North Salt Lake City - Part 2

One day, I headed into the mountains to the east of Salt Lake City.  I combined a couple of scenic drives for a nice day trip.  Parts of this drive were closed until just a few weeks ago due to the snow in the high elevation.  I hadn’t really made any plans on places to stop, I just figured I would stop if I saw something interesting.

I started on the Ogden River Scenic Drive, a pretty drive thru Ogden Canyon and into the mountains.  Then I made my way to Mirror Lake Scenic Drive (going thru a short stretch in Wyoming to get there).

I have almost gotten used to seeing cows and horses on the road in open range territory, but this was a first for me--

The sheep were on the road when I first saw them, but they quickly scrambled up this cliff. 

On the way up into the mountains, I started seeing a little snow on the ground and it got heavier the higher I went.  At the summit of Mirror Lake scenic drive, the elevation is 10,687 feet.

Pictures from the road --

My first stop in the mountains was at Butterfly lake.  I pulled off the road and took a few photos.

My next stop was Pass Lake, where I walked around for a few minutes. 

While walking around, I found a few flowers I found interesting.  I haven’t been able to identify it, but I think it is some type of lily.  It looks like glacier lily, but those typically nod (flower points down) and I think the petals on this one are thinner.  

Next, I headed to Mirror Lake.  The road to the lake had only been open a few days and you can see why--

The intersection where I turned into the parking lot was snow covered and I slid just a little bit.  I’m glad I don’t drive in snow often!!

I walked around for a bit here, but most of the trails were snow covered.

In both shots there is a canoe with 2 men.  I saw them rowing through some of the snow/ice and they told me it was like being in the Titanic.  They had caught 5 or 6 nice size fish.

After Mirror Lake, I thought that was probably the last of my scenic stops.  But I was very happy to see a sign for Provo Falls, as I wanted to do a bit more walking since I had been driving for a while. 

The first view -

I went down river and added a 3rd tier to the falls --

Going a bit further down stream, there were several more small falls and cascades.

This was a pretty waterfall and a great last stop before heading back to the city. 

From North Salt Lake City I headed to Vernal, Utah.  I’ll blog about that in a few days, I have to go through 100’s of pictures of petroglyphs first.