CO Road-trip 2012: Day 12

In the morning, we checked out of our hotel and headed into Provo Canyon again. We turned onto UT-92 and headed north-northwest. As we passed through Sundance, there were some good views of Mt Timpanogos to the west. There was still some fall color hanging on to the slopes of the mountains and we were greeted with some still bright gold aspens surrounding the road as we continued up UT-92. As long as you are not hiking off of UT-92 you can drive through this area for free. Otherwise, a fee is required. As we crested a hill near North Fork Ridge, more views began to open up towards Mt Timpanogos and down the American Fork Canyon. A couple of times we pulled over to enjoy the views. There was still a little bit of fall color all around here as well. We continued to make our way down into the American Fork Canyon and then followed the river out of the canyon. Along the way, we passed Timpanogos Cave National Monument. We'll have to come back again to see that.

Once out of the canyon, we drove west to hook up with I-15 and it took it north to I-215 and finally I-80. All that was left was a little over 500 miles of interstate driving through barren salt flats and numerous passes and basins before we reached home. Back at home, our cat was very happy to see us and required quite a bit of time in our arms. The sunset viewed from our backyard brought an appropriately pretty end to our scenery-filled road-trip.

In total, we drove just over 3,000 miles. We saw incredibly beautiful fall color displays in Utah and Colorado. We saw lots of desert, canyon, and alpine scenery along the way. We mostly drove, but we were able to get out and do some hiking while visiting three national parks. Our favorite day left us not wanting to leave the Uncompahgre Mountains near Ridgway, CO. The scenery there cannot adequately be described. We will most certainly be back there again. In the end, it was a fantastic trip and we can't wait to go on another one.