Adventure Travel Photography Blog
Little Cottonwood Canyon is located in the Wasatch-Cache National Forest approximately 15 miles east of Salt Lake City. It was created by a glacier many years ago. Its quartz and granite, mined by the Latter Day Saint pioneers, was used to construct the Salt Lake Temple. There are several excellent trails in Little Cottonwood Canyon, though my favorites are quite long.
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Big Cottonwood Canyon is conveniently located just east of Salt Lake City along Big Cottonwood Canyon Scenic Byway, State Route 190, which also travels over Guardsman Pass to Park City. The 15-mile long canyon provides access to many outdoor activities including hiking, biking, camping, and fishing in the summer and snowboarding and skiing in the winter at its two ski resorts, Brighton and Solitude.
During my three-week stay in Salt Lake City, I explored several trails in the area including Brighton Lakes, Desolation Lake, Twin Lakes and Lake Blanche. What do all of these trails have in common? At least one lake and magnificent fall colors. All of the trails were lovely, but if I had to pick one, it would be Lake Blanche.
Happy Hiking!
The American Fork Canyon is part of the Uinta-Wasatch-Cache National Forest and is located southeast of Salt Lake City off State Route 92, a popular scenic byway that attracts over 1 million visitors a year. As a result, entry requires a $6 three-day pass, a $12 weekly pass, a $45 yearly pass, or a National Parks pass.
I spent three weeks in Salt Lake City, and of the five areas to hike within 60 miles east of the city, Emigration Canyon, Mill Creek Canyon, Big Cottonwood Canyon, Little Cottonwood Canyon, and American Fork Canyon, I favored the latter. The hillsides dotted in aspen and lakes tucked beneath glacier carved peaks are simply spectacular.
The American Fork Canyon offers visitors several hiking options from easy to hard. Some of my favorites include: Stewart Falls, Timpanogos Cave National Monument, Silver Glance Lake and Emerald Lake.
Happy Hiking!
There are several great hikes along the 285 corridor in Colorado. A few of my favorites are Shelf Lake, Abyss Lake and Segment 5 of the Colorado Trail. I was pleasantly surprised, however, by my recent hike to Bison Peak.
Bison Peak is located 21 miles down County Road 77 off of Hwy 285. It takes an 11.7 mile roundtrip and 3,740 feet of elevation gain to reach the 12,500 foot summit.
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I got lucky and Dan and Lori, who I housesat for in June, let me use their house in Grand Lake for a few days. As such, I explored the west side of Rocky Mountain National Park. This side is less crowded than the east side though it still attracts many visitors in search of moose. It also features several long trails. Below are three hikes in the 10-12 mile range.
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Our fourth and final day on the Sneffels Traverse took us 8.1 miles from the Ridgway Hut to Ouray. We skipped staying at Burn Hut for an additional night as it was only 4.1 miles away. With the final hike being mostly downhill and not too long, we voted for a later start…8:30 am.
As usual, Tina was the first one up. She turned on the propane and got the water boiling. Normally, we would have left the propane on overnight, but there was a leak outside the cabin. Given a leak can cause an explosion and even emit carbon monoxide in certain instances, I, being the worry wart, turned it off.
Happy Hiking!
For our third day on the Sneffels Traverse, we planned a 6.6 mile side hike to Blue Lakes before trekking 5 miles to Ridgway Hut. Due to speculative weather, we planned an early departure. Tanya’s phone alarm rang at 5:15 am. She was in such a deep sleep, she couldn’t even find it!
I wish I could say the same. I was up before my alarm. Though it was kind of funny, when Tanya commented, “I’m used to Karla’s 14er hikes, when a chorus of phone alarms chime.” I know! Fortunately, Tanya’s alarm worked for the whole cabin, and we began quietly preparing our day packs while waiting on the pot of water to boil for our much-needed tea and coffee.
Happy Hiking!
On our second day of the 29.4 mile Sneffels Traverse, a deer made a brief visit to the meadow by our hut as Tina, the first to rise, got the water boiling. Half the group poured their coffee and tea and walked out to the beaver ponds to watch the sunrise while the other half the group packed up and ate breakfast.
Happy Hiking!
I’ve always been interested in a summer hut trip but wasn’t familiar with the hut system process in Colorado which can range from entering a lottery to simply making a reservation depending on the ownership and operation of the hut.
In June of last year, I stumbled across the Sneffels Traverse in 5280 Magazine. The Sneffels Traverse is a 29.4-mile trek which begins at Last Dollar Pass near Telluride and ends near the quaint town of Ouray. Along the way are four backcountry cabins operated by the San Juan Huts System.
Since 5280 mapped out the traverse and included all the necessary information about the traverse, I thought this is a trip I could do. A few months later, I mentioned it to my friend Tanya while spending a weekend in Aspen hiking through fall foliage.
HAPPY HIKING!
What a nice few days in Breckenridge! I got out of 100° heat in Denver, hung out with my friend Cat, and hiked three trails. With the frigid winter, many of the trails above 12,500 feet still have a lot of snow, thus I had to be selective with my trail choices.
GO HIKING!