2013-10-27 Bells Canyon Hike

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We were so blessed to have an awesome weather to hike a short trail in Bells Canyon in Sandy. The clouds were amazing thanks to an imminent weather change starting tonight. The golden leaves dressed up the mountain and water landscape aesthetically. This hike might conclude our hiking activity for 2013. Thanks for your company making our 2013 hiking a wonderfully enjoyable experience.

2013-10-20 Willow Lake Hike

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Hiked the Willow Lake trail with a crisp fall air and spotless blue sky. Most of the leaves were gone, but the scenery never disappointed us.

2013-10-18 Lower Antelope Canyon

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Another unique place that 6 families visited is the Antelope Canyon in Page, AZ. We didn't visit the most-thought prettier Upper Antelope Canyon. Instead we visited the Lower Antelope Canyon. If you haven't been there, this might a great destination for your next road trip vacation. It is about 6 hour drive from Salt Lake City. Inside the slot canyon, because of the height of canyon wall sometimes reaching between 50-100 feet, it was dark. But when the light shines through these small cracks above the canyon, we were amazed by the display of of the canyon wall rock formation illuminated by the faint sun light.

2013-10-17 Coral Pink Sand Dunes State Park

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This state park is a little gem tucked between two famous national parks - Zions and Bryce Canyon, near the Utah/Arizona border. It is about 5 hour drive from Salt Lake City. 6 families from New Life Fellowship had separately planned a road trip to southern Utah during the fall break last weekend, and coincidentally ended up going to this unique state park in Utah together. If you haven't been there, this might be a great destination for your next road trip vacation. Thanks the Lord for a wonderful weather and great fellowship. Kids loved this place and grown-ups had become kids again reflecting their child-like nature in this nature's playground.

2013-09-29 Mormon Trail Hike

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This year's record warm weather in the Salt Lake area seemed to play a role in how the fall foliage displays in the neighboring mountains. But the vibrant color on Mormon trail in East Canyon still surprised us. Indeed God's fingerprints were on full display reminding us that He is the Lord of creation. Our hiking group had a great time enjoying the beautiful scenery and fellowshiping with one another. Thanks for Saofeng, Guojiang, Yuxia and Li Ming, who did not feel the one mile (one way) hike was challenging enough and ventured deep into the neighboring area to find a new trail for us. That was the most beautiful place with lots of vibrant fall color in this hike. There was a second small bridge on this loop too.

2013-09-01 Brighton Lakes Hike

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We had a very warm summer this year. Labor Day is supposed to signal the end of summer, but the temperature just won't show it though. It was a partly cloudy afternoon, which cooled down the temperature quite a bit. It was a very pleasant hike on the trail. After arriving at Lake Mary the sun came out and we also saw a lone moose by the lake shore on the other side across from our group. After 30 minutes resting and snacking, we continue to hike to Lake Catherine. On the way home, rain started for half of the time.

2013-08-11 Lisa Falls Hike

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This is shortest hike we have ever done hiking the Wasatch Front mountains. I hiked with 3 kids (Aaron, Ivan and Phoebe) and they had a great time playing around the water falls. 

2013-07-28 Cecret Lake Hike

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Though it was a wild weather (cloudy, a bit of rain drops, then sunny sky) hiking the Cecret Lake trail on Sunday afternoon, it was a very blessed hike with friends and families. Once again, the calendar-cover scenery and vibrant wild flowers amaze us and remind us of God's handywork. Parking spaces at Alta at this time of the year when wild flowers are peaking are so hard to find, we had to wait for about 30 minutes before all of us got a spot at the upper parking lot. The parking lot at the Albion Basin campground was way too hard to find. Though we had to walk a half mile more to get to the trailhead, we actually enjoyed such walk because of all the blooming flowers on the road side.

2013-07-24 Catherine Pass Hike

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It was an overcast morning and the parking lot at Alta was always full as wildflower season begins. I was lucky to get a spot at the Sunnyside parking lot. After I reached the pass, I hiked down to Lake Catherine on the Brighton side where I saw a moose family, who later crossed the pass to the Alta side. After hiking back to the pass, I decide to explore the Sunset Peak, which was only about 0.3 mile from the pass. At Sunset Peak you get views of neighboring mountains like Mt. Timpanogos. Wildflowers still dotted the landscape on this trail.

2013-07-14 Cardiff Pass Hike

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Phoebe and I went on a daddy-daughter date by hiking the Cardiff Pass in Alta. The amount of wildflowers were enormous and unbelievable, reminding me of the famous quote from 徐志摩的《日記‧西湖記》『數大便是美』。Ironically we only met a few hikers on the trail (we met Hao Xiang, Xie Jing and Jenny Teng). The reason might be because the trailhead wasn't visibly marked. In fact you have to go through a residential neighborhood and Alta police station. Now is probably the prime time to see these beautiful flowers.

2013-06-30 Willow Lake Hike

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The temperature in Salt Lake valley hit triple digit when we were still in the month of June! Our hiking group went hiking the Willow Heights/Willow Lake trail in Big Cottonwood Canyon. We've hiked this trail several times in the past from the trailhead that begins in the residential area. This time, we started the hike from a different trailhead on the main road. After reaching the lake, we decided to hike down the other trail to make it a loop hike. Wildflowers dotted the landscape along the trail.

2013-06-23 Great Western Trail Hike (#5)

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Praise the Lord for a blessed Sunday afternoon hike of Great Western Trail in East Canyon. Now is the perfect time to see the wildflowers in East Canyon. Most people in our hiking group made it to the top of Big Mountain. By the time I was almost there, our group had started heading down. That was because the trail was full of distractions - the wildflowers. It was a perfect time and day to photograph these flowers due to overcast sky, but it also paradoxically poses some challenges if you include too much sky in the photo (too bright because of the cloud compared to the foreground flowers). None of us was disappointed by the amazing scenery. Every twist and turn of the trail surprised us with magnificent display of nature's best beauty. If you were there, I am sure the song 野地的花 will instantly come to your mind. Thanks for a wonderful fellowship on the trail and thanks for coming to the hike with friends to enjoy God's beautiful creation! I hope that you also snapped some photos along the trail. By the way, my friend Masami (I met her when Phoebe was taking ice-skating lesson at the County Ice Center in Murray) wants me to thank you all for being very kind to her. She had a great time hiking with us. She was also surprised that we have someone (Elsa Liu) in our group can speak fluent Japanese with her.

2013-06-16 Twin Lakes Loop Hike (#4)

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Praise the Lord for a blessed and safe Sunday afternoon hike of Twin Lakes Loop trail in Big Cottonwood Canyon. Before we started the hike, we were joking at the trailhead parking lot that our backyard mountains rival those of Yosemite National Park. In deed we were so pampered with calendar-cover scenery of the Wasatch mountains, we sometimes take that for granted. Thanks God that we had wonderful weather for this hike. The remaining snow on the trail in the higher elevation spots was quite an adventure for kids. The snacks-sampling at Twin Lake Reservoir was a feast to our hungry stomach. Thanks for coming to the hike with friends to enjoy the beautiful creation!