I said May was our best hiking month yet this year, and it was until we hit June! Such a great time to be outside!
Ever since I hiked this one in May with my YW class, I had been itching to get my family on it before the mules ears stopped blooming. The kids and I made it happen one morning and it was pure delight! I always tend to hike this trail in the fall, which is usually stunning, but I need to remember to hike it at the beginning of the season, too, because it's equally beautiful then!
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| We rested here in a shady switchback (which we made our turn around spot). |
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| While we were resting, I peeked inside this hollow tree hole and noticed a bottle that I suspected was a geocache - so I pulled it out and indeed it was! We logged our names and date on the little paper inside, and now Cal has caught the geocaching bug. (We need to download an app or something to help us find some more!) |
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| They're so cheery! |
A brand new trail - and a long one, to boot! We met up with Mugs near Mantua on a cool, almost rainy morning for 5 miles of trail, talk and flower ogling. The kids only complained a little, we eventually found the pond we were looking for, and we only lost the main trail for a little while, so I call it a success! (No moose sightings, though we did see plenty of their droppings on the rocky upper trail!)
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| Group shot at the "top" where we thought the pond would be (and we thought we'd be heading downhill from here) . . . but we thought wrong! |
We took our dinner and hit the trail to get out of the heat (and do some research for my newsletter) this Tuesday evening. We saw an unusually small number of bikers this time, which was nice! And the flowers were starting to bloom up high - in a week I bet they'd look simply incredible! We walked down into the meadow on the dirt road that crosses the trail at our usual turn around point for another half mile or so, hoping to get to a giant meadowy area that we can see from the top of Sundown at the other end of Powder Mountain, but we hit a dead end at a private property sign, so back up through the meadow we went. Gregg and Sam stayed on the dirt road back to the car, and Cal and I took the trail (we beat the boys!).
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| False hellbore - it's so big and unusual! |
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| I love hiking in aspens! |
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| Hammock hiking is the way to go! |
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| Big, showy columbines! I love them! |
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| I spy paintbrush in the meadow! |
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| Plenty of caterpillars doin' their thang on the chokecherry bushes. |
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| A peek of Pineview from the "turn around spot". |
22 June 2021: Paper Airplane Trail
An oldie goodie with some pals this fine mornin'.
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| Holly and I sat in the treehouse and chatted for a good long time while the kids played around and below us. It was heaven. |
22 June 2021: Cold Spring Waterfall with the YW
I didn't think I was in charge of this hike, but when we gathered at the church and the other leaders said, "which trail, Kim?" I was pulling hard to get us on this one instead of the usual waterfall hike in North Fork Park (yes, I have feelings about that one!). Luckily, it didn't take too much convincing to get the group to try something new (I was the only one who had ever hiked this trail before), and even though the waterfall was totally dry, I think we all enjoyed some good mountain time and company (even the stragglers who got "lost" on the way back!).
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| That black mark on the rocks in the bottom corner is a waterfall in the spring, but apparently the end of June is too late to catch it flowing. |
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| More mules ear marvelousness with a colorful sky to guide us back. |
28 June 2021: Wheeler Creek Trail
Another research hike, just me and the kiddos. It was a marvelous morning - and they're getting so fast and so strong that short hikes like these are a piece of cake these days!
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| I asked if they wanted to sit on the "chair rock" and they immediately started calling it a toilet. Kids! |
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| Purple penstemon?! |
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| Those clouds just make this picture even cooler, I say. |
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| Heading down to the graffiti bridge. |
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| We brought water shoes for convenient splashing in the creek. |
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| I spy Sam across the creek! |
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| I spy hikers walking on the trail above us! |
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| They were even good sports to hike the last quarter mile further to the wooden bridge into icebox canyon. |
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| Pretty views down into Ogden Canyon on the return. |
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