The summer has been over for a while, but I wanted to look back at the fun summer we had.
We were not able to go on any vacations with both Airin and myself working plus taking care of a very needy baby, but we did have the chance to do many fun things as a family near our house. Utah is an outdoor mecca.
Having lived in Utah all but two years of my life, I sadly did not know the difference between Big and Little Cottonwood Canyons. At the beginning of the year, I could not have told you which one was more southern or northern and what resorts were in each canyon. We got to know them quite well by the end of the year.
Having lived in Utah all but two years of my life, I sadly did not know the difference between Big and Little Cottonwood Canyons. At the beginning of the year, I could not have told you which one was more southern or northern and what resorts were in each canyon. We got to know them quite well by the end of the year.
At the beginning of the summer, I wanted to go on a hike once a week. That ended up being more like twice a month. Here are some of the hikes we went on:
This was probably my favorite hike of them all. It really isn't much of a "hike", but more of a nature walk. Most of the trail is a boardwalk around/over a lake. It has beautiful views of the surrounding mountains, wildlife and vegetation. We saw many fish, a few moose and lots of squirrels and chipmunks. This was super easy for Lily to walk around the lake. I had to carry her on most of the trails but this was the one where I did not.
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| The snow had not melted all the way the first time we went up. |
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| This was the last time we went, in early October. |
Lily loved this hike because of the waterfall. This hike was pretty short and begins in the middle of a neighborhood in Sandy. The first part of the actual trail is a little steep/rocky, but eventually evened out. We went here twice during the summer. If you plan on going, make sure to go earlier in the season rather than later because the waterfall stream will diminish over the course of the summer.
This hike is a really popular one up Little Cottonwood Canyon. We went in the morning up to Alta ski resort where they had a shuttle that would drive you to the trailhead. The trail was very busy with lots of families going up and coming down. This one was my least favorite adventure. I had to carry Lily up the switchbacks near the end and it was exhausting. The lake wasn't that great, either. I really enjoy hiking to get away but there were just too many people on the trail.
Above the Silver Lake Recreation Area, there are a couple of trails. One leads to Twin Lakes. We only did this one once, but it was a good one. I had to carry Lily for most of the way because it was pretty steep for a good portion of the narrow and rocky trail. The views were amazing, the lake was beautiful, and we rested on some nice sand at the top. We will definitely go on this one again next year!
Barrier Free Trail
This trail is just south of Snowbird Resort, up Little Cottonwood Canyon. The trail is paved for most of the way. It leads to an overlook deck and is easy for all ages. The first time we did it we saw a moose about 20 yards away.
For anyone reading this, are there any hikes we should put on our list for the future? We hope to go on many more adventures next year!
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| This was about halfway up the trail, overlooking Silver Lake. |
This trail is just south of Snowbird Resort, up Little Cottonwood Canyon. The trail is paved for most of the way. It leads to an overlook deck and is easy for all ages. The first time we did it we saw a moose about 20 yards away.
For anyone reading this, are there any hikes we should put on our list for the future? We hope to go on many more adventures next year!
