Bell's Canyon Hike

One of my favorite local hikes is Bell's Canyon, due to its proximity, relative ease, and scenery. I decided to hike it at sunset a few days ago when the skies were clear and warm. I brought my tripod so I'd have the opportunity to take multiple exposures and push the water in the photo into a silky blur.

Here's what I came away with:

I love the gold on the surface of the water in this picture.


The wildflowers are incredible this time of year.


Love the way the valley is painted with the late evening sun.

Smoooooth :)

-Barry

In Memory of Summer

When the weather cools and the leaves drift from their visionary heights to the frozen tundra below, I mourn a little for Summer. I was reminiscing on warmer days tonight when I happened upon pictures from a hike I never posted to the blog. This shouldn't come as a surprise as most of you have likely noticed that my posts have become increasingly rare - like polar bears in an environmentalists nightmare.

Regardless, here they are. We hiked Timpanogos at midnight - an exhausting, exhilarating, and memorable adventure.

We arrived at about 1:00am full of energy.



At the top things were COLD. And the wind was WRETCHED.



This is the back side of Timp. In the distance you can see Deer Creek Reservoir and the Heber/Midway area.



In the moments before sunrise, the clouds were spectacular.



Just as the sun came over the mountains.



And just like that, the entire valley was filled with light.



Looking north from Timpanogos. This is the valley we hiked in the blackness. Much prettier from up here.



This panorama was stitched together from 25 photographs. Click here to view the high resolution version. You MUST see this. :)

-Barry

Summer Storm

Utah needs more crazy summer lightning storms like the one we had tonight - a meteorological wonder that sprayed rain so hard it sounded like hail and in which lightning danced so furiously and with such frequency, you'd have thought the neighbors were raving with strobe lights.


It started, as most storms do, with an incredible cloudscape. This is where I wish I had an ultra-wide angle lens.


At the northern end of the valley, there was a break in the clouds.


The texture in these clouds makes me want to touch them.


I sat out front for a little while trying to capture some lightning from the shelter of the front porch. This is actually a composite of three or four lightning shots.


This was my favorite single exposure of the lightning. :)

-Barry

More Weekends like This!

Oh, man... what a great weekend! It began with a late night of Guitar Hero 5 at Justin's place (sorry, no pictures), rumbled on with the spectacular win by BYU over Oklahoma, and finished last night with a great end-of-summer party and celebration for Shannon's birthday with family.

A checkered tablecloth, tons of great food, and the late afternoon sun through the trees in the backyard. Nothing compliments the flavor of a perfectly cooked burger like the taste of the cool, late-summer air in your face and the smell of a freshly cut lawn under foot.

I try to smile with a mouthful of burger as Shan catches us off guard. On my left is my brother in law, Andrew, and on my right his brother, Nate.


Steve and Ashlyn are certainly happy. They've just moved in to their first home!

Late summer barbecues aren't complete without a football. Here, the boys struggle for the ball in a game of fly's up. (From left to right: My brother, Tyler. My cousin, Ryan. My cousin, Chad. My brother, Steve.)


Shan blows the candles out as we celebrate her birthday. It was a delicious cake.

My parent's home is decorated in full cougar regalia. I had the honor of scrambling up the roof to "light the Y".

May you all enjoy these last days of summer!

-Barry

Horsetail Falls

With the weather as superb as it was today, I had to go hiking. And with a plethora of choices available to the nature-loving connoisseur, I chose Horsetail Falls. (By the way, by nature-loving I don't mean the tree-hugging, save the whale type. That's just not me. They can do their thing, but I'm not gonna stop eating chicken for them.... err... whatever.)

Horsetail Falls is nestled into the Wasatch, in that beautiful little corner valley above Alpine. It's probably one of the lesser known waterfalls of the Wasatch Front, but is easily one of the most beautiful. The hike takes about an hour, and the trail is generally littered with the dark, steaming droppings of our equine friends, but it's well worth it.

Remember, though, that you don't have to take my word for it (Cue the Reading Rainbow tune) I'll let the pictures do the talking. :)

That's where I was when I started.

Very big Dandelion... or something similar.

This butterfly was GREAT! It just sat there for the longest time with my lens literally inches from it!

Small streams like this one crossed the trail two or three times, providing some ICE cold relief from the heat.

Horsetail Falls

A view of the top plume of water from the side. That sucker was gushing.

Looking out, toward the valley from the base of the falls.


The area surrounding the falls is also quite lovely.


So is this guy.

Happy meadow.