2012-10-28 Living Room Trail Hike (#13)

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Thanks the Lord for a blessed Sunday afternoon hike to the Living Room trail by the U. The weather was very pleasant and there was still some remaining fall color, though the lower part of the trail was wet and muddy due to melting snow. Kids and grown-ups had a great time hiking this moderate trail and enjoyed the view from the "Living Room" furnished with stone chairs, couches and sofa. Kids also had fun walking Macy (the cute dog's name) on the trail. Thanks for sharing your snacks and goodies with one another.

2011-10-23 Neff's Canyon Hiking (#19)

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The warm weather continued this weekend and high temperature reached 72 degrees. We went hiking almost like in our backyard since the trail head is just above the Olympus Cove residential area. By the time we arrived at the trail head, the parking lot was quite full. On our way up the trail, we met with brothers and sisters from Faith cell group, who started the hike at 1:30 pm. There were still plenty of fall foliage on the trail and the scenery was gorgeous!

2011-10-01 Mormon Pioneer Trail hiking (#16)

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This year's weather is a bit extreme in the sense that we had a wet year, which pushed the wild flower to bloom at least 2-3 weeks later than usual. But recent unseasonably warm weather helped turn the leaves right after the flower's bloom. A friend of mine at church went to Silver Lake and Twin Lake on Saturday (10/1) and showed me the photo of aspen leaves turning golden there. I scouted the Mormon Pioneer trail on Tuesday (9/27) and thought the leaves should be prime on Saturday, when we planned to hike this trail. However, we had warm temperature the following 4 days and on Friday we had record warm temp of 91 degrees. We went hiking as planned on Saturday and the leaves were in deed falling fast. But still the view was beautiful. We went for one mile hike to the Affleck Park and enjoyed the beautiful surrounding at the park. Kids were having fun playing around and in the creek by the park. The view was still very spectacular.

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

2011-06-26 Emigration Canyon Ridgeline Trail 2 (#6)

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We were planning on hiking the Great Western Trail to Big Mountain in the East Canyon area. However, due to an extremely wet winter weather, highway 65 from mile posts 3 to 13 is closed through end of June. We made a quick turn back to the Little Mountain summit to hike the Emigration Canyon Ridgeline trail for the second time as a group. Wild flowers in the lower portion of the trail have becoming dried, but upper portion still has different kind but similar color wild flower in full blossom. What a beautiful scene! Randy and I biked the trail. But since there were so many ups and downs, I ditched my bike half way. Randy almost make it to the summit, but had to be held back because we needed to go back and take Mark to dinner. I picked up my bike and headed down on a somewhat steep hill and flipped upside down. Luckily I only had a few scratches on my arm. My knee hit the ground and bled a bit. I had a big bruise on the back side of my right leg that I had no idea how that happen when I fell. Anyway, I was ok and continued to bike down the trail. When we went back to the trailhead, a sister told me that they saw a snake on the trail. I am glad that we did not encounter it on our hike.

2011-06-18 Emigration Canyon Ridgeline Trail

Knowing that Father's Day (6/19) will be a rainy day, we decided to hike the Emigration Canyon Ridgeline trail because both Lijue and Phoebe missed last time (6/5). The wild flowers were still blooming and the sky was dressed with quick-changing clouds.

2011-06-08 Avenues Twin Peaks Trail Hike

I love those wild flower meadow scenes during our hike on the Emigration Canyon Ridgeline trail last Sunday (6/5). I remember that we've hiked the Avenues Twin Peaks trail on 4/24, which was a cloudy and a bit windy day. I thought maybe I can still catch some wild flower remnant on the trail. So I went on a short hike on this trail during my lunch hour. And guess what? There were still plenty of wild flower (arrowleaf balsamroot) on the meadows, though some had become dry and sapless. But once you reach higher elevation on the trail, the flowers are vibrant and lively.

2011-06-05 Emigration Canyon Ridgeline Trail Hike (#5)

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I went hiking with my church friends. We couldn't pick another perfect time to hike this spectacular trail. The view (wild flowers, rolling hills, valley, canyons, etc.) at the Emigration Canyon Ridgeline trail was breath-taking! The arrowleaf balsamroots are in full blossom (usually in early June, and we happened to come to this trail at the right time!).

Thanks the Lord for a wonderful warm and breezy afternoon and great fellowship on the trail. This trail (5.2 miles round trip, 1,100 feet elevation gain) was not exact an "easy" trail according to the trail info I handed out to many of you this afternoon. There were lots of up and down hills in this trail. It is actually a combination of easy, moderate and strenuous level of hike that tests the hikers' perseverance and determination. The final destination is a mountain top that greatly rewards those who made it view of Parley's Canyon (I-80), Emigration Canyon and Salt Lake valley (and Great Salt Lake too).

2011-05-22 Salt Lake Lookout via Pipeline Trail (#4)

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I went hiking with my church friends on Sunday (5/22) 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. 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) 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 a awesome view of the valley (west) and snow-capped Mt. Olympus (southeast). Some indian paintbrushes were blooming on Pipeline trail as well at this time of year.

2011-05-15 Bells Canyon Hike (#3)

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I went hiking with church friends on Sunday (5/15) afternoon. There are at least 2 trailheads that I know of leads to the waterfall. We took the trailhead at Wasatch Blvd (10245 S.) We only made it to the first waterfall (which is around 1,400 feet elevation gain) due to snow on the trail. It was a windy day, but the wind was less felt in the canyon trail.

2011-04-24 Avenues Twin Peaks Hike (#2)

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I went hiking with my church friends on Sunday (4/24) afternoon. It was a cloudy day with mild temerature. We stopped at the Richland Dr, where the trailhead is located. It is a 4-miles round trip hike with elevation gain of about 1,000 feet. There are other trails that leads to the Avenues Twin Peaks as well. We could see people hiking on those trails while we hiked the west trail leading to the Twin Peaks. There were some flowers blooming at this time of year on the trail.