Utah - Day One

Day one started in Cottonwood Heights.  

I lived two blocks from this stretch when I was in the second grade.  When I walked to school with my friends.

We drove up through Cottonwood Canyon, stopping well over a dozen times to see the mountain stream, flowers, trees and hike.

There were so many great rock formations and trails to hike just off the road.

Even though the flowers were wilting, I loved them.

I loved listening to the stream as it rushed by.  It was loud.  I could have sat there all day and not been bored.

There was gorgeousness at every turn in the road.

We saw many motorcyclists without helmets.  This was one of the few who did.

Before we even got to the top of the hill to see the other side, we knew we needed to stop here.

Totally worth the stop.  The views were phenomenal.

There wasn't any cellular service up there, but landline phone service made it through the mountains.

This was a steep hill, but it felt much steeper climbing up to the trees at the top.  We're going to ignore the fact I'm out of shape and just blame the higher elevation and I was on day 2 of antibiotics after running a fever for a week.

A storm started moving in as we hiked to the top.

Loved the contrast of the dark storm clouds and the shadows they cast over the valley and the other mountains when we sat in the sunlight to catch our breath.

At one point, the road turned to dirt and gravel and the drop off was immediate.  With no guard rail.

Look at the rain coming down out of the clouds.  I LOVE these wide open views!

This was an amazing day with fabulous weather and even better scenery.  I was so glad I had company and a willing partner in exploring the mountains on our drive up to Park City.