Continuing our pre-Pandemic experience

We learned that about half way to Zion National Park, just outside the small town of Rockville Utah is the historic town of Grafton. Established by Brigham Young and his Mormon settlers, in the 1840’s, Grafton became a farming community supporting itself and other nearby communities. By 1864, nearly 170 folks farmed the nearby fertile fields.

A handful of buildings and homes from the mid-1800’s remain, and a historic district was established to try to maintain the structures. We got to visit all the buildings and even to stroll though the historic cemetery. The structures and the setting near Zion Canyon attracted the movie industry, and in 1969, portions of the infamous Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid were filmed in Grafton, including the iconic scene with Paul Newman riding the bike with Katherine Ross on the handle bars.

Next, we tried to find Glitter Mountain. Also known as The Old Gypsum Mine or Sparkle Mountain, it is an active Selenite mine operated on BLM land just across the border in Arizona. Selenite is a variety of Gypsum still used on the manufacture of sheet rock for the construction and homebuilding industries. It is called Glitter Mountain because the crystals of Selenite literally glitter in the sunlight.

Google seemed to know where it was located, even though there was no signage whatsoever. We diligently followed Google’s instructions until we were 2 ½ miles away, and Google told us to park there and walk – estimated time of arrival over an hour. I ignored Google and kept driving along unpaved, but decent roads. At about a mile from Glitter Mountain, we came to a deep, narrow wash that Google said we need to continue in. It was too narrow to drive, in my opinion, so we set out to walk.

The ravine was actually a fun and pleasant walk. While it took us a bit, when we finally emerged from the wash, there it was – glittering in the sunlight, right next to the parking lot, complete with informational signs. It turns out that we could have easily driven right to Glitter Mountain, but just couldn’t find any source of direction. All in all, I think the way we came may have actually been more fun than if we had just driven there. We got exercise and still got to our cool destination.

Talking to you soon.