My time in Utah is nearing an end. Sunday I fly back East and Monday I will be back at work. Until then I am taking the time to enjoy it all out here. Yesterday we went for an adventure, it really was a normal trip that turned into an adventure. We headed about an hour and a half out of the city to visit some land and then head off on a hike. We were armed with snacks, homemade chocolate (see a post later about this), and a digital and video camera to film whatever we found.

As we drove further and further out of the city Forest and I both felt the clean air and open space. Along the drive we drove through a canyon that had been completely flooded with water. A whole community wiped out when a mudslide diverted water into a valley years ago. Since then the water is mostly gone and the hollow remains of houses that once were still stand, some half submerged. We took the time to explore around one such house. It held this eerie stillness.

We looked at some undeveloped property that Forest owns and then headed to Uinta National Forest. This is a beautiful piece of earth. We drove into the park to take a hike to the natural hot baths. One of the trails goes for a couple miles and ends at a waterfall and natural hot springs. Before we got there however we saw along the side of the road amazing red rock, so we decided to take a chance and stop and look around.

The stop and look around proved to be one of the best parts of the day. As we explored about the area we headed higher and higher up. We found tucked away on the side of the rock a sun and a moon. Now I know whoever did this wasn’t suppose to carve into the rock but still it was a beautiful surprise seemingly laid out for us. We hiked some more took some more pictures and laughed the whole time. With no plan, no agenda we just were free to be and explored.

This became my favorite part of the day. The area was beautiful and we were alone in the world enjoying it all. We ran back down to the truck hopped in and headed to the trailhead for the hot springs. Thinking we would find the same solitude we were surprised at the number of cars in the parking lot of the trailhead. This did not deter us.

We moved along the trail seeing only a person or two. A couple miles in when we got to the springs we saw our first bather. A man probably in his fifties or sixties alone in a spring, completely naked. Thankfully his size covered up his more private parts. Then we moved up to the next pools. One had a few college students in it and the other had about four or five high school students. This is where the cars owners had come.

We took some photos and started running back to the truck to get a little more of a workout in. The trail was fairly flat and we both carried packs full of goodies and gear. Some nice training. Along the way we stopped and took some more photos along the trail.

Returning to the truck it was already after 7:00pm we had left the house before 11:00am a full day of adventure had passed without us even knowing it. We took the scenic route out of the park driving along a barely two lane dirt road up and over mountains. The white capped mountains pieced the background while the rolls hills were all around us. The mountains and hills in Utah remind me of velvet. They are soft and round and seem so inviting. Hiking them is another story!

After a stop for a burrito on the way home our adventure for the day was over and the sun had fallen out of the sky. Nightfall was upon us and so to was the end of the adventure.