2011-09-27 Mormon Pioneer Trail Scouting

Fall color has arrived at the Wasatch mountains. Our hiking group needs to decide which trail to hit for the spectacular fall color. So I went to scout some trails in the East Canyon area during my lunch hour. I drove to the Big Mountain Pass and turned back. The 8-mile drive was full of magnificent view of fall color. At mile marker 6 I found there was an original Mormon Pioneer trail to Afleck Park. When I drove back, I also stopped by the Mormon Pioneer trail head near Afleck Park. This stretch of the Mormon Pioneer trail was full of beautiful fall color: yellow, red and orange.

2011-09-25 Stewart Falls Hike (#15)

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This is the time of the year for magnificent fall foliage! We were planning on hiking the Silver Lake/Lake Solitude trail this Sunday. But a friend at church told me that she and her family drove along the Midway and Prove area and found a lot of red and orange color popping up on the mountain. So we changed the plan at last minute and went to Stewart Falls in Prove Canyon. The leaves are starting color change and the weather is so pleasant that many people didn't even drink water during the hike. There is still plenty of water at the falls. Kids were having fun near the water. Some people felt cold because the sun is setting and was block by the mountain. I found that the trail from Sundance resort has a huge patch of red and orange color. Maybe we will try to hike from Sundance resort next year. My camera's color was wacky after I tinkered with it the day before the hike. Big mistake! The photos came out fine, but I had to post-process them. This is our hike #15 of the year.

2011-09-18 Clayton Peak Hike (#14)

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The weather is a bit cool today, around 78 in the valley. We arrived at the trail head around 4:30 and the parking lot was quite crowded. But there weren't many people hiking the Clayton Peak trail though. I wonder where they went hiking, but it appeared that there were many trails around this place. We had around 40 people in our group. The trail to the peak was short (about a mile), but it was a steady climb of steep hill. Kids hiked fast and they were the first to reach the peak while most grown-ups were still on the lower peak. The view at the peak was fantastic. Several lakes on the east side of the peak, and 3 (Silver Lake, Twin Lake, and Lake Mary) on the west side. I brought 2 boxes of sushi purchased from Costco, and they were gone in no time. It is still very popular among kids and teens. The weather is changing and we hope to see some fall colors in a week or two. Trail detail at http://www.everytrail.com/view_trip.php?trip_id=1294561

2011-09-10 Lofty Lake Loop Hike (#13)

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Mirror Lake Recreation area is in the high Uinta mountain and offers breath-taking view of mountains and lakes. Our hiking group met at church at 10 am Saturday morning to carpool to the trailhead. We had to stop by Mirror Lake picnic area so that Lu Jia can pick up a fee envelop. Luckily Robert Bao has national park pass, so he didn't need to pay. We started the hike around 11:30 am. The weather was quite nice with fluffy clouds and gentle breeze. We stopped at Kamas Lake for lunch. The Lofty Lake was smaller, but incredibly beautiful. Stone-skipping at the lakes was fun for many grown-ups. For trail info, please visit http://www.everytrail.com/view_trip.php?trip_id=1286267

2011-09-03 Mt. Timpanogos Summit Hike (#12)

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Hiking Photo Link 2

Saturday (9/3) has been set as the hike of the year. Many people have expressed interest to hike to the summit of Mt. Timpanogos (11,749 feet). This is a 14.5 miles round trip hike and takes about 7-11 hours to complete. We met at church parking lot around 6 am and plan on arriving at the trailhead earlier, hoping to secure a parking space. The Timpooneke trail is so popular that we heard the parking lot is usually full by early morning. We arrived at the American Fork Canyon fee station around 6:50, and saw a sign said the parking lot is full. Later we found out the lot was already full at 3 am. We arrived at the entrance of the trailhead, and were very lucky to be told that there is a small space for our car (I drove my Camry in stead of Highlander). The temperature was very cold and all of us had to put on jacket. We waited for our group to show up, but did not hold much hope because the lot was full. We waied till 7:45 am and decided to begin the hike. Our group finally caught up with us after a few hours. The trail was easier than the Aspen Grove trail that I hiked last year. It was a very pleasant hike. Timpanogos Bain is full of flowers. The view literally took my breath away. It was so beautiful. I finally arrived at the Saddle around noon, and since my legs felt fine, I decided to hike to the summit. The trail to summit was scary at points, but I finally made it at 1:10 pm. The view was awesome.