A Big Fat Let Down

My brother Kasey has been on his mission for almost a year, and whenever he writes us (which is pretty often) he encourages us to "cherish provo" and always tells us to do two things: (1) Go snowboarding, and (2) hike Stewart Falls because according to him is is the most beautiful waterfall ever.  Well we never got around to snowboarding this winter, but we made sure to heed his counsel about stewart falls. Yesterday, Bree, Bryan, Janelle, and I drove up the canyon to Aspen Grove and hiked the 2.1 miles to the falls.  I was really excited for it because Kasey had talked it up to me so much during the past year.  He made it sound like a tropical utopia, like the waterfall we always go to when we vacation in Maui on the road to Hana.  So I brought my camera and telephoto lens hoping to not only enjoy a refreshing waterfall but get some picturesque photos of beautiful utah as well.

The hike up to the falls actually wasn't that bad.  It was overcast, which made the weather nice and cool.  Every twenty-five feet or so we had to step off the trail to let a pack of cub scouts run by, or to let a family pass, each parent with at least one child strapped to their back.  Since it was so crowded we thought Stewart Falls would be awesome.  Bree and I were very much looking forward to being able to arrive at our destination and sit in a nice shaded spot, perhaps under a tree, and watch the water cascade down the mountainside while we enjoyed oreos and pretzels. 

But to our dismay, the trail sort of just ended when we got to the waterfall, and all we had to sit on were some jagged rocks, which we had to share with about twenty other people.  One couple snagged a nice spot under a bush (the only flat ground available) and pulled out two huge egg-salad sandwiches which we were all drooling over.  I'm sure they enjoyed their trip more than I did.  The sandwiches had tomato and avocado too...I was jealous.  So I'm sounding like a complainer. Plus since it was the middle of the day it was hard to get any good pictures of the falls--I really should have been there at dawn or dusk when the light would've been better. This is the best shot I got: 

Bree says her smile was fake (I think she was actually having a pretty good time).  And Bryan's face says "Let's just get out of here."  So what can we learn from all of this? Perhaps we just need to look on the bright side and be grateful that we were able to behold that magnificent waterfall...orrr maybe there is another Stewart Falls that my brother was talking about and we went to the wrong one altogether.