It wasn't far into this past week before Brian and I both decided it was going to be a busy (and potentially difficult) week at work. We've kind of gotten into a routine that Saturdays are our day together each week, whether that includes dragging each other to various weddings and receptions or ward activities, or relaxing just the two of us (which never happens). In fact we haven't spent a Saturday apart since the first week we started dating, a trend I personally greatly enjoy. However, as mentioned before, it's a very rare occasion when we actually spend an entire day together just the two of us. Not that I'm complaining about spending time with family or friends (as I love both very dearly), but sometimes you just need that time. So this week we specifically decided our time together would be just that.
It turned out to be an absolutely gorgeous day and the threats of rain and thunderstorms held off until the late evening. We picked out a few hikes down here near me (Salt Lake City) that we wanted to explore and narrowed it down to two: the Brighton Lakes or Donut Falls. Brighton Lakes is an almost 4 mile round trip hike to explore the three lakes: Mary, Martha, and Catherine. We didn't have much information about Donut Falls, but it sounded neat so we decided on that.
Donut Falls "hike" turned out to be more of a scenic walk with minimal hiking until you got to the actual falls themselves. It was a relatively short hike to get to the falls, and the most exciting part was walking across the creek (or is it a river? Not sure, but in WV standards, it's not big enough to be a river) on fallen trees that criss cross across the water to get to the other side. I made a very unsmart decision to walk across the creek and subsequently almost froze my feet off from the ankles down, while Brian performed a series of acrobatics to climb across the trees.
Once we got to the falls, it was easy to see why it's called Donut Falls. The water jets through a rock and into a cave below that you can normally climb into, but with all the rain we've been having and the melting snow, the frigid water was rushing a little too quickly for us to climb down.
I'm beginning to fall more in love with Utah as I get to experience all the seasons. Summer has always been my favorite and while there aren't any real beaches in Utah, I think the mountains might have enough to keep me happily occupied during the warmer months.
Lastly, we finished our day outside at the pool at my apartment complex. Unfortunately it doesn't go deeper than 5 ft, but it was significantly warmer than the waterfalls (and interestingly empty for a Saturday evening), so we fulfilled our swimming wishes here instead.
