Cycling in American Fork Canyon

Once again, I marveled this past Wednesday at the astounding beauty that exists only a short distance from the busyness of the greater Salt Lake metropolitan area and the aridity of the valley floors. Some friends had suggested that we all go for a ride up American Fork Canyon, the mouth of which is about a 30-minute drive from our house. Mark, even though he has been cycling in this area for years, had never done this canyon, and I certainly hadn't (though we had both been in the canyon before in a vehicle or on a motorcycle). 

We were both astonished. 

We live in Holladay. The red indicator marks the mouth of American Fork Canyon.

As we entered the dry mouth of the canyon, I was impressed yet again at how different are each of the canyons along the Wasatch Front. The aridity at the mouth of the canyon quickly gave way to a shady and steadily cooler route. The climb was gentle and the traffic, light, allowing us to talk with each other as we worked our way up. 

Mark and our friend Tina

After a while, we entered more Alpine-like terrain. At one point while climbing a hill, I looked over to my left and gasped at the view that greeted my eyes (photo below), and it just kept getting better and better, with various views of Mt. Timpanogos and Box Elder Peak.

Once we reached the summit, we asked Tina to take some pictures of us as we headed back down.

Upon arriving back at our truck near the mouth of the canyon, we looked across the road and saw several Bighorn sheep. It was unusual to see them at such a low elevation.

Next time we do this ride - and there will be a next time - we will continue on past the summit and ride down to Sundance, perhaps even going past, down to Provo Canyon, then completing a loop back to our point of beginning. I can't wait.