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.

2013-06-30 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.

2013-06-16 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!

2013-06-02 Silver Lake Hike (#3)

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We are so blessed to live in a place where natural beauty abounds. This past Sunday a few friends went to hike a trail in the American Fork Canyon. 3 beautiful lakes (or reservoir) nested in lush Lone Peak Wilderness area. Wild flowers dotted the rolling landscape if you keep your keen eyes open. The drive to the trailhead (Silver Lake Flat Reservoir) parking lot is a bit adventurous though - 4 mile dirt road (passable to car) with small sharp rocks slowing you down almost to a crawl and large rocks creating bumps along the way. But the effort really paid off in the end - a calendar-cover view of Silver Lake Flat Reservoir! The first 2/3 of the trail (total of 2.2 miles one way) was quite pleasant while the last 1/3 was on a constant steep ascent. But again, the reward in the end was another calendar-cover view of an alpine lake - Silver Lake. During the hike, Sichun's father found a field of fresh 厥菜. We were having fun picking up these delicious vegetables. Thanks my friends for such a wonderful hike!

Silver Lake Flat Reservoir

Silver Lake Flat Reservoir

Wild Flower on the trail

Looking at Silver Lake Flat Reservoir from the trail

Silver Lake

2013-04-28 Living Room Trail Hike (#2)

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The weather is too good to pass up (sunny 76 degrees). So even we had a fellowship picnic on Saturday, many of us still wanted to go hiking. We hiked the Living Room trail near the U campus. It was a shorter hike compared to the Twin Peaks hike last Sunday (2.5 miles vs 4.0 miles), but because of the similar elevation gain, this hike requires much more strength. There were wild flowers blooming in the early spring already. The round trip of this hike is about 2 hours. Everyone enjoy a great reward at the end - a view of the valley sitting on rock couch.

Wild flower on the trail

Best seat in the house (Livingroom)

Near the base of trailhead

2013-04-27 Spring Picnic

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This weather is so pleasant this weekend. New Life Fellowship had a picnic at Olympus Hills Park. Kids enjoyed play at the park, and grown-ups enjoyed rounds of volleyball play.

2013-04-21 Avenue Twin Peaks Hike (#1)

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2013 is wetter and colder than 2012. Our first hike in 2012 was on March 11. We started our 2013 hike at the same trail, but over a month late compared to last year. The weather was so pleasant with occasional gentle breeze. It was a great exercise to shed some winter fat. The Twin Peaks look daunting from the trailhead, but surprisingly, everyone made to both peaks. The view is fantastic at the top. Praise the Lord for a wonderful fellowship and friendship.

2012-11-04 Block U Hike (#14)

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This is our last hike of 2012. We hiked to Block U (stands for University of Utah) via Dry Creek trail. The weather is quite pleasant and the view is fantastic. There are a few steep spots, but after scrambling up the hill, you feel you are on top of the world with panoramic view of Greater Salt Lake area.

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!

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

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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.