The Blanch Herd: June 2020 Hikes

Our hiking game was strong in May and it was hard to keep up that pace, but I think we did a decent job managing to get out on some faves and discovering some new !

2 June 2020: Cold Spring Waterfall View

This was another "research" hike for my newsletter and this time we did it with friends. (I am still struggling with how much "outside our family" interaction is good/okay/necessary, but hiking seemed like a safe enough option, so when a friend texted and asked for a "secret" tyke hike outing, I jumped at the chance. Then I immediately felt guilty about doing it after we got home - was it a reckless choice to hang out, not always totally socially distanced, with people that I don't know what they've been up to? Argh! I hate the back and forth and running around my brain is always doing trying to find the "right" thing to do in this coronavirus time. I guess I just want to say I don't know what is right but I'm trying to do what is right for us and for anyone we come in contact with and whatever that right thing is one day may not feel quite right another day and I'm getting tired of the rigamaroll and if you are, too, then you're totally not alone!)

We had hiked in this area on the day we ended up at the Environmental Center Waterfall (21 May) and while I wouldn't consider posting that as a great hike for tykes, I thought that part of it would be pretty nice. I just didn't take any notes of distances or turns or forks when we did it before, so I needed a return visit to make sure it would work. Thankfully these friends were up for my wild scheme. And, as always, it was nice to have kids around to observe what the true tyke perks were to highlight in my write up. (I never would have included the big sappy tree or corrals as a hot spot had they not been such a highlight with all the kids as we passed.)

The point of the trail is view the waterfall in
the distance, but most of the kids couldn't even
see the waterfall in the distance, so it was kind of a
bomb as far as that goes. Good thing they still had
fun!

I made this pic for my post to help the hiker look in the right
place for the waterfall.

This is a view I must say I have missed!

And the highlight of the day: climbing on the corrals in the parking
lot! I think these kids are a little bit playground-deprived thanks
to covid!

4 June 2020: North Arm Straight to Lake Trail (Hike/Bike)
We rode our bikes to the trailhead and the kids kept riding their bikes on the trail toward the lake while Gregg and I hiked. We parked by the river, which is quite low now, and meandered down on the shore, exploring back further than we had ever done before. It was a most delightful evening!

6 June 2020: Mule Ear Loop with Waterfall Overlook
Holy cow! This was a gorgeous hike! The first (and only) time we've hiked this one before was back in 2018 (on 11 June) and we didn't do the full loop or even go all the way down the overlook spur to see the waterfall back then. So we definitely had a lot of new-to-us parts on this trail today. It was a fantastic day for a hike - a bit overcast with a storm on the way, but not too cold and the flowers were looking fine. The kids were complete champs and hiked every step of the 3.7 miles! And the view of the waterfall at the top? Holy cow! I didn't even know that existed! Such a fun surprise.

We started at the Mule Shoe parking area, crossed the road and headed south on the Connector trail until we hit the old road that cuts up to the Mule Ear Trail. We climbed through the trees till we got to the overlook (or what we thought was the overlook) benches where we ate our lunch with a lovely view of the reservoir and valley. Then we decided to continue on down the overlook trail to see what we could see. That's when we found that we could hear and see the waterfall that you can access from North Fork Park. But it starts so much higher than what you can see when you're at the waterfall! It was awesome to see it cascading down the mountain; we could even see people down at the bottom who had no idea what they were missing! Then we came back down from the overlook and continued down Mule Ear till we got back to the parking lot at Mule Shoe.

New trail map at the trailhead - nice to see!

Pretty blossom bushes along the connector trail.

I wonder where it got the name Mule Ear Trail?

Views are fine.

Blue flax.

See what I mean?!

Lunchtime at the top!

Crazy caterpillars we saw along the trail.

I spy the waterfall!

That cascade at the very bottom is all you can see
when you hike from the campground.

Group shot from the actual overlook.

Cairn building along the trail.

bonus video!

"crazy caterpillar dance"

(we really got a kick out of watching these guys)

Not mules ears, but still pretty.

Oh how I love these goofballs!

So glad they like to hike!

Coming down the other side is so lush and green!

14 June 2020: Tony Grove Campground Exploration

We want to camp at Tony Grove this summer, but were wary about reserving a site online without refreshing ourselves with the layout of the campground. Enter our Sunday afternoon adventure where we drove over Monte Cristo, through Bear Lake and up to Sunrise, Beaver Mountain, Red Banks, Lewis Turner and Tony Grove (stopping at all the campgrounds on the way to acquaint ourselves with them just in case Tony Grove ended up being taken on the days we wanted to go). It was quite the exploration expedition and we had a grand time. The kids were especially excited to "skid" on the snow that is still plentiful in the Tony Grove campground. We took copious notes, then came home to sit down with the computer and make some reservations. And we're booked for a night at Sunrise followed by three more at Tony Grove in July! Can't wait for some Logan Canyon Camping in a few weeks!

Couldn't drive through this campground because
of all the snow still on the roads!

Such a sight! Makes my heart so happy.

Early wildflowers in the high elevations.

15 June 2020: Moose Loops
Time for another research hike! I wanted to do something up in the Snowbasin area because I haven't posted anything up there yet. I thought about either Green Pond or Moose Loop, and since I didn't have another adult with me, I opted for the less bike-traveled trail of the two. We made it a two-fer and hiked both the inner and outer loops (for a total of 1.7 miles or so). The kids put up a fuss, but in the end enjoyed our time in the mountains, I think. These are fun, quick and easy loops, and the highlight here is the giant spool of ski lift cable to climb on. We were bummed to miss out playing on the playground across the street (our bribe for any hike in the snowbasin area), but it was closed off (not sure if it's because of covid or just hasn't opened for the season yet).

I spy the gondola!

Happy hikers!

24 June 2020: Paper Airplane Trail
This is one of our faves so we were super excited when the PowMow trails opened up for hikers and bikers. I was excited, too, to share it with my newsletter followers after this "research hike".