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.

 

July 18, 2025 Bell Canyon

 Bell Canyon

hikers: Mark and Lecia

distance: 2.8 miles

We started at Bell Canyon Granite Trail head off Little Cottonwood Road. 

This is partway up the trail because I was so focused on it I forget to take pictures at the trailhead.

We have snowshoed this trail in the winter but never hiked from this trailhead in the summer.  I was surprised to see how how much we were going uphill on snowshoes and how many rocks were underneath the snow and how steep the dropoff is on one side!  I didn't remember or notice it in the snow. We only went to the reservoir on snowshoes.

This time we followed the same trail and it was about .67 miles to the reservoir. 

 We continued on past the reservoir even though we knew we didn't have enough time to get to the lower falls before we would need to turn around. From the reservoir you continue up a service road and then there is a sign to turn left to go to the falls.

 At this point you are in the canyon and the trail no longer has a drop-off on one side and no more noise from the city. 

It is a really pretty trail and fairly flat at that point before it starts going up hill. We came to a creek and could hear the rushing water even before we saw it.  

You can see the bridge you will cross.

This is a view from the bridge.

It is Bells Canyon Creek and there is a bridge you cross and then continue uphill.  It wasn't long after this that we turned around because of time.  We had gone about 1.4 miles at this point. 

This is where we turned around.

On the way back it was lightly sprinkling.  After we passed the reservoir it started to rain. 

I took this picture right before it started to rain.

 Then it poured! I was absolutely soaked in just minutes. The rain was pelting and the wind was blowing and there was thunder and lightening. I was glad to get back to the car, and yet we had passed people going up! 

We need to do this hike again when we have time to go to the lower falls.  From what I have read the trail gets steeper and more difficult just before the falls but I'm willing to give it a try.  We passed or were passed by hikers going both ways but the trail didn't feel crowded above the reservoir. It is a beautiful and well used trail. The trailheads are convenient since you don't even have to drive up the canyon. Because it is easy to get to it is well used and parking fills up.

Monday, July 14, 2025 Cecret Lake

Cecret Lake from Alta: 

1211 feet elevation gain

hikers:  Mark and Lecia

distance:  5.3 miles

elevation gain:  1,211 feet

This is not a new hike but today we did it as prep for a hike we are doing next week. I wanted to do a hike with 1250 ft elevation gain and this was close. 

This is next to the parking lot and where you start the hike if you are hiking from Alta.  We wanted a longer hike so that is what we chose. 

We started just after 6:30 and the sun was starting to come up, but from where we were we could see it turning the tops of some of the mountains golden but we weren't in the sun.  It was still chilly!

Signs that we were hiking through a ski resort.

The sun was getting higher and illuminating the mountains.

There was construction happening and that required a detour on part of the trail until we got to the Cecret lake trail head by Albion Basin Campground.  This bridge is the beginning of the trail by the campground.

So beautiful! We were still in the shade. There was more water than when we came last year.

Like a woman we greeted as we were passing on the trail said, 

"What a lovely day to be going on a hike".

The moon, that same moon that shone in my window and kept me awake last night, was still visible.

And then the sun was high enough we were walking in full sun.

When we were on the switchbacks to the lake I almost took the wrong turn, or rather didn't take the right turn to the lake, but Mark pointed out the correct way!  

You could have scrambled back to the trail or backtracked from the side trail. It just led to a view of the water coming down from the lake.

Cecret Lake

stunning wildflowers

Almost 3 hours later we were back at the parking lot and the sun was way above the mountain and there were way more people on the trail.  

July 3, 2025

 Bear Canyon Suspension Bridge

length: 2 miles

elevation gain: 400 ft.

hikers: Mark and Lecia

Here it is July and this is the first hike of the summer! We hiked the loop from the Orson Smith Park to the Bear Canyon Suspension Bridge.  It was a pleasant hike and you get some elevation gain on this trail. Not too busy today.

A view of the valley.

A view from higher up on the trail.

Lots of scrub oak.

Almost there.

On the bridge, looking up the canyon.

On the bridge, looking at the valley.