Scout Falls

Week two, I decided to look up American Fork Canyon. I think I've maybe been to it once. I found this little hike called Scout Falls which is the first leg as the Timpanooke trail. We found differing lengths of the hike from 2.6-3 miles. We decided to leave my kids at home, but bring Zipsie. You have to pay $6 to get into the canyon, which is fine, we knew that going in. But bring exact change or a check because if you're there before like 9am, there isn't anyone posted to break a $10 bill. (We learned the hard way) The canyon roads are well maintained, but are VERY narrow, like barely big enough for two cars to fit, narrow. Add some bikers and joggers and it can get scary at moments. But the scenery is so breathtaking. It's so green and beautiful. We got to the parking lot around 6:45 and the parking lot was almost all filled already. (I read somewhere that this hike isn't super popular and the parking is plentiful. Not true)

 I seriously couldn't get over the scenery. It was so pretty. It had rained the previous day and sprinkled a little while we were hiking and it smelled so good! There were so many beautiful wildflowers, trees, and meadows. I can't say enough good things about the view.

The trail was fine, well maintained for the most part. A little muddy, but that's to be expected. Part of the trail has little streams running through it. It is a very thin trail. You have to walk single file, which is fine, but there are hardly any places to even step off the trail when approaching others. It was steep in some places, but not too extreme.

 So, we got to what we thought was Scout Falls. We had seen a few pictures of it and one that looked identical to this spot:

We had hit like 1.4 miles, so we thought this was it. A lot of places said they become more like a trickle through the end of summer. So we stopped there. Remember, destination accomplished? But, I'm not sure if we would have gone a little further, if there were more "falls". But we were happy with our hike.

 Hiking selfie!

Now, I mentioned we brought Zipsie, and that the trail is thin. Well, this is a VERY popular hiking trail. (Not many people are stopping at Scout Falls) I love Zipsie to death, but she's not super fond of strangers. Coupled with the fact that there's no where to step to the side (You could go rolling down a hill or up a steep slope off the trail), it made it kind of difficult. We don't hike super fast, so people were constantly passing us. That's fine, but it just took up a lot of our time. I guess I should be grateful for the breaks! But for that reason, I wouldn't recommend taking kids or dogs that are scared of people.

 She got very muddy and wet, but didn't seem to mind.

 Here we are hiding in the bush off to the side.

Overall, it was a great hike and it was just long enough for my legs to get tired. I would only go earlier in the morning if I did it again. The views were so great, I'm sorry I post so much pictures. It was just incredible. Maybe someday we'll make it to the top! There are some good articles here and here with more info and how to get there. Here's our stats:
Pace: 31'10"
Time: 1:24:40
Miles: 2.71
Steps: 6,408