September 25 was
Public Lands Day. Woohoo. Free entrance into national parks and public lands. We took the chance to drive up Mirror Lake Scenic Byway like we did for
Labor Day last year.
There were definitely some Fall colors showing.
Jr. made sure to get a patriotic picture with a flag and colors in the background.
Provo Falls wasn't too crowded so we were able to stop there. I learned a few things. The path is not stroller friendly (even though at the top it looks like it could be). There are a few levels of waterfalls. You can walk to more than just what you see from the parking lot or as you drive by.
And Jet gets a kick out of the needles on evergreens.
We saw an American dipper while we were there, too.
And Jeremy and I are a cute couple.
We made a quick stop at the Hayden Peak Overlook again as we always do (we've only done this twice with our family but both Jeremy and I have done this drive with Utah County Birders) but didn't see any birds we were hoping to and drove around the campground at Mirror Lake. One of the spots we go to was closed so we didn't see any birds we were hoping to see there, either.
We did have success with the pikas this time and we got better pictures. Jr. has to get so many biological encounters for his biology class and he needs pictures so this worked out great. Who knows how many other kids in his class will have a pika on their list? And pikas are lagomorphs like rabbits and it was International Rabbit Day.
Jr. Jr. helped me get a picture of a pika with my phone... with binoculars. I couldn't hold both and zoom in and push the button, so I tried to hold the phone and binoculars steady while Jr. Jr. zoomed in and took the picture. He was a big help.
zoomed in with just my phone
not zoomed in through binoculars
zoomed in through binoculars
Since it was also
Singles Day, we put singles packets in our water bottles for the drive home.
It was a lovely drive and family time.
