Provo Canyon

My dad has always told me to not let school get in the way of my education. As previously noted, this has been a little bit of a struggle this semester and Experience Utah has been in a little bit of a lag.

Fortunately, Claire had a beautiful idea to take a brain break last weekend and drive up Provo Canyon.
With the onset of Autumn, the changing colors in the Canyon are absolutely breathtaking right now. A.k.a: STOP what you are doing and go! Seriously, studying can wait an hour and a half. Go call your best friend or kidnap your roommate.


We got up to Heber and explored a little. Exciting news: Heber is getting a Wal-Mart. :) I only got pictures on my cell phone, so thank you to Utah.com for the map.


Bridal Veil is visible from the road, but seriously the colors are what make me so in love with autumn. Honestly, the other seasons can't even compete with autumn.

In closing, a quote:

Delicious autumn! My very soul is wedded to it, and if I were a bird I would fly about the earth seeking the successive autumns.

- George Eliot

Red Butte Gardens

The beautiful Red Butte Gardens are on the University of Utah campus. We came just as the sun was setting and it was sublime.

There isn't a ton of ground to cover and you can walk through the entire garden in about half an hour. (That's how long we were there, being as it was closing.) It was really neat and I would have enjoyed staying longer and just sitting on one of the benches to enjoy the scenery. Probably not solely something I would have made a trip to Salt Lake for, but a great stop on our way to the conclusion of our Labor Day festivities.

[We got in free for Labor Day "Free Garden Gift Days." I would keep an eye on the website for other similar events. Plus there are some cool events like Greek Theatre coming up, too.]

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.