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.)

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

Hiking Photo Link

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

2011-09-03 Mt. Timpanogos Summit Hike (#12)

Hiking Photo Link 1
Hiking Photo Link 2

Saturday (9/3) has been set as the hike of the year. Many people have expressed interest to hike to the summit of Mt. Timpanogos (11,749 feet). This is a 14.5 miles round trip hike and takes about 7-11 hours to complete. We met at church parking lot around 6 am and plan on arriving at the trailhead earlier, hoping to secure a parking space. The Timpooneke trail is so popular that we heard the parking lot is usually full by early morning. We arrived at the American Fork Canyon fee station around 6:50, and saw a sign said the parking lot is full. Later we found out the lot was already full at 3 am. We arrived at the entrance of the trailhead, and were very lucky to be told that there is a small space for our car (I drove my Camry in stead of Highlander). The temperature was very cold and all of us had to put on jacket. We waited for our group to show up, but did not hold much hope because the lot was full. We waied till 7:45 am and decided to begin the hike. Our group finally caught up with us after a few hours. The trail was easier than the Aspen Grove trail that I hiked last year. It was a very pleasant hike. Timpanogos Bain is full of flowers. The view literally took my breath away. It was so beautiful. I finally arrived at the Saddle around noon, and since my legs felt fine, I decided to hike to the summit. The trail to summit was scary at points, but I finally made it at 1:10 pm. The view was awesome.

2011-08-14 Albion Basin Hike

This year's wild flower festival begins on 7/29. My friend Masami went hiking in Alta on the opening day and told me that there were just a few flowers. So based on the date of the wild flower festival, we can determine that the peak should occur 1 or 2 weeks afterwards. My family and Mark Lam's family went to visit the Albion Basin on Sunday afternoon around 5:30 pm. There were still plenty of light to snap lots of flower photos. This year was extra wet and snowy, making the flowers bloom later than usual. The flowers at Albion Basin were gorgeous and vibrant. I did not bring GND filter, tripod and remote shutter release, but the pictures still turned out pretty, though not as good as if I were to use those equipment.