Hiking, part 5

Week 11 and 12 - Sort of a massive combination of hiking, walking, driving and riding. Can you guess where? (Oh, all right, answers are at the end.)

(1-Wyoming state capitol; 2-Deer at nature center in Lincoln, NE; 3-Liberty Jail visitor's center in Missouri; 4-Haun's Mill memorial in Breckenridge, MO; 5-Goat trying to play with us in Breckenridge [tried to get into our car, too, when we left]; 6-Mark Twain historical site in Hannibal, MO; 7-Mississippi River in Hannibal; 8-LDS temple in Nauvoo, IL; 9-Joseph and Hyrum statue in Nauvoo; 10-Mississippi River in Nauvoo; 11-Joseph and Brigham statue in Nauvoo; 12-Carthage Jail in Illinois; 13-Corn Palace in Mitchell, SD; 14-Mount Rushmore; 15-Mountain goat and kid at Mount Rushmore; 16 & 17-Rushmore Cave, SD; 18 & 19-Trail ride in the Black Hills, SD; 20-Railroad museum in Hill City, SD; 21-Western music show at Circle B Chuckwagon in SD; 22-Martin's Cove visitor's center and Devil's Gate, WY.)

Hiking, part 4

Week 8 - Aspen Crest camping

This week the girls went on a hike at their church girls' camp, and on the weekend there was a church family overnight camp. So we didn't do a family hike, but we did get to enjoy the outdoors and the cool mountain air.

In the morning, T. went on a short walk with Mike and me up a trail by the campsite. For some reason the girls felt they'd had enough hiking for the week.

Week 9 - Lake Mary - moderate

Back up to Brighton to beat the summer heat. It's amazing how you can drive less than an hour and have the temperature drop so noticeably. Gorgeous scenery and clean air - this is one of my favorite places.

That clean air is also thinner up there, and one of us had a somewhat hard time because of that. The trail is well maintained but has a pretty steady climb and is steep in places with a little bit of scrambling over rocks. We took it slow, though, and eventually we all made it up to the lake.

Here's M., A., and T. starting back down.

We went through several patches of wildflowers and noticed this bee doing her job. (I also learned that if I'm going to take a bunch of photos of flowers, looking for just the right shot, I should probably do it toward the beginning of the hike and not the end when others are tired and just want to get back to the car!)

Week 10 - Parley's Nature Park - Easy

This week we had planned to hike to a reservoir in a canyon, but clouds were gathering and as we left the house it started to rain. It didn't seem like a mountainside near water would be a smart place to be if the storm got worse, so we quickly changed our plans and stayed in the valley. This is a popular trail for dog owners, which added to the enjoyment for us, since the only one in our family who doesn't like dogs was at work. (And a good thing too -- we saw a lot of dogs that day.)

The trail runs next to a freeway, but after the first little while you wouldn't know it at all. You go down into a hidden canyon and you feel like you're far away from the city.

We got rained on, but not too much, and it was great to still get our hike in despite the weather. We'll go up to that reservoir another time.

Hiking, part 3

Week 7 - Pipeline Trail - Moderately easy

This week we wanted to go up into the canyons for a longer hike but not a strenuous one. So we headed to Millcreek Canyon to hike part of the Pipeline Trail. There are several sections. We started at Church Fork and went as far as Burch Hollow, then came back. From the trailhead it was 3.4 miles round trip. We actually parked along the main road and walked up past the picnic areas to the trailhead, which probably added another .3 or .4 miles total but allowed us to enjoy the shade, birds, and waterfalls along the picnic area road.

Once we got onto the main trail, it was fairly flat with a few ups and downs. There was quite a lot of shade and a nice breeze. Millcreek Canyon trails have a lot of bikers and people walking dogs, but all the ones we met were courteous.

Several pieces of the old water pipeline are still visible next to the trail.

Every now and then we would come out onto a bend and get a great view of the canyon and the Salt Lake Valley off in the distance.

With a longer hike this time, we got the chance to practice patience with each other. (Some of us practiced harder than others.) But we made it to the end with good moods fairly intact.

Now we're heading into the part of our summer where weekly hikes will become difficult, as various family members will be busy with activities. But that's still our goal -- we'll see how it goes!

Hiking, part 2

Week 5 - The U - Easy walk, trail at end difficult

Since we went to the Y, we thought we'd go see the U on the mountain too. It really wasn't a hike at all, but a short, easy walk along residential streets. A very short, steep trail leads up to the concrete U, and T. and I decided to climb up there. Very quickly we found that the trail was hard-packed dirt with no real footholds.



Going up was pretty easy, but then we turned around to go down...



Note how A. and M. wisely stayed at the bottom. The trail was slippery and so steep that we ended up sitting down and scooting a bit at a time so we wouldn't fall. Lessons learned: 1. Don't "hike" to the U without hiking spikes. 2. Always wear jeans to go hiking in.

Week 6 - Ensign Peak - Moderately easy

For our last week staying in the valley, we decided to hike to Ensign Peak as we have done many times before. It's about a mile round trip, but enough of a climb to be a little bit of a challenge.



It was very windy the day we went. T. was trying to stay out of the wind behind the monument. Several of us almost lost our hats (but had quick enough reflexes not to).



The view is the best part about this hike.



Next time we're heading up into the mountains again. It's getting too hot in the valley, and there are lots of places we want to explore in the canyons where it's cooler.

The Hiking Challenge

The girls are preparing for a pioneer trek in August, and a couple of months ago I said, "We should go on a lot of hikes this summer so you can be ready for Trek." They said, "Yeah, right. You always say that." It's true. Every summer we want to do a lot of hiking, but then I get busy and we end up going maybe once or twice the whole summer. So I decided this is the year we're going to change that. No more lame mom excuses! The challenge is on!

We had a homeschool group that met once a week and finished in early May. Since we already had that day set aside, it was easy to make that our hiking day. I talked with the kids about going hiking every week the whole summer (unless weather or emergency prevents us). They liked the idea. So the week after our group ended, we started our weekly hikes.

Week 1 - The Y - Difficult

The Y trail was quite a workout for our first hike. T. had done it with his dad before, but the girls hadn't, and I hadn't since I lived in Provo. I think I was in better shape back then, or maybe the mountain got taller and steeper in the last 20 years. But we made it to the bottom of the Y. We had planned to go to the top, but by the time we reached the bottom we were very happy to stop there. The trail is steep and climbs constantly with benches for resting at many of the switchbacks. We needed them!




































Week 2 - City Creek Canyon - Easy

Amazingly, after hiking the Y the kids were still willing to keep going on weekly hikes. (Maybe going to the BYU Creamery afterward helped. Mmmm, Coconut Joy ice cream.) So the next week we stayed in the Salt Lake area and went to City Creek Canyon. I've always loved that there's a canyon right in the downtown area where you can feel like you're far away from the city. We drove past the lower part of the canyon and started our hike at the gate. We didn't hike the whole trail (I think it's something like 6 miles each way) but went about a mile and a half up and then came back. The trail is paved and not very steep.


It was perfect weather, nice and cool with lots of birds chirping and the sound of the creek next to the trail. I decided that in the fall, when we end our weekly hikes, I'd like to come back and hike the whole trail (with whoever's willing to join me) and bring a picnic.

Week 3 - Silver Lake - Easy (moderately easy with snow)

We learned that in May, the Silver Lake trail can still have a lot of snow. It made this easy hike a little more challenging as we climbed over snow piles and tried not to slip.


But at least we didn't have to worry about mosquitoes! It was actually a lot of fun hiking in the snow under the trees. We've been to Silver Lake many times and we enjoyed having a different experience this time.

Week 4 - Sugarhouse Park - Easy

The snow convinced us that we should stay in the valley for a few more weeks before trying any more canyon hiking. So last week we decided to walk around Sugarhouse Park. There's a road that circles the park and it has a wide area marked off for pedestrians. The loop is only a little over a mile, but it was still a nice walk with some ups and downs. You can tell from the photo that one of us did not bring enough water and got hot and cranky, and another one of us was getting tired of listening to the crankiness. But we reached the car soon afterward and all was well.


Designating our hiking days ahead of time has made all the difference. And of course it helps to live so close to the mountains and have so many trails to choose from. I haven't decided yet where we'll hike this week, but so far I'm very pleased with how it's going.

Zion National Park

Mike and I went on an early anniversary trip to St. George. We stayed at a bed and breakfast, went to the St. George Temple, went to see Bill Cosby at Tuacahn, did some walking, and hiked a little in Zion National Park. I wish I were a better photographer, because the photos we took just don't capture what it was like.

We went to Zion Canyon first, the south central part of the park where most people go.



This resident was obviously used to company. (We didn't feed him anything -- he brought his own snack.)



We also visited Kolob Canyons, a lesser-known area in the northwest corner of the park. The elevation is higher and there was snow, but the roads were clear. A nice couple who might have been German offered to take our picture.



We went on a hiking trail that turned out to be a little more challenging than we'd thought, mostly because 90 percent of it was either slippery snow or squelchy, slippery mud. (I'm sure it's nicer later in the year.)



But at the end of the trail, on top of a ridge where the wind almost got my hat, we got a great view. The trail sign said that on a clear day, looking south like this, you can see the Kaibab plateau at the north rim of the Grand Canyon.



I'm glad there are still places like this to enjoy. And now I'm all excited for summer, when the trails closer to home will be clear enough to hike!