toward the wonders of Bryce Canyon National Park, and most make a swerving, sudden stop when they get to the phenomenal warm- up act of Red Canyon on the way there. A red-rock-pinnacle gate welcomes visitors, and for several miles the can- yon’s red walls rise high on either side
14 COAST TO COAST Summer 2013
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