2012-09-29 Stewart Falls Hike (#10)

Hiking Photo Link 1
Hiking Photo Link 2

I wasn't expecting much from this year's fall color due to the dry summer season we had. Boy, was I wrong again (the fist time was after hiking the Mormon Pioneer trail in East Canyon two weeks ago)! According to fall foliage experts, the dry weather shortens color change of trees, and that's why spectacular color of red (maple) and yellow (aspen) were mixing together on our mountains this year. My family and two other families went hiking on the Stewart Falls trail this past Saturday. I think it might have passed its prime time for color, but there were still patches of colorful display of foliage on the trail. Normally it would take about an hour to reach the Stewart Falls, but it took me and Phoebe almost 3 hours to get there. We were having fun taking lots of photos and enjoyed the scenery. I didn't try to hurry her to get to the destination, but instead patiently stayed with her and we had fun discussing and finding the best spots for shooting the fall foliage photos. Sometimes, I wonder if I were to choose my career again, what would I choose? After coming back from the hike, Lijue jokingly (maybe a bit jealously) said now I have found a companion who can go on photography trip/hike with me.

2012-09-23 Mormon Trail Hiking (#9)

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Praise the Lord for a blessed hiking activity and great family bonding time! We were so fortunate to have 3 hour window so we could hike the beautifully breath-taking Mormon trail in East Canyon during this time of the year. Oh boy those trees were on fire, weren't they! The hike was short (1.3 miles). But if that did not take your breath away, the view surely would do just that. I am so grateful that our church families had a great time in this hiking activity. After we arrived at Affleck Park, kids had a blast playing in the shallow creek by the park, and most of them got their feet wet while one kid hilariously got soaked from head to toes (that reminds me of a character called Clumsy in the movie "The Smurfs")! We all had hearty laugh seeing kids having so much fun in the nature (definitely better than those artificial video games!).

2012-09-03 17-Lakes Loop Hike (#8)

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Praise the Lord for a great hiking weather on Labor Day. Aesthetically speaking, the 17-Lakes Loop trail is by far the most awe-inspiring trail I've ever gone on this year. My family, Yizhe, and her two friends had great time enjoying the fellowship and numerous lakes alongside of the trail. The trail leading to "The Notch" (rock mountain shelf and cairns) is quite visible. We took a lunch break at "The Notch" - the highest point of the hike with great view of the surrounding lakes. From "The Notch" on, however the trail is hard to identify at times. But we knew that we had to head west between Twin Lakes on the left and some no-name lakes on the right. So we were able to find the trail leading to the Clyde Lake - second largest lake on the loop trail. Trail leaving Clyde Lake was quite visible for about half mile, then right before Watson Lake (we could see the lake from above), we got lost and went on the back side of Watson Lake and several no-name lakes. Even we had only 6 people in our group, we easily got separated. We had to shout out and wait for others to respond to locate each other. Luckily we got back as a group after a quarter mile searching for each other. We then got to a fork and bumped into a hiker who happened to hike from Cliff Lake trail to "The Notch" and on his way back. At this point, we were back to the loop trail again. What an impressive hike! Back at the trailhead parking lot, we saw a "Lost Dogs" sign posted on the tree near the restroom. We now understand how easily hikers can get lost in this beautiful but at times treacherous terrain and really appreciate what had happened to us.