The “Secret Waterfalls” in the High Uintas – Utah

When I was young my father took me to the Uintas numerous times. The wild nature, surrounding peaks and numerous lakes made this one of our favorite places to spend a weekend or Saturday afternoon. When Lindsay and I got married we continued this tradition and made our way up to the Uintas numerous times a year. One particular memory I have as a young child was hanging out at these beautiful waterfalls with my family. I remember vividly playing in the little pools of water that were created as the water cascaded down numerous short and rocky cliffs. As our family played our golden lab “Annie” jumped into the water and was swept away by the current. We all watch in horror as she tumbled down the waterfall. We thought for sure there was no way she could have survived the fall and were shocked to see here eventually crawl onto the banks wagging her tail. :) That was the first and only time my family went to those waterfalls and for the rest of my life I wanted to go back. Once Lindsay and I started making our trips to the Uintas I frantically began looking for the falls. For years I looked and looked and was never able to find them again. I asked rangers, did Internet searches, etc, etc. Finally one day while looking at Google Earth I pinpointed what I thought were the waterfalls. Lindsay and I took a drive up to see if my suspicions were right and sure enough they were. After a short hike through the trees we stumbled right into the waterfalls I had been searching for ever since I was a kid. However, there was one small problem…there was no water. It was late in the year and they had diverted the river that usually created the falls. This meant we were going to have to wait another year to come and enjoy the falls. So we waited another long winter and even most of the next summer before we made it back to the falls (Lindsay was pregnant at the time). It was a sunny summer afternoon when we headed back up to the Uintas to my “secret waterfalls” and this time the water was flowing! The sun was shining and we spent the next few hours just swimming, chilling, relaxing and taking in one of the most beautiful spots in Utah. We took our dog Sundance along and she was having a blast running up and around all the pools of water. She did an incredible job of never getting wet so a few times I had to just throw her in. Some of the waterfalls make perfect natural water slides and I was having a blast sliding down the rocks and into the freezing cold pools of water. Lindsay was pregnant at the time so she simply watched on in envy. Nowadays I can drive directly to my “secret waterfalls” and we can’t wait to go and enjoy them again this summer.