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

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

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Interactive Hiking Trail with Photo Link

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

2013-04-21 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.

2012-10-28 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.

2012-10-14 Adam's Canyon Waterfalls Hike (#12)

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Thank the Lord for a wonderful weather so we could hike the Adam's Canyon waterfalls trail. Thanks everyone for being brothers and sisters' keepers on the somewhat treacherous and moderately strenuous trail. The 40-foot waterfalls at the end was a great reward for all hikers' effort and it was spectacular.I hope that grown-ups and kids all had a great fellowship and enjoyed the beautiful "Autumn Wonderland" along the trial. I am sure you all had sound sleep last night after the hike. Here are some visual memories of yesterday's hike from my camera.

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!