My dog Zach and I headed out for a hike to Silver Lake today. Now, there are a ton of Silver Lakes around here - this is the one above American Fork Canyon, kind of on the backside of the ridge south of Litttle Cottonwood Canyon on which Snowbird sits. It's in the Lone Peak Wilderness of the Uinta National Forest, not to be confused with the Uinta Mountains, for this is in the Wasatch, not the Uintas.
Confused yet?
It was a gorgeous day, but we didn't hit the trailhead until 3:30 pm. To reach the trailhead, I had to travel 3.2 miles on the nastiest gravel road I've ever dared take my car on (minimal ground clearance), and one of the scariest, too -- it was 1.5 cars wide, with blind curves atop a 2,000-foot drop at times. :shock: Eventually, though, we reached the trailhead at the northern end of Silver Lake Flats Reservoir.
From there, the trail wound gradually upward through a gorgeous stand of Aspen trees, then switched back up a ridgeline past abandoned silver mines. Zach rounded a turn to find himself nose to nose with two horses, the first time he'd ever encountered them from anything but a distance. Eyes as big as saucers, he didn't know what to do, other than carefully and slowly back up. :lol: Of course, no more than 50-yards later he found a fresh, steaming pile of horse poop to roll in. :roll: I only saw one snake today cross the trail in front of my feet, but fortunately it wasn't a rattler -- no matter, I just don't do snakes.
Eventually the trail steepened, and we found ourselves at a beautiful alpine lake at 9,000 feet, just below the stunning cliffs and summits of White Baldy, Thunder Mountain, and some other peaks separating Little Cottonwood and American Fork Canyons that are nameless on the topo map.
We returned to the car 2 hours after starting, 3.5 miles round-trip with a total elevation gain of 1,440 feet. I was pleased to beat the guide book estimate of 1h 35m each way.
At that point I decided to put the top down and drive the remainder of the Alpine Loop, a road that basically circumnavigates Mt. Timpanogos, crossing a height of land before dropping down to Sundance Resort. This drive, at a maximum of 15-20 mph most of the way, passes through gorgeous aspen trees, occasionally parting for stunning views of the layer-cake of Timpanogos. It's one of the most beautiful drives I've ever enjoyed, and I heartily recommend it to anyone who finds themselves in the SLC area during the summer (it's closed in winter).
We wound up exiting via Provo Canyon, past Bridal Veil Falls and site of what was reportedly the steepest aerial tramway in the world. It was damaged by an avalanche in 1995, and now sits idle (well, actually, it sits disintegrating) while folks argue about what to do with it.
Pictures follow. (Note: As for that avalanche debris photo, this is what caused it: http://www.avalanche.org/%7Euac/photos/ ... t_1-12-04/ )
Confused yet?
It was a gorgeous day, but we didn't hit the trailhead until 3:30 pm. To reach the trailhead, I had to travel 3.2 miles on the nastiest gravel road I've ever dared take my car on (minimal ground clearance), and one of the scariest, too -- it was 1.5 cars wide, with blind curves atop a 2,000-foot drop at times. :shock: Eventually, though, we reached the trailhead at the northern end of Silver Lake Flats Reservoir.
From there, the trail wound gradually upward through a gorgeous stand of Aspen trees, then switched back up a ridgeline past abandoned silver mines. Zach rounded a turn to find himself nose to nose with two horses, the first time he'd ever encountered them from anything but a distance. Eyes as big as saucers, he didn't know what to do, other than carefully and slowly back up. :lol: Of course, no more than 50-yards later he found a fresh, steaming pile of horse poop to roll in. :roll: I only saw one snake today cross the trail in front of my feet, but fortunately it wasn't a rattler -- no matter, I just don't do snakes.
Eventually the trail steepened, and we found ourselves at a beautiful alpine lake at 9,000 feet, just below the stunning cliffs and summits of White Baldy, Thunder Mountain, and some other peaks separating Little Cottonwood and American Fork Canyons that are nameless on the topo map.
We returned to the car 2 hours after starting, 3.5 miles round-trip with a total elevation gain of 1,440 feet. I was pleased to beat the guide book estimate of 1h 35m each way.
At that point I decided to put the top down and drive the remainder of the Alpine Loop, a road that basically circumnavigates Mt. Timpanogos, crossing a height of land before dropping down to Sundance Resort. This drive, at a maximum of 15-20 mph most of the way, passes through gorgeous aspen trees, occasionally parting for stunning views of the layer-cake of Timpanogos. It's one of the most beautiful drives I've ever enjoyed, and I heartily recommend it to anyone who finds themselves in the SLC area during the summer (it's closed in winter).
We wound up exiting via Provo Canyon, past Bridal Veil Falls and site of what was reportedly the steepest aerial tramway in the world. It was damaged by an avalanche in 1995, and now sits idle (well, actually, it sits disintegrating) while folks argue about what to do with it.
Pictures follow. (Note: As for that avalanche debris photo, this is what caused it: http://www.avalanche.org/%7Euac/photos/ ... t_1-12-04/ )
