Alpine Loop Utah - Finding Fall
Fall is my absolute favorite time of year! I am obsessed with everything fall. ... the crisp air, the cooler weather, the gorgeous leaves changing colors, the holidays just around the corner, all of it! Plus to make it that much better, it means I get to wear my comfy sweaters, tall boots, and hats!
So naturally, I also love to take pictures of fall. As a landscape photographer, this is the perfect time to take pictures, at least in my opinion, because you get the gorgeous scenery with a bunch of color! How can you not love that?!
This Fall I was on a mission to find the beautiful fall colors. In early September I began researching where the best places were to see fall colors. The Alpine Loop was a place that kept coming up in my searches and to make it even better, it isn't that far from where I live. Well compared to places like Canada, New York, or Vermont, Utah is a hop skip and a jump from California. So I set my sights on Utah and never looked back.
What is the Alpine Loop?
This loop is a scenic drive that follows along Hwy 92 running through the American Fork Canyon. It is approximately 20 miles long. You travel through the Uinta National Forest and end along Hwy 189 in the Provo Canyon. The road is completely paved starting off as a two lane road with a double yellow line; however, it eventually changes into a windy, narrow one lane road.
The Alpine Loop scenic drive offers amazing views of a mountain called Mount Timpanogos along with views of various other peaks that were carved by glaciers.
The road is open from May to late October entirely depending on the weather. If you want to spend the day in the area, go on hikes, and so forth, you will need to purchase a $6 pass at the entrance booth; however, if you are just passing through there is no fee.
The Adventure
My trip started on the north end of the Alpine loop along Hwy 92. I traveled into the canyon taking in all the gorgeous views. Let me tell you though, I was not expecting the traffic. There were people everywhere, which made driving a little tense.
The road started off as a two lane road with a double yellow line; however, as you began to climb into the mountain the line went away and the road began to narrow. Eventually, there were sections that were only one car width wide.
This area offers so many gorgeous views and opportunities to take photos; however, pull outs are few and far between, plus with the amount of people on the mountain made it a bit more difficult. It can get a little frustrating when you see the perfect picture; however, you cannot pull over to get the shot. So, if you ever decide to travel along the loop, make sure that you are ready for alot of people, and also make sure that your patients are in check. In hind sight, I would say use ever pull out as an opportunity. Just take the pull out and then decide after you park if it is a good spot or not.
The entire area is gorgeous, the drive is gorgeous, and I loved everything about it.
An Unexpected Surprise
As I ended my journey along the loop and found myself driving down Provo Canyon. The light was fading fast, and I thought my adventure was over. All of the sudden as I looked to my left there was a huge waterfall!
Not knowing the area at all made it difficult to figure out how to get to the falls, but I had to get there! After all I most likely won't be back in the area for quite some time, if ever, so I had to make it happen!
After almost giving up on the idea of catching an image of this gorgeous waterfall, I found a spot to turn around! Finally!!!! Rushing back to the falls, there was just a few more moments of usable light. I set up my camera in a rush, got my settings just right, clicked the shutter button, and then took a big sigh of relief :)
Satisfied, overwhelmed with the gorgeous day, and excitement to edit my photos I headed back to my hotel room to get a bit of sleep and begin my adventure to June Lake, California.
I hope you guys enjoyed this blog and adventure. If you did don't forget to subscribe :)
Wishing you nothing but beautiful adventures,
Bessie