2013-06-30 Willow Lake Hike

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Interactive Hiking Trail with Photo Link

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.

2013-06-16 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!

2012-10-07 Willow Lake Hike (#11)

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Another great fall day for hiking. This time we try to see some golden leaves, so we hiked the Willow Lake trail in Big Cottonwood Canyon. Though some of the leaves have fallen off, but the scene is still very pleasant. Kids and grown-ups had a great time hanging out at the lake. A kind lady, Christe, and her son (maybe 2 or 3 years old) were hiking to Willow Lake as our group was leaving. She offered to take the group photo for us. While she was taking the photo, her son posed with us. Christe told her son to get out of the picture. Then her son sadly and slowly moved away from us. Brother Te-Hsin then chased after him and brought him back to pose with our group for photo. Sister Li Ya also gave him some yummy chocolates for treats. That was quite a highlight for this hike!

2012-07-15 Willow Lake Hiking (#6)

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感謝神給我們一個美麗的週日下午，讓許多家庭可以到Big Cottonwood Canyon的Willow Lake踏青。之前幾天鹽湖城幾乎下午都有雷陣雨，剛到trailhead的時候，天空還滴了幾滴雨，不過，開始健行之後，天空開始放情，微風吹起，走在翠綠的白楊樹裡，特別感到清爽。到了湖之後，湖水清澈如鏡，小孩子們在湖邊玩的不亦樂乎。路旁的野花也開始綻放美麗的顏色。踏青照片link

2011-10-16 Dog Lake Hiking (#18)

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Dog Lake in Big Cottonwood Canyon has great aspen fall color on the north side of the trail looking south. The aspen trees display shades of green and yellow at this time of the year. We have a big group this time hiking the Dog Lake trail (in Mill D North). Weather is a bit cloudy, but we get about 30 minutes of blue sky. Light raindrop fell toward the end of the hike. Hopefully, we have a few weeks of good and mild weather for us to hike. Some of our teens got on the wrong trail leading to Desolation Lake. The trail sign at the fork was vandalized so it wasn't possible for them to tell which way to go. The right path leads to Dog Lake, and the left path leads to Desolation Lake. But we got Keyi and Guojiang chasing after them when we found out at Dog Lake that they were heading to Desolation Lake. Our group started the hike around 3:15 and returned to trail head around 6:30. The sun broken through the clouds and lit up the mountain top. It was quite a scene! Brother Qiang met us half way when we headed down the trail. Shuping has told him how beautiful the fall color was along the trail. Interactive trail activity is available at http://www.everytrail.com/fullscreen.php?trip_id=1329793

2011-10-09 Willow Lake Hiking (#17)

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After some above normal warm temperature last week, the weather cools down, and suddenly snowed on Thursday (10/5). Ski resorts got about a foot of fresh snow. The wet weather dried out late Saturday evening. Sunday was sunny and warm (still below the average of 68 degrees though). Our group met at church parking lot at 2:30 pm and headed to the trail head in Big Cottonwood Canyon. We had over 40 people hiking this lesser-known trail, but absolutely picturesque lake. This is the third time we hiked this trail. This time, the scene is quite unique: snow plus fall color. The cloud broke after we got to the lake. Our group had great time sharing snacks.

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

2011-08-28 Lake Mary Hike (#11)

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Saturday night there was a huge thunder storm with amazing lightning show. By Sunday morning, the sky was clear. We changed the hiking to 3:30 pm to be able to stay at the lake longer. By afternoon, the sky again began to fill with threatening clouds. When we drove pass Solitude, there were some rain drops on the windshield and there was a huge piece of dark cloud on the Brighton side. By the time when we started the hike, these dark cloud moved out, and the sky has some amazing lingering clouds. The pictures looked much better with these lively clouds. We had 33 people on this hike and it is a great way for family bonding. By the way, half way (1/2 mile) into the hike, there is a Dog Lake side trail, and if you look toward northeast, there is a so-called Mickey Mouse rocks on the mountain.

2011-07-31 Brighton Silver Lake Hike (#9)

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We had an early monsoon season (usually occurring in mid to late August in Salt Lake City). However this afternoon's moisture did not ruin the hiking fun after the rain. Because of mud on the trail, we didn't go to Lake Solitude/Twin Lakes as planned. But, Silver Lake was quite different and beautiful. We had a great time at Silver Lake and saw a moose gazing the plants around the lake. Kids also had great time rock climbing and thanks to Jarek for a great job helping these little kids climb up and down. Sister Li Qin (李清) reported seeing a mother moose and 2 baby moose just outside Brighton parking lot when they left, but we missed that because kids needed to make a pee stop. We also welcome Shaofeng back and hiked with us this afternoon.

2011-07-24 Willow Lake Hike (#8)

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The temperature was quite warm in the valley, around 95 degrees. We headed to the trailhead from church parking lot around 3:30 pm. The flowers were blooming on the trail. Solitude still had snow patches on higher elevation mountains. It was always fun to hike with church families.

2010-10-17 Willow Lake Hike

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My church friends really want to do another hiking before the weather turns cold. We also want to see the fall foliage before the first snow falls. We went to a lesser known trail called Willow Lake (or beaver pond) in the Big Cottonwood Canyon. The trailhead is in a residential area. We parked the cars in the ski rental shop and walked through the neighborhood. It is a short 2-mile round trip hike with about 800 feet elevation gain. It was a pleasant day that Sunday (10/17) afternoon. The view of the lake was awesome! There were still plenty of golden aspen leaves for our eyes to enjoy! On the way back, I stopped by the Big Cottonwood creek and took a few photos.