For the love of the mountains

I mentioned in the last post that James is now telling us what's on his mind. This includes his favorite thing in the world: gagas (waterfalls, or fallfall). The other day he told me in a very clear way that he wanted to go up the mountains and see a waterfall.

I of course agreed.

On Saturday E and I fulfilled our promise and brought him to the Lake Blanche trailhead. The first part of the trail is paved and follows the river up the canyon. There is also a beautiful little waterfall that spills from the Lake Blanche canyon and meets Big Cottonwood creek.

The colors are just starting to turn down near the river, but high on the mountains the reds and oranges are ablaze. It is breathtaking.

James is quite a good hiker and not a huge fan of the stroller. He leads the way on most of our outings, it is rare sight for him to be in the stroller anymore.
The colors. Oh my the colors.
The main attraction was of course the river. My kiddo loves rivers.
E spotted a big fuzzy caterpillar on a rock. He was fast and so interesting.
James was in love. We had to remind him quite a few times not to touch (aka squish).
The waterfall. Brilliant.
My two boys watching the waterfall. I love this shot because it was not posed. I don't think either of them even knew I had my camera out. Love how E looks at his little boy.
Black wildflowers were something I hadn't noticed in Utah before. Bizarre and beautiful.
Mama and son. You can see my baby belly quite easily here.

Back down the trail. I thought it would be such a nice photo if James was holding my hand. You see I'm reaching and James charges forward. Such is life.
Last year I took James up the same trail. It was also the end of September. I love seeing how things have changed in a year.