It has been very hot around our home, much like it’s been warm throughout the country. We live in Utah Valley, at the foot of the Wasatch Mountains. We often get a cool canyon breeze in the morning. It’s very refreshing. Lately though, that isn’t even enough to make it comfortable. We don’t have central air in our home, just an old-fashioned swamp cooler. It takes the edge off the heat and makes the afternoons bearable. On days that are really warm, like this past weekend, the best medicine is an escape to the mountains. The elevation of our home is about 4,600 ft above sea level. In 30-40 minutes we can be above 8,000 ft. Add to that the cover of an aspen forest and a gentle breeze and we have the perfect escape from the oppressing weather of the southwest desert.

Friday evening, we drove over the Alpine Loop Road, past the Sundance ski resort and around Mt. Timpanogos. At the saddle, before we dropped into American Fork Canyon, we got out for a gentle hike on the Horse Flat Trail. It’s a two-mile loop through alpine meadows and aspen forests. We only encountered two other groups of hikers on our outing, so we also enjoyed a beautiful solitude.

In the forest, the ferns and cow’s parsnip were exceedingly tall. In places these plants towered over my head, and I am over six feet tall. I suspect there were plants pushing 8 feet in height, a true fairyland.

The image above is a focus stack made from three images to give me detail throughout the photograph. I used a polarizer even though the sun was below the ridge to the west. The polarizer removed glare from the leaves and deepened the saturation of the fern fronds. It’s a simple image, but beautifully captures the cool and soothing power of mountain air and a grove of aspen trees.