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We haven't been up to much of interest lately, so today Mark & I headed up nearby American Fork Canyon for some exercise and fresh air. We did a short hike along Tibble Fork Reservoir. This 13 acre reservoir is a popular fishing and camping spot. There was quite a bit of glare coming off the lake in the late afternoon sun. This shot is looking south down the reservoir towards Mt Timpanogos.There weren't many other people around but we did see a couple of fly fisherman trying their luck at the northern end of the lake.
The days have been sunny and warm the last couple of weeks although the nights have been cooling off quite a bit and the leaves on the trees are starting to change color. Mark & I took a short trip up American Fork Canyon to enjoy a picnic lunch and take in the first of the Fall colors.
We've been in mountain biking overdrive during the last week - with hundreds of pics taken. So for those of you interested in getting a taste of the activity here is a "summary" in a slideshow. You'll find Mark's Dad (who's in his 70's), Annie (Clair's 16 y.o. daughter), Mark, David & Clair in these pics (not everyone did every ride). The ride locations include, Lambert Park, and trails at the top of American Fork Canyon, Park City, Big Cottonwood Canyon and Mill Creek Canyon. Apart from the exercise there is some great scenery to enjoy.
On Saturday we went for a hike in American Fork Canyon (about a 15 minute drive from our house). Most of the canyon and mountain area are managed by the National Park Service and there are lots of hiking, mountain biking and horse riding trails. We have done several hikes here in the past, but have still not explored all the trails. From the carpark at Timpooneke campground (approx 7200ft) we hiked for about an hour up the trail to Scout Falls (approx 8200ft). I still haven't gotten used to how green everything is in the mountains in the summertime - I'm so used to seeing all in a white blanket of snow! There were dozens of wildflowers, butterflies and birds along the trail, and (being a Saturday) quite a few people too! The melting snow provides for lots of small waterfalls and streams along the trail, culminating in the "big one" at Scout Falls. From there the trail continues upward (for the more adventurous) all the way to the summit of Mt Timpanogos (11,749ft) crossing meadows, a scree slope, cirque, lake and a glacier along the way (not to mention the wreckage of an airforce B25 that crashed on the mountainside back in 1955). We're saving the hike to the summit for another day (when Heather is a bit fitter!) Never-the-less the falls and the view from 8,000ft up in the mountains still made a pretty spectacular hike.
I've now figured out how to add a slideshow to my blog. This will allow me to put up extra pictures without taking up too much space. The slideshow below is of some of the wildflowers (and a butterfly) we saw on the trail on our hike to Scout Falls in American Fork Canyon.
It was a lovely day so Mark & I decided to do a hike in nearby American Fork Canyon (about 15 mintues drive from our house). We started at Tibble Fork Reservoir (6,400ft). The reservoir is a popular place for fishing (brown trout, rainbow trout & cutthroat trout) and canoeing and today there were a lot of people out enjoying the warm weather and sunshine. Looking north west across the reservoir you can see the snow-capped peaks of Pfeifferhorn (11,326ft) and Lone Peak (11,253ft).
We followed a 3 mile loop up Mill Canyon Trail, along Mud Spring Trail and returning along Tibble Fork Trail. The initial part of the trail took us along the lakeshore through pines and aspen. It then climbed up Mill Canyon rather steeply, gaining about 1,000ft elevation over the next mile.
At the top of the climb we came across this old beaver dam constructed across the stream on the edge of an alpine meadow.
The green meadow with it's backdrop of trees and snow-capped mountains was quite a wonderful sight.
