Hunting for Golden Leaves | Little Cottonwood Canyon | Whitney Beth Photography

I try to instill a love for the outdoors and nature in my kids. Every season I find new ways to turn being outside into fun and games. Last year I made up the narrative about hunting for golden leaves. The backstory I created consisted of exploring the mountains looking for lost treasure – gold shaped leaves. I wanted to make a fun game for my kids to get them excited about hiking around. We went up Little Cottonwood canyon with friends and played in nature.

This year as the leaves began to change, the boys asked if we were going to go hunting for golden leaves again. I was more than happy that they wanted to go up the canyons to play again. We set a date and I took the boys up after school last Wednesday. I tried to time it between the hikers leaving and the photographers arriving. Which worked out pretty great, since the only photographer we ran into was when we were on our way out.

I let the boys play and explore. The older two collected a good handful of golden leaves, while Rem was content to play in the dirt and sand. We explored, took pictures, and enjoyed being out in nature. I love showing my kids how beautiful the earth is, and love that they want to play out there with me. Here are a few images from our adventure. It is such a beautiful spot, I love it so much!