Cedar Mountain
There is only one true mountain in the whole triangle made by I-70, Highway 191/6, and Highway 10 -- Cedar Mountain. We had to go check it out, so we left the Cleveland-Lloyd Dinosaur Quarry and headed up in the rain. It was chilly and we had heavy clouds above us, and it made no sense to head up in elevation, but maybe the day didn't have to make sense.
Naturally, the rain increased the higher we got. The road was easy and maintained, though, and we weren't too worried about it. It didn't get too slick because the road was covered in a bit of gravel. We saw a few cars but we mostly had the mountain to ourselves.
The scenery was largely a dirt road in trees, which was kind of a bummer. Then it started hailing. We were almost to the top when we saw a small sign pointing to an overlook, so we went to check it out. We parked in the small lot and discussed options on the CB. It was hailing, and it was cold, but there was a nice overlook in front of us.
Matt braved the hail first, running out to the edge with his camera, snapping a quick photo, and then running back while covering his head. Monica put on a poncho and headed out, making things easier. It was still tough to get good pictures, but the video sounded cool as hail bounced off of her poncho-covered head. Walt and Georgina wandered out too, so we all had fun in the hail.
We pressed on, parking soon after that at the Cedar Rim Picnic Area. No one else was there, and it was a shame because it was a pretty cool little area. There were picnic tables, a pit toilet, and little hiking trails. The hail turned to rain, so we had an easier time exploring. The views were really amazing, and we enjoyed ourselves.
We drove up to the top of the mountain where all of the antennas are. It's really just a high point in the road, and there is no real scenery. There are some nice spots for camping, though. The road continued on for a ways, but we decided to skip it and head on to other trails.
We were glad to see the northern bit of land above the San Rafael Swell, but it was time to head down. We went to the trailhead for the dinosaur quarry road, and then kept going south on Hadden Flat. Luckily, the rain cleared up as we descended.
