Panguitch, Utah

We drove yesterday from St. George to Panguitch, Utah. It’s only a little over 100 miles, but, for snowbirds like us, the distance was more like light years because we went from early summer-like weather to SNOW in a matter of minutes!

It’s a beautiful drive. The St. George area is difficult to describe. It’s a series of valleys with small ranges in between and each valley and range is very different…

As we drove out of the area, the rocks and mountains got bigger and taller.

All of a sudden, we saw SNOW! It’s been months since we’ve seen this much snow this close! And the contrast with the red rocks makes the snow pop out even more. 

Just as we got used to the red rocks, we were in tan rocks. We ended up in the small town of Panguitch. It’s our base point for touring in and around Bryce Canyon National Park.

Panguitch is a Native American word meaning big fish. The pioneers first settled the valley in March, 1864. The first winter was exceptionally cold and hard. Crops had failed; people were hungry. Seven men braved the elements to get flour in Parowan, 40 miles away, over what is now Highway 20. The snow was so deep that they had to abandon their oxen and wagon. They were able to reach Parowan by placing a quilt on the deep drifts, walking to the end of the quilt, and then placing another down, and retrieving the first.

This became known as the Panguitch Quilt Walk, and it is still celebrated in the town.

Closeup of the quilt. Beautiful!

The town was abandoned during the Black Hawk War and resettled in 1871. A brick factory was built and people in the community worked in the factory. They weren’t paid with money; they were paid with bricks. Many of the large brick homes built are still standing today.

All of Panguitch City is listed as a historic district in the National Register of History Places. 

We drove out of Panguitch on Highway 143 to try to get to Cedar Breaks National Monument.

I’ve never seen a highway sign like this. Made me giggle… A lot of people must take the wrong turn on Highway 89 when it runs through Panguitch…

On the way up to Cedar Breaks, we passed some amazing scenery.

Including Panguitch Lake, completely frozen over.

I wish we would have counted the number of LDS churches we have seen in Utah. A few days ago we saw two on the same block. This one up in the mountains is the first one I’ve seen that has a mountain theme to it. 

Views of Cedar Breaks National Monument area. This is as close as we could get…

…because the road into the actual monument is closed because of snow. Sophie had a blast playing in the snow at several stops along the way!
Nothing feels as good as a roll in the snow! 🙂