{"id":60552,"date":"2019-09-28T06:29:59","date_gmt":"2019-09-28T12:29:59","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/?p=60552"},"modified":"2026-04-14T05:27:53","modified_gmt":"2026-04-14T10:27:53","slug":"fall-colors-in-the-wasatch-mountains-plus-a-male-dusky-grouse","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2019\/09\/28\/fall-colors-in-the-wasatch-mountains-plus-a-male-dusky-grouse\/","title":{"rendered":"Fall Colors In The Wasatch Mountains Plus A Male Dusky Grouse"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"FallFall colors and the Wasatch Mountains – Nikon D200, f6.3, 1\/640, ISO 320, Nikkor 18-200mm VR at 150mm, natural light
\n<\/span><\/p>\n

This morning is cloudy and gray but seven years ago today it was bright, the air was crisp and the fall colors of the Front Range of the Wasatch Mountains were in their full glory. Taking a leisurely drive from Bountiful Canyon across Skyline Drive to Bountiful and Francis Peaks is something I haven’t done this year but I can vividly recall the drive from seven years ago today.<\/p>\n

There are loads of places to pull over and savor the view of the valley from Skyline Drive. In this photo the bright red and oranges of oaks, dark greens of a conifer and the yellow leaves of aspens are a bright pop of color while far below some of the marshes of Farmington Bay WMA are visible.<\/p>\n

\"FallFall colors and Bountiful Peak – Nikon D200, f6.3, 1\/1000, ISO 320, Nikkor 18-200mm VR at 18mm, natural light<\/span><\/p>\n

Grand views of Bountiful Peak with fall colors at its base took my breath away several times and the vibrant fall colors against a bluebird sky were especially satisfying.<\/p>\n

Of course I was looking for birds on the trip up and I saw quite a few including my first sighting of a Hairy Woodpecker in Utah but you know, it isn’t always about the birds for me, it is also about slowing down and savoring the journey, soaking up the spectacular views, memorizing what I saw, the way I felt and taking the time to relish it all. After all, life isn’t a race.<\/p>\n

\"BountifulBountiful Peak in Autumn – Nikon D200, f6.3, 1\/1000, ISO 320, Nikkor 18-200mm VR at 42mm, natural light<\/span><\/p>\n

Hearing a breeze moving in the golden colored leaves of the Quaking aspens is something I have enjoyed since I was in my early 20’s, if you have never heard that sound I suggest putting it on your bucket lists for a fall trip because it is an auditory and visual delight.<\/p>\n

I should mention that the roads up to Bountiful and Francis Peaks can be rough, that there are spots where it is narrow and that there are steep drop offs but the I think the views are worth having a few moments of giddy anxiousness.<\/p>\n

\"FallFall colors in the Wasatch Mountain range – Nikon D200, f16, 1\/320, ISO 320, -0.3 EV, Nikkor 18-200mm VR at 31mm, natural light<\/span><\/p>\n

The Gambel oak leaves high up can be any where from orange to red at this time of the year and they look\u00a0 brilliant against the dark conifers and still green grassy slopes. I remember hearing and seeing Dark-eyed Juncos at this spot but I wasn’t able to get a single photo of them.<\/p>\n

\"MaleMale Dusky Grouse on Francis Peak \u2013 Nikon D300, f6.3, 1\/2500, ISO 640, Nikkor 200-400mm VR with 1.4x TC at 400mm, natural light<\/span><\/p>\n

Even though I missed out on photographing the juncos that morning I was over the moon when I spotted and photographed a lifer Dusky Grouse seven years ago today. The male grouse held still long enough for me to get a nice series of images of him at the edge of the road near the top of Francis Peak before he took off and flew away.<\/p>\n

I do know that viewing these images again has me wondering if the fall colors are going to be as fantastic this year up on Skyline Drive as they were seven years ago.<\/p>\n

Life is<\/em> good.<\/p>\n

Mia<\/p>\n

Click here<\/span><\/a> to see more of my Dusky Grouse photos plus facts and information about this species. Click here<\/span><\/a> to see more of my Utah landscape images.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

This morning is cloudy and gray but seven years ago today it was bright, the air was crisp and the fall colors of the Front Range of the Wasatch Mountains were in their full glory.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":174729,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[27,1022,1424,1834,5345,5219,26,773],"tags":[3803,970,5477,7792,7790,5181,4358,4357,4620,5436,7789,6731,3492,4062,4069,6157,7791,2326,401],"class_list":["post-60552","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-avian","category-davis-county-utah","category-dusky-grouse","category-sky-line-drive","category-trees","category-uinta-wasatch-cache-national-forest","category-utah","category-wasatch-mountains","tag-aspens","tag-autumn","tag-autumn-colors","tag-bountiful-peak","tag-changing-seasons","tag-conifers","tag-dendragapus-obscurus","tag-dusky-grouse","tag-fall","tag-fall-colors","tag-francis-peak","tag-gambel-oak","tag-grouse","tag-male","tag-mountains","tag-oaks","tag-quaking-aspen","tag-road","tag-upland-game-birds"],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/wasatch-mountains-fall-color-mia-mcpherson-2391.jpg","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p11Mom-fKE","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":6218,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2012\/09\/29\/dusky-grouse-male-francis-peak\/","url_meta":{"origin":60552,"position":0},"title":"Dusky 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