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。

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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Interactive Hiking Trail with Photo Link


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.

2013-06-23 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!

2013-06-15 RidgelineTrail Hike (Emigration Canyon)

Waking up around 6 am and not being able to get back to sleep, so I decided to embark an early morning hike to the Ridgeline Trail in the Emigration Canyon. The timing for spring flower might have passed, but I still found some spots with vivid flowers of Arrowleaf Balsamroot, usually first sign of spring in the Salt Lake valley area. The morning sun was great for photographing these bright yellow flowers. The blue sky adds extra flavor to the landscape photos. It was a wonderful walk (can't be qualified as hike since I had to head back in about an hour.)

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

2013-04-21 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.

2013-03-30 Russian Ridge Hike

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During Phoebe's spring break, we drove to Stanford to visit her brother. The weather is very pleasant as it usually is in this area. Spring is already here with vibrant and lush green on the mountains.

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.