Hiking in the Wasatch Mountains

Our first weekend in Utah we took a drive up Mill Creek Canyon Road It is a small road about 7 miles long that winds up into the Wasatch mountains just east of SLC. What once was mining claims has been given to the boy scouts for camps. There are many trails through the Nat'l. forest for hiking, biking, and cc skiing.

We drove the road until it was closed for winter. We stopped and turned around and then stopped at the first trail head that had room for our car to park. We started up a trail called church fork trail which seemed appropriate as it was a lovely Sunday afternoon. The snow on the ground seemed to be about 3 feet deep but the trail itself was hard-packed by snowshoers so we were able to climb for about 1 1/2 hours before giving up and heading back to our car as the sun sank behind the mountains. We spent the entire hike traveling beside a small creek that tumbled down our canyon. We never got to the magnificent summit with supposedly gorgeous views of the SLC valley. Oh well, maybe when we are better acclimated to the altitude, or there is less snow, or we start earlier, we will make it to the top! And we will bring a camera!

Closer to home we have hiked 2 trails that we can walk to the trailhead from our condo.

The first was the Jordan River Trail that follows the river from Provo almost all the way to the Great Salt Lake. We walked west from our condo, across the railroad tracks and under I-15 to the Jordan River. It has paved trails that we walked one evening before sundown.

This trail we usually visit on our bikes, as it is flat and we can go for many miles. It connects many neighborhood parks and some special ones like this Japanese garden we found.

The second neighborhood trail is one of our favorites. It is called the City Creek Canyon Trail and it can be accessed in a number of ways. We have started at City Creek park just east of Temple Square and also from the Capital building at the top of State Street. Either way it has been a beautiful walk.

We usually go about 10 miles including the city streets we follow to get to the canyon. From our home at the Gateway, we climb over 500 feet along this trail. (Wayne has verified this with his e-trex).

It is amazing to be walking city streets one minute and suddenly you find yourself in a wilderness area with warning signs for bear, moose, mountain lions and snakes. It reminds me of slipping into the river valley trails back home (although without the elevation!)

When Wayne gets home early on a weekday or when he doesn't need to go in to work on a weekend, we try to explore one of these close trails. When the weather warms we hope to head south to the National Parks where we will have more hiking news to share!