Brighton and back to Stewart Falls

Playing catch up! Shane and I had a weekend off a few weeks back. Decided to do a bit of exploring in the great outdoors. Have to enjoy everything before it all freezes over!

First stop.. Brighton. We had planned on taking a hike to several other lakes here, but it turned out there was a bike race the day we chose to go. They were planing to close the road at 1:00 pm and we arrived around 11 am. We chose to just take a nice stroll around Silver Lake.  Glad we didn't push time, because the ride back was a pain with all the traffic and bikers. 

Silver Lake is the perfect stroll. They have a great path around the lake! Half is a deck (shown above) and the other half is just through the woods.

Wetlands! This trail has everything. You can find anything from wildlife to wildflowers.

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Little duck family

Mama Deer. I could get the baby in my picture, but she has a baby standing right under her!

Loving It

This little guy was hunting for food. Looks like he found some!

Another deer!

And the beautiful Silver Lake!

I also decided to take Shane to Stewart Falls. I went a few weeks earlier with my friend, but Shane needed to see/hike it for himself. 

He was impressed

Totally worth the trek

our typical feet photo

My "this water is freezing" face!

Shane thought I should take a photo over there

This is the photo. :)

On the trail back!

Also made a pit stop to Sundance on the way home. We were pretty tired so we took a quick walk around and then booked it home. 

Nebo Loop Scenic Byway

Well, we took this drive through the Nebo Loop Scenic Byway over a month ago. I have several trips I have yet to post so I will try to add a few over the weekend.Want to go back now that the leaves are changing color.

I found this map on HowStuffWorks.com. I am super glad I saved the picture to my phone!! If you plan to take this drive, save the picture to yours! I lost all cell reception. It defiantly came in handy!

We started our drive in Payson and worked out way down towards Nephi. Expect narrow roads and sharp turns. Well worth it!

Sound Of Music

The whole drive was full of beautiful scenery and great photo ops!

Not a Bad View

Like I said.. need to come back for fall! 

Hey, there is Utah Lake!

Plenty of places to pull off and take in the beauty.

I live somewhere down there. 

The moon decided to hang out with us too

My man and the moon

Lady of the mountain

I could just stay here forever!!!!

We like rocks.. have to look at them everywhere we go

This is why. How cool!

Well that came out of nowhere

Far from southern Utah. Fun to see this up here!

A little info

Oh and there are cows

And cowboys!

Timpanogos Cave

Today we decided to meet up with our friend Erin, and tackle Timpanogos Cave!

Timpanogos Cave is a National Monument just off State Highway 92.

We did have to make reservations a few days in advance 

and tours fill up really fast in the summer.

The cave fee was $8.00 a person, and took about 4 hours.

The hike up is 1,100 ft. ALL GOING UP! I saw plenty of families with young kids and even a few grandparents, but It kicked our butts. Be prepared for a long hike up all at a steep incline. 

You get to go up at your own pace. I think they send you up about an hour and a half before your tour actually begins, and we made it up in an hour. It was nice to have a little time to relax before the tour because we were whooped! There are plenty of benches to rest and prepare yourself for the cave tour.

The view from the top isn't too bad either!

Shane and I have done a few cave tours, and everyone is different in it's own way.

One thing that was cool about this cave was that it's on a Fault Line.

Also you have to really squeeze and duck to get through some of the tunnels, which I thought was exciting!

I turn into a little kid every time I go in a cave.

The temperature in the cave was 45 degrees. 

I had a light jacket and shorts on and was pretty comfortable. 

Looking up, in a fault line. The formations just drape the sides 

of these walls going up into darkness.

Our tour guide was great and shared both history and folk stories of the cave on our tour.

Aragonite Crystals. 

There is mineral nickel in them that gives them the green color

Two good Stalactites and Stalagmites

Friends that cave together, stay together!

Twisted Calcite Helictites

Looking up!

Hard to watch your step when there is so much to see around you!

Erin!

Shane!

Can you see the fault line?

Me!

Friends! Shane took the picture and was focused on the rock haha

See that road wayyyy down in the center of the canyon. That is where we are hiking back down to. Just to once again put into perspective.. that is what we hiked up from! Whew! The way down was much better. A little rough on the knees but much more enjoyable than the way up!