Bridal Veil Falls

After three years of being in Utah, I finally got up to Bridal Veil Falls.

A friend and I went to go for a "jog" on a bike trail in the Canyon that we had been on before, but then decided to "jog" up the trail to Bridal Veil. (The "jog" turned into more of a walk after about 10 minutes-- Oops.) We went up the Canyon and parked in Vivianne Park at the trailhead. This is about a 15 minute drive up from Provo. It's a paved path all the way over and is really nice. Here are some pictures of the local artwork on the abandoned concrete buildings we saw. (There is also a hike, I believe, that goes up to the top, but that is still on the to-do list.)

The leaves are just starting to change colors and the canyon was stunning as the sun crested over the mountaintops.

Antelope Island

Antelope Island is the largest island in the Great Salt Lake and also happens to be where I spent my Labor Day afternoon. I hadn't really heard of it before we made plans to go, but I am definitely glad it made the list.

You drive onto the island via a man made road and it is a pretty neat drive. Naturally, it smells pretty bad at some places. Anyone who has been near a large salty body of still water can attest to that.

We went up to the Visitors' Center and the park guides there gave us some good ideas of what to do. We picked up a list of great hikes on the island, ranging from 'nature walks' to full on 12 mile hikes.

As for us, we made a trip to the "beach" and I even ventured into the salty water. (That wasn't really my decision, but I guess I appreciate that I got the full experience.) The bugs down by the beach were insane. They were just little tiny gnats, but I have never seen them in masses like that. (See Video)


We also got to see a lot of wildlife, such as bison, antelope- go figure!, and quail (which looked like genetic mutants- huge!). It was nice to drive around and see the beautiful scenery and try to spot the wildlife.

Oh ya! And Sea Monkeys! Haha.

You Make My Dreams Come True... The Narrows!

So this is a follow up to B. Bunk's post because I got the chance to follow in her footsteps there last weekend.

As a part of EUEL, I made a goal to be more willing to be spontaneous, which led to a couple friends and I deciding at 7pm to go hike the Narrows in Zion's. We jumped in the car, got a room at the Super 8 in Hurricane (Herr-ih-ken) that night and were up at 6am to start our hike.

A little supplementary information: we parked outside Zion's and took the bus to the park and then the shuttle up to the trail head. The bus took maybe 15 minutes from where we were parked and then the shuttle took about 40 minutes. The Narrows hike we went on was the last stop and we followed the Riverside walk there to the Narrows and then hiked in about 3 or 4 miles and hiked back out.

Starting early had its pros and cons. Cons- I actually woke up before the sun... not common. Also the sun wasn't in the canyon until maybe the last half hour of us hiking. It was pretty cold, but keep in mind that is coming from an AZ girl- pretty much anything under 75 is cold to me. On the other hand, it was really cool being the only ones in sight the entire way up.

We were lucky to find walking sticks at the head of the trail- I would have been in trouble with out one. (which doesn't mean that I didn't still fall 5 times) For the most part the water was about knee deep and sometimes went about waist-high. On the trail back someone noticed how wet I was and asked if the water gets chest-deep, I told them "Only if you fall in."


Side note: I'm not sure our bus driver intended for this to be published, but we were so early that he said if we got into the park before the ranger stop opened we could just go in for free. We ate breakfast first so we weren't in quite early enough, but I think the park opens at 7:30 so if you want to hold on to your $12 you'll have to be willing to wake up before the crack of dawn.


About 3 miles in the trail splits and we chose to go to the right (Orderville Canyon). It got a little trickier the further we went in and had to turn back relatively soon due to time restraints, but this was one of the trickier parts trying to maneuver up this knotty log.

Anyway, it was a great trip. Being amazed that it has taken me so long to experience these things is becoming a theme for all my adventures. I definitely recommend doing the Narrows.

Excursion 1

A group of four of us went to Dry Canyon in Lindon, UT and went on a "nature walk"/ hike. The sun was setting as we reached the lookout and the city lights were so pretty.

Take a flashlight if you plan on coming back down in the dark. Or an ankle brace.