We awoke to a beautiful, breezy morning here in Ogden, so I decided it was time to introduce Kevin one of the beautiful walking/biking/hiking trails here in Ogden. This particular trail head starts just steps from where we will be living when our Town Home is completed, and runs right alongside the Ogden River.
The trail is paved and therefore works well for casual walking, running, biking and strollers. There are all kinds of beautiful places to stop and take a break, and there are benches, picnic tables, grills and areas where we can walk down to the river.
Part of this gorgeous trail takes you right by the Ogden Botanical Gardens.
These meticulously maintained gardens have a huge variety of flowers, fruits, vegetables and trees which will make you Oooohh and Aaahhhh with their beauty and fragrance.
I couldn't resist taking dozens of pictures, so this blog today is more of an pictorial essay than a true blog...forgive me...just couldn't help myself!
I hadn't seen this type of day lily before and loved the way their heads hung down like trumpets. Lovely and that is actually a HUGE plant.
Part of the fascination with this garden, is the constant change as new vegetables and fruits come into their own each week.
Can you think of a more beautiful location for a Botanical Garden? I can't! The mountainous backdrop is amazing.
I haven't a clue what type of Thistle this is, but found myself compmletely fascinated with the lavender stems!
Huge splashes of color abound everywhere you turn in the garden, from dahlias, and zinnias to cone flowers and daisies...beautiful....
The mountain air was clean and fresh and there was a great breeze this morning as the suns rays reached down to wake the flowers.
A Japanese garden area offers some beautiful displays of Japanese Maple and other lovely trees.
There was a lady sitting on the ground beside this group of flowers with a special lens on her camera taking close up photographs of the lovely selection of blossoms here.
Flowers flowers and more flowers everywhere you look!
Ash and Liv love the lovely Blue spruce trees they call Christmas trees.
Makes you want to reach out and touch them doesn't it?
I loved these beautiful deep pink zinnias with white edges...so lovely.
I enjoy the contrast of the different plants and flowers growing aside each other.
And then there is the rose garden...
wish I had smell-a-vision...asaaaahhh.
Amazing color isn't it?
Some of the roses are hybrids, some are heirloom varieties...the heirloom varieties tend to have the best smells.
Just another beautiful reason we love Ogden so much.
I almost hated to leave the beautiful Rose Garden...it is such a peaceful place...
Isn't it lovely here?
Nasturtiums...brought me back to my childhood. I remember getting a seed packet full of them one summer and planting my own special little flower bed. They are a nice edible flower to put in salads too.
A huge Sunflower..
one of God's lovely creations.
I am just amazed with the variety of flowers available in the garden.
I'm not sure if this was a giant (as big as my head) hibiscus or Rose of Sharon...beautiful isn't it?
There are lovely covered pavilions with nicely maintained picnic tables all along the trail...this is one of many...
Many of them have charcoal grills available for use.
So we were back on the trail again, walking along the lovely Ogden River where we spotted a fisherman fly fishing.
I want to try that soon.
The trail is paved and has a white line dividing it so that there is a kind of "passing lane" for bikes and runners...
Moving toward the mountains...
Another little break to walk down to the River's edge to look for some trout...
If you look hard you can see a rope swing in the center of the picture hanging from that outstretched branch..
We found a stump where a beaver had chewed off a medium sized tree in an attempt to create a dam.
The view of the mountains here is absolutely breathtaking...
We walked about three miles today, but I am anxious to get a bicycle and travel the entire 9 miles available on the trail.
There is talk of connecting it with another which will make it a total of 23 miles! Each vista is more beautiful than the next and I never get tired of exploring it. I can hardly wait for the seasons to change here to experience even more of the West.
Isn't this a beautiful open meandow..I love the sun streaming down through the trees...
We walk continuously along the river and stop periodically to take in some of the beauty afforded and the cool breezes off the mountainsides.
You can see the edge of one of the nice benches alongside the path which are available for viewing the river and just relaxing as you hear it roll over the rocks and falls below..
Aren't these gorgeous?
I love the glass like quality of these red berries...
This tunnel passes under the highway between Slackwater at the trailhead and the continuation of the trail...Note the beautiful orange flowered vines trailing down over the rocks.
The tunnel has whitewashed walls where local artists are encouraged to ply their arts..Wow...
Ogden encourages arts and artists as is evidenced by such groups as "Nuture The Creative Mind," and RAMP (Recreation, Arts, Museums and Parks).
The Cottonwood trees here are incredibly huge and beautiful ..
We were really taken with this Knarly Dude! I have no idea how this was formed, but I couldn't resist the picture.
And so another hike ends and we go back to fix a nice lunch from the lovely fresh vegetables we bought from the Farmer's Market last weekend.
Aaaaahhhhh, sweet Ogden!
PEACE, LOVE & JOY
from God's Country!
Linda
No comments:
Post a Comment