Sights of Autumn in Northern Utah

I am so very grateful to be able to see.  I have always loved the month of September.  It seems that the beauties of the earth, which are truly wondrous at any time of the year, reach their peak during the fall season, beginning in September.  Yesterday, Iris and I decided to take a little sight seeing drive.  We went down through Paradise and then on over the rough road to Liberty and Eden in the Ogden Valley, from there we turned left and headed up over Monte Cristo to Woodruf, Randolf, Laketown, Garden City, and Logan Canyon before we arrived home late in the afternoon.  We enjoyed the trip and Iris was patient enough to let me stop here and there and take pictures.  You know me. I've got this twitchy finger than just has to be pushing down on a camera shutter.  The fall colors and the cloud formations were impressive and led me to some rather nice photographs in spite of my amateurish skill level and only bridge type camera.  Since digital photography came along, I've said that if you take enough pictures your bound to get a few good ones.  It's certainly not for lack of suitable material; that's for sure.  Then, this morning I got up a little earlier than usual and went for a hike up to the Wind Cave in :Logan Canyon. I've been there before a few times, but never when the hike was any more beautiful and inspiring than today. The lower reaches of Logan Canyon are simply spectacular this year, in my view.

Below are just a few of the many pictures I was able to take.  I'm sure they are not prize winners and that thousands of other people can do better, but they are inspiring to me and cause me to deeply reflect on the beauties of the world created for us.  I am grateful I can see.  I am grateful to live in an area so filled with beauty.  I am grateful for sufficient health and strength to be able to hike, albeit at a slower pace than in years gone by.  I am grateful for digital cameras and all the technology that goes along with them.  This photography hobby turns out to be an excellent excuse to stop along the mountain path and  figuratively "smell the roses."  That way I don't come home nearly as tired as I used to in days when my health and physical condition allowed me to undertake more strenuous endeavors.

View of the cloud shrouded mountains between Avon and Liberty from the rocky road we traveled over.

Clouds on the mountains east of Ogden.  The mountains are especially imposing from the back side.  The clouds and the changing autumn leaves contribute to the picture.

I played around with the panorama feature on my camera.  It's a little hard to take multiple pictures that can be seamlessly stitched together.  This is an example of one over the wide open spaces  to the south of the Monte Christo highway between Huntsville and Woodruff, Utah.  I love the wide open spaces and the special feeling I always get when I look of into the distance and can see mountains maybe as much as two hundred miles distant.

Another view of the Monte Christo Aspens and the far horizon.

There's about a half a million dollars (well, maybe not quite) worth of beef in the road.  I think maybe I should have been a cowboy.

Fall foliage overlooking Bridgerland Village above Garden City and Bear Lake.

A panorama of Bear Lake covered by cloudy skies.

Along the trail to the Wind Cave in Logan Canyon. 

The moumtains are covered  in brilliant red thanks to maple trees like this one and the cool nights and shorter days.

A view of the Wind Cave in Logan Canyon.

Along the trail with the Wind Cave barely in view in the distance.  The mountainsides are ablaze this year and probably will be for another week or two before giving way to the changing seasons in preparation for winter.

A view of Logan Canyon looking upstream from the trail to the Wind Cave.  Views such as these take a little effort, but they are certainly worth a few hours of a man's time.  We are indeed blessed to live so near to such awesome beauty.