The World's Most Beautiful Places
Utah Lake as it appears from Utah Lake State Park in Provo. In the distance one can see the southern Wasatch Mountains, Spanish Fork Peak, Hobble and Spanish Fork Canyons, and where the cities of Springville, Mapleton and Spanish Fork reside below the mountain peaks.
Saltwater Safari Ice Sculpture, 2010 World Ice Art Championships February 20-March 28, 2010, Fairbanks, Alaska. Multi-Block Champion for Realism.
An ice sculpture of a Lion Fish and a tropical coral reef, illuminated at night in a variety of different colors.
The World Ice Art Championship, is an event held each spring in Fairbanks, Alaska. Sculptors from around the world come to the interior of Alaska to compete in both a small block and large block ice carving competition.
A winter view of Mt. Timpanogos from the backside, near Sundance and the Alpine Loop. Both Sundance and the Alpine Loop can be reached from either Provo Canyon to the south, or American Fork Canyon to the North. Heber, Utah sits directly east of here, across several foothills of the Wasatch mountains.
Mt Timpanogos is an 11,752 ft peak in the Wasatch Mountain Range that rises above the surrounding Utah and Heber Valleys. Even though the shortest hike to its summit is more than 14 miles, it is one of the most hiked mountain peaks in the Rocky Mountains. The two primary trails to it summit are from Aspen Grove via Provo Canyon and the Alpine Loop near Sundance Resort, and the Timpooneke Campground in American Fork Canyon.
The mountain derives its name from a native american tribe that inhabited the area around the mountain at the time of the arrival of Mormon pioneers in Utah.
In addition to being a designated wilderness area, the mountain also hosts a national monument near its base, that was setup to protect beautiful cave system discovered by various individuals between 1887 and 1921.
It has been said that the mountain resembles a sleeping indian princess, and that its a legend that came from local tribes, but its more likely the tale as its known today came from Eugene Lusk “Timp” Roberts, a professor at Brigham Young University, who was trying to promote the mountain to the world. Roberts was also the creator of an annual one day hike that attracted thousands of people between 1911 and 1970. The hiking event was ultimately cancelled due to the damage done being to the mountain over the years.