Lake Blanche

 

Today was a perfect day to go hiking. It was overcast with a slight wind. I have been wanting to hike up to Lake Blanche for a while now, and with it being a longer hike I decided today was the day to do it.

The Lake Blanche trailhead is up Big Cottonwood canyon, 4.4 miles from the mouth of the canyon at the big S curve in the Mill Fork b – South area. Take the paved trail up-hill past the restrooms. Be sure to bring plenty of water. I was recommended 2 liters per person. I would say if you can carry it, add another liter just to be safe.

Big Cottonwood Creek has finally slowed down some.

A little ways up the trail sits a little bench with this plaque.

Then a little bridge crosses Mill B South Fork River.

Landis cools down in the river. Not very high up and we’re already over heated.

Wild Raspberries! They seem to grow all over up here.

Wild flowers are in abundance on this trail. Well I guess a wet spring and a mild summer may have helped that.

Very rocky trail. Hard on the legs.

Aspens

And quite suddenly the color of the sand dramatically changed to this more reddish brown.

This butterfly let me get quite close!

We thought we were making a pretty good pace when this guy, had to be at least 60, sped past us. Kind of embarrassing.

Lovely views!

Berries… I bet they taste like burning.

The river below. We thought for sure we had hiked over 2 miles and had to be getting near our destination. No, this is about halfway, and the trail gets much steeper after this.

Another nice view though.

Another butterfly. There were about 10 fluttering around here, and I was hoping to get some really good shots, but then a large group coming down scared them all off. :(

And we get our first glimpse of sundial peak. I knew the place we were heading had an amazing view of this… I didn’t realize how close up it was. We are still not even close!

Pretty little valley.

You can just make out a lazy waterfall at the tip of the valley.

We passed through another patch of aspens. These ones were particularly large! I don’t think I have ever seen any that big!

Unknown berry. Looks kind of like Nightshade, but I am certain that does not grow here.

Hrm. It would appear I like aspen trees!

hehehehe.

Twin peaks. This image is the first of quite a few that will show my problem today. The overcast conditions, while making for exceptional hiking weather, makes for really, really crappy landscape shots. Oi.

Sundial and twin peaks.

Piddy Flower.

A little further up we saw a split in the trail. I looked both directions, and found what appeared to be the more beaten path. A little higher than that I came across this.

Uh… did I go the wrong way? It really did look like the more used trail what gives? Well I climbed up a little ways to see if the trail switched back, and it did. I guess a rockslide covered this section of the trail, but it wasn’t to difficult to scramble up 8 or so feet and find the trail again.

You can just make out the SL Valley below. I imagine on a more clear day this must be an amazing view.

And then we got to the interesting part. Large slabs of rock that show evidence of a glacier scraping across them. I am a huge nerd, and this was just fascinating to me. If I had more time, and wasn’t so tuckered out I would have spent a lot more time exploring and playing on them. So cool! Btw, this is your sign that you are almost there. Only another 5 –10 minutes to the actual lake.

Loads of wildflowers too!

I can’t decide which one I like better!

SQUIRREL!!!

 

I like this one. It shows the glacier evidence, Sundial peak, and decent sky for once!

The first glimpse of the lake.

Sundial Peak above Lake Blanche. It is a good shot, but the lack of sky just destroys it for me. I need to return on a better day. Perhaps in the fall.

Same issue. We found a nice boulder to sit on and eat some granola bars and other snacks. Replenishing some much needed calories and catching our breaths. It was a breathtaking view. Looking back I wish we had packed a full picnic as the hike up was a lot more intense than anything else we have done, Either way this was the best part, just sitting and taking in the views. That is until a family came in and discovered the echo. Over. And. Over. Again. We then decided to check out lake Florence and Lillian.

Twin Peaks.

Lake Florence, and if you look really closely you can see Lake Lillian towards the top left of the lake.

Well this is new. I don’t think I have ever seen a waterfall reflected in a lake.

Glacier activity.

Lake Lillian.

The stream seems much lazier here than it does downstream. It must be joined by others.

Sundial peak doesn’t seem as impressive from this angle.

The view from here. After enjoying a nice relaxing view and rest we decided it was probably best to start back, as we were losing daylight, and there was a good possibility of rain.

There is a dam here that obviously failed.

Same story as Lake Blanche. It is a scary thought that 2 poorly built dams that were here seem to have failed catastrophically. I couldn’t find any information on it other than they were built in 1913. But they appear to have been able to hold enough water to cause significant damage if they failed while full. Kind of a scary thought!

A little better, but still terrible sky. You know, I have broken just about every single “rule” on photography and have enjoyed some of the outcomes. Today however is proving that a landscape photo is only as good as the sky you have. Its frustrating too because, short of returning at a different time or day, there is absolutely nothing you can do about it.

I normally am not a fan of this kind of “I was here” graffiti, however 1924, and if I am understanding it right, returning in 82. Nice.

 

Again, can’t decide which one I like better. Both offer interesting views.

A girl on the trail saw my camera.

“O wow! are you a photographer?!?!”

“Uh, well yea, I guess you could say that.”

“Wanna take a picture of my snake?”

“Uh… sure why not.”

click

“How much further is it?”

“Bout 20 minutes.”

“K Thanks! Bye!”

“Bye!”

 

What in the world happened here?

This is the shot of aspens I was looking for.

See the round mound to the left of the stream? Yea, that is where we were.

Pretty valley view.

Missed this on the way up somehow. I love these old signs they have in this canyon.

I have sky!

Where Mill B South Fork River, joins Big Cottonwood Creek. Totally losing light.

This was probably the most intense hike we have ever done. 3.5 miles one way should not have been this rough, but this is a tough trail. We are both sore. It is exceptionally pretty, and I highly recommend it! Even though it was tough, and the weather, while good for hiking, was bad for pictures. This trail would get a perfect 10. The only thing that will take 1 away is how popular it was. Lots and lots of company. On 2nd thought, considering it was a holiday weekend, it wasn’t that crowded. I’m going with a perfect 10.

Technorati Tags: Lake Blanche,Big Cottonwood Canyon,Hike

Kenney Creek Trail

 

I am a little mad that I have not gone out hiking as much as I wanted to this year. Particularly since we have had the most amazing mild summer, since I can ever remember. After a few weeks of angsty I need nature, and having no one to hike with I decided I would do the Kenney Creek Trail within Mueller Park in Bountiful. I have passed this trail head a few times while doing the trail in Mueller Park, so I decided it was time to explore it.

I really wish they would post this sign on all trails. Sadly people just don't seem to grasp hiking etiquette.

I honestly thought this trail would follow the creek the whole way. However, shortly after this crossing, the trail veered to the east away from it.

Here you can see the scar from the new pipeline they are building. Which by the way, there was a sign informing me the trail would be cut short due to this. Sigh. This pipeline is something I hate. It scars the entire mountain side visibly from the valley floor. The company claims they will restore it when the pipe is in, but how far off is that?

Not too much higher the trail gets really thin.

I wonder what caused this.

Okay, starting to get REALLY thin.

About this point this trail was really starting to kick my butt. I was almost ready to turn back, but rested a moment and decided to push on.

Better view of the scar.

And then I came up above the trees, and got this amazing view. I love that feeling after almost giving up, deciding to keep going, and being rewarded for it.

Not much further up I arrived at this small meadow.

After crossing the stream, the trail disappeared completely. I was not sure how much more stream, or swamp was under there so I turned around. I later learned that I just had to “bushwhack” another 50 feet or so and I would find the trail again that would ultimately lead to the old miners cabin. Again, on third thought, after learning how far I had hiked, the trail would have ultimately been closed not much further after this, due to the construction of the pipeline.

On the way down I found a more interesting view of the valley below.

Is this a dandelion? It is huge!

Do you remember that scene from Jurassic Park, where the raptors chase them into that field of grass? Yea, that is what this section of trail felt like!

Decided to play with the the creek a little.

Pretty lone wild flower.

Slightly off trail, but fun.

All in all I would say this was a fun hike. Nothing spectacular, very overgrown, but nice. I think I would enjoy it more when they finish the stupid pipe line. Lots of bugs, and I think I was continually harassed by the same asshole bee for the majority of the hike, but I didn’t see a single soul, even though the parking lot was packed. They all went to the more popular Mueller Park Trail.

Not 100% where I want to rate this. Going to finalize on 7 Squirrels I think. Not particularly pretty,the end prize is not too spectacular, the bugs were just wow, in your face (and that is with a HUGE layer of deet, however, not a single soul so it was a nice quiet in the woods hike. So a good 7 out of 10.

I went for the sunset, but mother nature had another show in store for me.

A couple days ago I found a park that offered a pretty exceptional view of the valley I live in. My only complaint is the cell tower in the middle of the view. Other than that it offers an astounding view of Bountiful, Centerville, The Great Salt Lake and Antelope Island.

The sunset started earlier than I anticipated. Yes we are on the back end of the equinox so it is happening earlier.

Sunset Strikes

And then the 2nd show started.

I have been trying to catch a lightning bolt for at least a good 10 years. Tonight, I capture not only one, but several all in one sitting. So I apologize but I am sharing them all.

Back to the fading sunset.

And now for my personal favorite, my triumph over a long struggle to capture something that fascinates me, I present to you:

I still cant believe the first time I actually capture lightening, I capture it 10 times successfully in less than an hour. It helped that this was an exceptionally electric storm.