Evening Canyon Picnic

On the eve of a storm,
we headed up American Fork canyon for a picnic.
It was overcast and windy,
but still quite warm.

The pictures don't do it justice-
it was gorgeous!
Of course, since it has rained and snowed,
most of the leaves have probably blown off,
but hopefully the green leaves will have stayed
and will turn later on.

Hike to Scout Falls

On Monday, Ethan and I hiked to Scout Falls,
up the Timpooneke trail.
The aspens were gorgeous.

Ethan enjoyed the hike a lot.
In fact I had a hard time keeping up with him!

Canyoning!

Such gorgeous leaves!
Red, yellow, orange...

All over American Fork canyon's lower slopes last weekend,
they have likely mostly been blown off by last night's storm.
Under the cloud cover,
it's possible to see a dusting of snow at those elevations now.
I hope to make it up there in a couple of days to see what survived.

Early Glimmers of Fall

Just a little color in Logan canyon last weekend...
and a little more starting down at Garden City:

Some of the reds and yellows are quite bright this year.

End of Summer Wildflowers

Mom's wildflower patch was still going strong last week,
and looking very beautiful in the morning light.

Cache Valley Sunset

Last week I drove through a stunning evening in Cache Valley
on my way up to Bear Lake.
The fields were full of new mown hay,
the sky was full of clouds that would have enraptured Maxfield Parrish.

It was a perfect fall evening.

Not Making This Up

You really have to enlarge this picture to get the full effect.
I tend to expect scriptural advertising like this
in the Bible Belt,
but it is a bit odd to see it in downtown Salt Lake City.

Snake Charmer

Isn't she charming??
My nephews thought so...

And my nieces...

... and my sister, too!

Natural Hot Pools

The hot pools at Yellowstone are SOOO neat.
They beckon and seem to say "dive in!"
(It would be unwise to do so--
they are scalding, boiling hot.)
But the blue is so deep!
And they look so pretty!
And the edges are so colorful!
I could look at them for hours.

Light Changes

Mammoth Hot Spring upper terraces is gorgeous.
I got there late in the evening after the sun had set,
and it was mysterious and unearthly,
but the next morning when I went back,
the lighting was even more dramatic:

Mammoth is one of my very favorite places!

Rulers of Yellowstone

While we were stopped at Old Faithful,
one of the trucks in the parking lot got mobbed by ravens.
The truck owners had left sacks of unprotected food,
and the ravens promptly got at them.
One enterprising raven hopped off with a bag of chex mix:

I was watching him (her?) and the raven knew very well that if she/he pecked the bag, it would open and the mix could be eaten.
And other ravens knew it too.
There was a bit of a showdown, in fact:

Ravens aren't the only animals that rule the roost at Yellowstone.
The bison stroll along the road and everyone makes way:

Old Faithful

Me and Old Faithful.

Old Faithful in the middle of the day
(kind of washed out, with the overcast light)

I like the evening photos best,
and best of all,
the post-sunset simmer:

Dinner Adventures

This is a Rulon Burger.
It is 1.5 pounds of hamburger,
named after Rulon Gardner,
a U.S. Olympic gold medal heavyweight wrestler.
It's big enough for four people to share, comfortably.
I shared it with my fellow travelers
on the way home from Yellowstone.
(I will post pix and stuff about that later,
when I get caught up with my life post-trip).

Anyway, I had always been curious about Rulon Burgers,
because several times I had driven through Star Valley, WY
and I knew about the place,
but my parents never wanted to stop.
So I finally got a chance last night.
The burger is pretty good, especially considering what a challenge it must be to cook it.
It was kind of fun to get a burger that huge
and then cut it up into fourths like a pie
and serve it (after taking silly pictures first).
We were the last ones in the dining area,
and the restaurant was shutting down when we left.
Well, I left my camera on the table.
(I never do that- I've never done it before.)
We realized it about 20 minutes later,
and zoomed back to the restaurant/store,
just in time to knock on the glass and have the server see us,
recognize me, and hurry over with the camera.
I was so grateful to get it back safely!!

Peaches!

Isn't this just the perfect centerpiece?
My sister seems to think so!