I think the upper canyons are at peak color right now–and a lot of the valley agreed with me, based on how many cars were on the road. But the trails themselves weren’t any busier than normal so we were able to get some Nature Rx (when we couldn’t hear the sound of traffic).
These were all from Willow Heights, our favorite short trail for fall. Or summer. Or moose-viewing.
The fall colors, that is. We went up Millcreek for a bit yesterday and it’s almost at Peak Color.
That water is colder than ever, too (I still went wading).
We did our traditional July “go up to the lake at 10,000 feet and cool off” day trip yesterday. Doc is on more meds (but we finally know what’s wrong, whew) so we took it easy and just did 0.7 miles to Scout Lake.
We caught the end of wildflower season…
…but we were also out in the smoke from wildfire season (which is kind of all summer now in the West).
But it was a cool 70 degrees and it was good to get out and see the world a bit.
Doc and I went to the arboretum that Mom liked so much to try to start a new tradition (holidays are so hard since she died and this holiday in particular always feels so empty). It was unseasonably warm and surprisingly uncrowded and just a nice balm for a hard day.
…quote from Wallace Stevens, that is:
“A newly-fallen snow
At the end of winter when afternoons return.”
We hadn’t hiked in a few weeks and there was fresh snow and sun in Millcreek–always a mood booster, along with the lengthening days.
We went out to the Great Salt Lake yesterday to see the mirabilite mounds that had formed. The mounds were cool–I had no idea there were underground springs–but I was really taken by the lake (again).
Maybe it’s the pandemic and the fact we haven’t gotten out much, but the lake on a windy, unseasonably warm day was beautiful. It reminded me a lot of the southern Utah desert–that high-altitude, late winter light, the blue distances, the spaciousness.
I don’t think I’ve had enough coffee to keep pretending to be Terry Tempest Williams, but consider this your recommendation to visit the GSL in the winter.
I would say the colors in the canyons are going to be at their peak in the next week or so–check out Millcreek yesterday. Even with smoke in the air, the maples and scrub oaks were poppin.
We went up to hang out by the creek in Millcreek Canyon on Sunday. We hadn’t been up in a couple weeks and everything changed from looking like high summer to maybe, a little bit, looking like fall:
The first weekend in August is also Lughnasa, halfway between the summer solstice and the autumnal equinox. I’m not really a Neo-Pagan but we did our own version of “visiting holy wells” to celebrate–i.e., we went back to hang around Millcreek for a couple hours, where it was hot enough even at altitude that the river felt really good (and kept the beer cold).
It’s wildflower season up at altitude so we headed back up to the Uinta Mountains an hour away to look at them:
Alpine meadows always make me feel like Heidi. Check out that natural bouquet in the second pic!