Stewart Falls

May 23, 2012 -- Stewart Falls is near Sundance Ski Resort in the North Fork of Provo Canyon and starts from the Aspen Grove Campground (the campground is also home of the Mt. Timpanogos trailhead).

The four-mile round trip hike starts above the amphitheater at 'Theater-in-the-Pines" in Aspen Grove.  The trail is well marked and easy. This was a great early summer hike because everything is so green as I hiked through aspen groves, ferns, oak brush and a few mountain meadows.

There was still quite a few patches of snow melting which created a number of cascades and impromptu waterfalls beside the actual Stewart Falls.

The hike itself took about 45 minutes to get to the falls and 30 minutes to hike back.

There are some excellent directions and a better hike overview here and here.

Mystery Glyphs

May 4th, 2012 -- A riddle, shrouded in wonder with an air of curiosity... ah, the Mystery Glyphs. Sometimes the greatest adventures are literally just outside your door. With a shortened work day I took my two kids, and coaxed my dad to accompany us as we headed out for a short hike of adventure.

Nobody knows the true origin of the Ogden Mystery Glyphs but just off the Bonneville Shoreline trail, perched above the east bench of Ogden the litter of boulders below Hidden Valley, two lines of etched symbols capture the imagination.

Parking at the 22nd Street Bonneville Shoreline trailhead we headed south along the trail overlooking Ogden. (I'll omit the specific location of the glyphs knowing that anyone willing to visit the glyphs will enjoy the the hunt and appreciate that sites like these are meant to be a mysterious adventure).

Recognizing certain clues we found a faint path that lead us east off the trail up the steep hillside to outcroppings of rock and scrub oak. My little hiking buddies enjoyed playing mountain goats and eating their hiking snacks under the shade of large boulders.

And then through the scrub oak, at the end of a faint trail through the oak we discovered the panel.  Two lines of symbols, etched into the patina of a south facing boulder.

I'll be the first to admit in all my research I have been convinced that the glyphs are a hoax, and upon finding the glyphs my conjecture remains that their authenticity is dubious; but admittedly there is a curiosity about the symbols.

Some say the symbols were etched by Moroni (of course, why would Moroni etch an "M" that doesn't seem too ancient), others early Pioneers; what has me fascinated is that even if they are a hoax or a copycat of other known mystery glyphs the fact that there are 33 other glyphs across the Western United States has me interested in their origins.

We'll probably never really get conclusive evidence of their origins. It's easy to pass them off as fake, but the fact that you kind find unanswered questions and mysteries in your own backyard just seem to add to my unquenchable thirst for more twisted travel.