After seeing all the fun I have had for the past week getting out into the Utah fall foliage, A friend said she wanted to go see it first hand. She is not a morning person and she also has to be home early to see her son off to school. So, she has not joined me on any of my adventures.
Until today.
Somehow she agreed to get out first thing this morning. I had assured her all week that it would be worth it for her to get out early. So we traveled up Squaw Peak Road deep into the mountains behind Squaw Peak.
When all was said and done, she said it was worth it. Of course, it also helped that she has been getting decent sleep recently. I could tell when we started down the dirt and rocky road by her reactions that she was going to totally dig it.
And she did. So much so that she fully committed to getting her shots. This is evidenced in the photo below of her getting down and dirty to get the right angle for her shot.
Our eventual destination for the morning is not far from our house. It is about 4 miles if you can fly like a bird and soar over 8,000 feet in the air. However using roads, it is about 18 miles. I have shown a map below that shows our house and the spot where we ended the trip and turned back home when we were done shooting.
At the beginning of the outting, we had overcast skies and low light, but as the morning went on, it transformed into straight up direct sun. I actually prefer the former. Some of the first shots were lower light, but still gorgeous. The next two shots were among the first of the morning. The first was taken with my cell and the second with my Nikon DSLR.
I went into the woods because we thought we heard something that sounded like an large animal. We feel in love with colorful canopy and spent a good amount of time taking pix in the thick of the woods.
Someone took the shots below of me. She said the one on the right is my tree hugger photo. She said, “I always knew you were a tree hugger.”
After spending some time at this meadow area, we moved to the next destination – a hairpin turn overlook area where you can see 360 degrees of mountains, leaves and breathtaking beauty.
Our last destination was the turn around point at the back entrance of the Rock Canyon camprground. We were lamenting that we did not have a vehicle that would let us go beyond this point. We were also lamenting that we were running out of time and had to get back for a commitment.
On our way to the last stop, She saw something she wanted to shoot. Again, showing her commitment to getting the shots she wants, she climbed out her door to snap the pic. This was how I documented that moment. She then got out of the car and then so did I. That is shown in the second photo.
When we finally got to the point shown in the photo below, we got out and explored around the campground area a bit and got a few more pix.
We had a lovely time in the early Saturday morning light. To quote Ann, “Everything you look there is something amazing.” She is right. This spot is one of the most beautiful I have ever seen.
I intent to come back this week and pitch a tent for the night. I am so looking forward to it!
BONUS PHOTO
Someone put them up on the rail for easy spotting.
The Umenum 