2014-12-26 Fire Wave Hike

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On the day leaving Vegas to go back to Salt Lake, we stopped by the Valley of Fire State Park (50 miles east of Vegas) on our way home. I missed the Fire Wave last year because there was no sign for this unique trail. This year, they put up the sign and we did not miss it. It was a gorgeous day to hike this place.

2014-12-25 Kraft Mountain Loop Hike

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For our Christmas activity, we and 3 other families decided to go to a warmer place. The default for many people is Las Vegas due to its geographic proximity to Salt Lake City. But we don't want to wander in the casinos during the day, so we visited a few places just outside the city. We went to hike the Craft Mountain Loop trail located in the Red Rock Conservation Area. The hike was supposed to be easy, but there are a few spots that require some rock scrambling. Though it was scary at times, but thanks to God's protection, we all made it back to the parking lot and had a great memory.

2014-11-09 Living Room Trail Hike

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Even when Thanksgiving is around the corner, we have not given up on hiking yet. Thanks for a warm summer, there are still some brush oaks turning color in the Living Room trail. Our hiking group had a great time hiking this easy trail. In the end, we enjoy the view from the "Living Room" furnished with rock chair and sofa. The another neat thing for this hike is that kids brought their ukulele and played a song "One Day" (by Plumb) in the living room.

2014-10-19 Bells Canyon Lower Water Falls Hike

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Our hiking group went on a short hike to the Bell Canyon Reservoir. After reaching the destination, we thought it is still early, and decided to hike the lower falls. It was a bit of hard due to steep elevation gain. But the falls in the end is a great reward for everyone.

2014-10-12 Willow Lake Hike

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Willow Lake is an easy hike located in the Big Cottonwood Canyon. Due to a warm year, the aspens have passed the peak color. But the scenery is still worth the short 2-mile hike.

2014-10-05 Stewarts Falls Hike

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This was not the most spectacular year for autumn foliage due to extreme warm summer. However grown-ups and kids had great time hiking the Stewart Falls trail in Provo Canyon.

2014-08-14 Cecret Lake Hike & Utah Olympic Park

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We had a family friend who came from Taiwan to attend Logan Church's 10-year anniversary celebration. After the event, we invited them to stay in our house and took them to Alta again. Amazingly, the wild flowers last almost a month and they are still blooming.

2014-08-09 Tony Grove Lake Nature Trail Walk

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After Logan Church's 10-year anniversary celebration BBQ, we stopped by Tony Lake up in the Logan Canyon. Experience another beautiful wild flower show.

2014-07-24 Albion Basin Wild Flower Walk

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Seems like we can't get enough of the wild flowers at Alta, we invited another family to take a short walk in the Albion Basin area of Alta. The wild flowers surely did not disappoint us. Alta really is the best place for wild flowers.

2014-07-20 Cecret Lake Hike

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Another hidden gem of Alta is Cecret Lake. Touted the most family-friendly trail, it attracts many hikers during summer months, and fight for parking space is a common theme. The town of Alta has shuttle service on the weekend during summer months to serve as many hiker as possible due to limited parking space. And you better not park on the side of the road because you will be ticketed. We went on a Sunday afternoon when there was a passing storm. But this makes a picture perfect scenery along the trail.

2014-07-13 Cardiff Pass Hike

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Alta is a world-class ski resort. I've talked to many tourists when I skied at Alta. They said that the scenery and terrain at Alta rival that of the Alps. Well, Alta isn't just for skiing. During the summer months, especially late July and early August, there are wild flowers, and you won't be disappointed. This year, due to warm temperature, the peak time has moved up to 2 weeks earlier.

2014-06-22 Great Western Trail Hike

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We went hiking with church friends, who had a friend visiting Salt Lake City. They wanted to show how beautiful the surrounding area is. Her friend came at the right time for wild flower show at the Great Western Trail in East Canyon.

2014-06-14 Maybird Lake Hike

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I went hiking with Phoebe, a daddy-daughter date on a beautiful Saturday morning. The trailhead is located at the White Pine area. Parking lot is always full due to its popularity. There are 3 trails that lead to 3 alpine lakes respectively. We were planning to hike the Red Pine Lake, but we made the wrong turn at the bridge junction. Left turn will lead you to Red Pine Lake. But went stright and cross the bridge and ended up in a place that was beyond our imagination, so serene and poetic.

2014-06-07 Lake Blanche Hike

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We went hiking with 小木 on Saturday morning. The trailhead is located at the big S of the Big Cottonwood Canyon (about 4 miles from the mouth of the canyons) and the parking lot is always full due to its popularity. It was a gorgeous day to hike this beautiful trail. Uncommon to other trails in the Big Cottonwood Canyons is that you will find some red rock formation toward the end of the trail near lake Blanche. Also at the rock climbing place you will be able to see the Great Salt Lake.

2014-04-20 Mill Creek Canyon Pipeline Hike

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I went hiking with my church friends on Sunday (4/20) afternoon. The trailhead called Rattlesnake Gulch is 0.7 mile from the fee station at the Millcreek Canyon. The name sounds scary, but we didn't encounter any snakes on the trail this time of the year. But you will probably in summer months. The first 0.6 mile on the trail gains the most elevation (around 700 feet). Then you will be at the trail junction. Take the left (going west toward the valley) on the Pipeline trail. It is about a mile to the Salt Lake valley lookout. There were lots of wild flowers called arrowleaf balsamroot at the lookout. You get an awesome view of the valley (west).

2014-04-06 Utah State Capitol Cherry Blossom

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多年來一直想去看看猶他州政府廣場前四百多棵的櫻花繽紛綻放，但是去年還是錯過了。前­幾天在台灣的時候上KSL網絡看到觀眾上載的照片，知道現在是櫻花盛開的時候了。於是­在週日教會結束之後，決定和Phoebe一起去State Capitol觀賞櫻花(麗珠去買菜錯過機會)，結果真是不虛此行，不僅櫻花盛開，天­氣還晴時多雲偶微雨，正是拍照的好時間。

2014-03-02 The Wave Hike

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We were so lucky to win the Wave lottery last December for a group of 6 people. BLM allows only 20 people per day to hike this unique place. The weather has been wet when we arrived at Kanab. However the day of the hike it was sunny and a bit windy at times. The only trail sign is at the beginning by the Coyote Wash (if you miss this sign you will continue to Buckskin Gulch), except signs at the trailhead parking lot. We brought a couple of compasses and printed 3 more copies of the map BLM sent us so that we have more eyes to check for the right path. The map did a great job helping us navigate to the Wave. We've been hiking a lot in Utah so the 400 feet elevation gain wasn't big of a deal for us. Walking on the desert sands did not bother us either. After about 2 hours we reached the entrance of the Wave and enjoyed the most aesthetically beautiful rock formation nature has to offer.