Saturday, January 17, 2026

 Tunnel Springs

The first hike for Grandpa & Nana's hiking club

Hikers: 7 grandkids, Grandpa, Nana, and Daniel.  There would have been more adults but the kids said it was only for kids, no adults allowed. Since Daniel had Jane, he was required to be there! Besides he was the one that had been on this trail before so we were glad he came.

Distance: a mile or mile and a half? not sure since Strava quit because my phone battery was dead.

Elevation gain: 61 feet. This was a good, flat trail. Part of the Bonneville shoreline trail.

 

   We started at the Tunnel Springs park and followed the trail south.  After a while there was a fork in the trail and we went to the right where it was flatter. 

The trails might have joined up again but we turned back shortly after that so we never found out.

Where we turned around we were able to have a good view of the valley so we stopped there to take it all in. One of the highlights for the 10 year old was the flight radar app on my phone. We were near 2 airports so there were lots of planes. Checking that out was what caused my battery to die! We had fun with it though. 

On the way back we stopped at an area where there was some big trees where you could go underneath and explore. There was a path that went through the "wheat", actually the weeds, and looped back to the tree hideaway. The kids had a lot of fun there. 

Grandpa and Nana would have gone further but this was about the right distance for the grandkids. At the end we had time for the playground and some snacks. Our first hike was a success!

Saturday, November 8, 2025 Little Cottonwood Trail

 Little Cottonwood Trail

hikers: Mark & Lecia

distance: about 5 miles, out and back

elevation gain: 842 feet

The Little Cottonwood Trail starts at the bottom of Little Cottonwood Canyon at the temple quarry trail and goes up the canyon. It is a steady incline but never steep. You come to some houses and then to the first bridge. The trail follows the creek and even though the road is always nearby you don't always notice it but this time of year the leaves are gone so it is more visible. If you follow the well worn trail far enough you come to the turnoff to Lisa falls and after another half mile you come to the remains of an old power plant. We turned around just before Lisa Falls. There were some hikers and lots of bikers this time. We missed the beautiful fall foliage but it was still a nice hike although a little chilly because the canyon is shady and doesn't get much direct sun this time of year. You can snowshoe here in the winter.

One of the bridges we crossed. I think we crossed 4.

This is a well used path.

A view of the creek.

View on Strava, just before my phone died!

Monday, September 29, 2025

 Battle Creek Falls

hikers: Mark, Ethan, Lecia

distance: 1 1/2 miles round trip, out and back

elevation gain: 515 feet according to strava, but I think it is less.

This is such an accessible hike. The trailhead is at a Kiwanis park on the bench in Pleasant Grove. 

This is at the beginning of the trail. It is really wide, like a road.

The trail is in the open, no shade.

Eventually you cross a bridge.

The last part of the trail is steeper. It splits and you can see the falls and you can walk down there or you could  keep going up to the top of the falls. I think the trail goes further but I haven't been up there.

This is the very steep trail down to the falls. Steep, but short.

And then you are at the falls.

There were some people rappelling. 

Because it is an easy and accessible hike, there are a lot of people. But it is still worth it. I would avoid it in the middle of a hot day but you can always cool off in the water!

Thursday, September 25, 2025

  Bloods Lake

near Guardsman Pass

hikers: Mark & Lecia

distance: 1.84 miles

elevation gain: 172 feet

We didn't actually make it to Blood's Lake due to time constraints. You can see it is a little bit further in the bottom left hand corner. At least I think that's it. But we went part way and the trail was beautiful. The aspens are glowing this time of year. 

Even on a Thursday afternoon there were lots of cars in the parking lot and there are now fees to park at the trail head. There is a machine that takes credit cards to pay so that was convenient.

This is where we paid and I took a picture to prove it because it was doing some weird things and I wanted to make sure it was recorded.

The trailhead is across the road from the parking lot.

See how pretty the trail is!

 Then the trail went through some pines.

 Leaves on the ground.

Leaves on the trees!

Some of the trail was open. 

And there were beautiful vistas is some places. It was really much prettier than the photos!!!

We would like to go back when we have time to make it all the way to Bloods Lake. 

Thursday, September 25, 2025

 Silver Lake

in Big Cottonwood Canyon

hikers: Mark and Lecia

distance: 1 mile

elevation gain: 31 feet. Basically a flat path around the "lake".

We stopped here on our fall drive to have the lunch we brought and to take a walk around the lake. The colors were so pretty in the canyon today. We saw deer on our little walk and lots of people too. This is just a walk. Mark ran into someone he knew, not at all uncommon where ever we are.

Tuesday, August 12, 2025 Rocky Mouth Falls

 Rocky Mouth Falls

hikers: Mark, Lecia, Landon, Annie, 2 cute boys!

distance: just under a mile (0.7 according to all trails)

elevation gain: 278 feet

This is probably my favorite family friendly hike! It was perfect on this hot sunny day and being at the falls was so cool and refreshing.  It was short enough that the parents could carry the boys most of the way and long enough that we felt like we were away from the city! Plus there were some people rappelling down the falls!

The trail head

Ready to hike!

The biggest of the 2 little guys is fascinated by

 mowers and blowers so this was a great part of the hike.

keep going

Here is the actual trailhead after walking through the neighborhood.

Take a look at those stairs we are about to go up.

walk across the rocks

You can't see the people rappelling yet but that's the rope 

and we were there long enough to see the first one come down.

Tuesday, July 22, 2025 Bald Mountain

 Bald Mountain

in the Uintahs, elevation: 11,948 feet

hikers: Mark, Lecia, Ralph, Janet, Connie

distance: 2.77 miles

elevation gain: 1,175 feet

This was my strava.

This was a hike to one of the highest peaks in Utah! #6 to be exact. But it is a short hike nevertheless. What an easy hike to get to such a high peak.

You access the trailhead just off the Mirror Lake highway. There is a fee to hike in the Uintahs, or maybe the fee is for parking along highway 150, the Mirror Lake highway. So you have to be sure and pay and display your pass or receipt on your dashboard when you are parked.

We were in the parking lot for Bald Mountain before 6:30 am and on the trail at 6:33. It was a chilly morning because that what it is like when you are in the mountains at 10,693 elevation.

Here we are 15 minutes in. 

You are heading up hill from the start so you are 

rewarded with some fantastic views right away.

You can see the peak we are headed to.

There were wildflowers among the rocks!

We saw several large cairns.  We were definitely following a trail but these could have been even more useful when the trail still had some snow.  End of June, beginning of July there is still snow up here. I felt like this was the only area where the trail was fairly flat.  There is a lot of elevation gain so you are usually going uphill.

Above the tree line and not much growing.  

Lots of rocks but you can still see the trail.

Getting closer! You can see what looks like stairs, 

large stairs, and that's where you are headed.

We reached the summit! The highest peak I've hiked. 

Its about 200 feet higher than Mount Timpanogos.

It was one hour and 27 minutes for me. I was the slow 

hiker and Mark stuck with me even though he could 

have gone faster.

If I had my directions correct, and I think I did, this is a view to the north,

to the east,

to the south,

to the west.

There was definitely some wind but it wasn't too bad.  I'm sure it can get a lot worse, especially on top.  It was great weather for hiking and there was cloud cover much of the time so that made it nice. 

strava

This really was a good hike and I had been looking forward to doing it. We spent a little time on top admiring the view before we headed down.  Then on our way back we stopped at Provo falls. It is right along the Mirror Lake Highway and is so impressive. What a beautiful morning to be in the Uintah Mountains and it was so fun to do this hike with Ralph and Janet.