Waterfall Canyon in Ogden, UT

This morning I got an oil change as early as possible, then Noelle, Sierra and I set out on the short but steep hike up Waterfall Canyon in Ogden. We started early to beat the heat and set out on a wide trail 

that passed through the TR Guest Ranch.

Eventually the trail entered into a shady, cool canyon with a small flow of water.

There was some old water moving infrastructure visible in areas, concrete basins and old wooden pipes.

We arrived at the waterfall and found it to currently be a tall trickle of water flowing down a large rock face. 

It must look really impressive in the spring, when the stream there is swollen with snow melt. After resting by the falls for a bit, we started to make our way back to the trailhead. There were lots of great views down to Ogden,

and of the surrounding Wasatch Mountains.

Spiral Jetty and the Great Salt Lake

 Between visits to Golden Spike National Historical Park, Noelle, Sierra and I made the drive on gravel roads to the north shore of the Great Salt Lake and the Spiral Jetty. Spiral Jetty is an art environment created by Robert Smithson in 1970.

Having taken a nice look at the artwork, we opted to walk through the heat down to the salty waters of the Great Salt Lake.

I had seen the Salt Lake from an airplane years ago when I flew from Phoenix to Kalispell, Montana. This would be my first time seeing it from the ground. It was amazing how pink some of the water looked! Each of us waded into the super salty water and got our sandals encrusted with abrasive salt. It was worth it though. What an interesting experience! 

Golden Spike National Historic Site

After leaving City of Rocks, we arrived at Golden Spike at lunch time. 

We ate our lunch in the nice, covered picnic area and then explored the site a bit. We checked out the Central Pacific Jupiter engine for a bit 

and were lucky to watch as Union Pacific engine 119 approached.

It was really cool to see the two engines facing each other like they did back in 1869 when the golden spike was driven. 

After checking out nearby Spiral Jetty, we drove the two scenic roads following the old railroad grades.

 They passed the memorial for the 10 miles of track laid in one day,

and Chinese Arch.

From there we headed to Ogden, Utah where we spent the night.

City of Rocks National Reserve

We left Twin Falls yesterday morning and headed southeast to City of Rocks National Reserve. What a geologically interesting place! Our first stop was the very short trail to Window Arch.

Besides the arch itself, there's really nice views from the short trail near the arch.

From Window Arch we continued southeast to Register Rock, a landmark for emigrants on the California Trail,

and a popular place for them to leave their names either in axel grease or by chiseling the into the rock. Nearby is Camp Rock, another place where emigrants left their marks.

The signatures at Camp Rock were a bit more faded than those at Register Rock. From Register Rock we continued on our way to Almo, passing the interesting ruins of a stone house,

and lots of beautiful scenery.

We visited the visitor center in Almo and then headed to the campsite I had reserved. It was a nice site with shade and nice views of the surrounding mountains and rocks. Once we had settled into camp, Noelle and I took a drive out to the Twin Sisters 

before returning to camp to relax and eat dinner. 

After dinner we headed out for a short evening hike on the Creekside Towers Trail. Awesome scenery. It reminded me a lot of the trails in Vedauwoo with interesting rock formations.

The hike is out and back and so after returning to the trailhead parking lot we headed across the road to hike the short trail around Bath Rock.

After our hike we returned to camp and settled in for the night. This morning I awoke for the sunrise from a spot near our campsite.

Once I returned to camp, Noelle and I sat around and looked for birds.

When we had finally gotten moving, we headed out for one more hike before we would depart: the Geological Interpretive Trail. Unfortunately, we did not have the trail guide to learn about the forces that shaped the landscape. We did, however, enjoy the interesting scenery on our short hike.

Once we returned to the trailhead, we were treated to a sage thrasher perched on the trailhead sign.

We watched the thrasher for a bit, then got in the car for our drive south into Utah and the Golden Spike National Historical Park.