My Utah Adventure 2026

 Sunny cool day with temps in the low/mid-50s.  Having trouble deciding on hike this morning was thinking about BCC but last week-end they supposedly got 12-14 inches snow or Antelope Island. Almost went nowhere (like I did on Saturday) but last minute I decided to walk Silver Lake and scout things out. And I'm really glad I did because after being up BCC I feel played. There's not much snow other than the peaks or shady areas. Solitude is bare ground and not even making snow and the Silver Lake loop clear; other than the far side of the lake under the pines is packed snow/ice. I wish I went out yesterday. Oh well, I did today and it's beautiful. Crisp, clean air and not many people out. The snowy peaks look awesome! I loop clockwise around the lake. Not really frosty (my temp said 37 degrees) as I hoped but refreshing. No deer or moose to be seen but there are a few freshly downed trees with Beaver teeth chewing thru them. Silver Lake is mostly ice covered. When I get to t...

 Cloudy but in the mid-60s today. Finished out my 40 hours before 2pm so heading out for a hike. Thought last week was my last trip to Twin Lakes but the slow really didn't come thru so heading up this afternoon. Color still fair in the lower canyon but just a bunch of naked trees up higher. Parked at the Millie Lift because I didn't want to head to Lake Solitude or basically take the Millie Lift trail most of the way from Silver Lake. Lots of construction activity at the lift but head up anyway. Trail/road far muddier than I expected but there was a lot rain and some snow this past week-end. Definitely my last trip of the year. Waterfall at the start is just dumping water right now. No flowers, just a lot of brown veg and naked trails. Quiet other than work ATVs heading up and down past me.  No deer or moose though at one point heard a pika. My plan was to head over to cross under the dam but I found where all the ATVs were heading, near the dam. I started to cross but saw a ...

Partly sunny day with highs near 70 degrees. Decided to take the day off to do a hike before more rain/snow come in. I wavered between White Pine, Antelope Island and Lambs Canyon. Lambs Canyon won since I still have not completed the hike this season. Note I tried to hike this on Monday but they were doing controlled burns and the small parking lot was filled with 2 fire trucks so today is the day. There's still fires smoldering but way better than Monday.  When I arrive just after 8am, there is only one car in the lot. Should be a peaceful day hopefully. Lots of leaves down on the trail but the bushes are still in Fall color and patches of Aspen. Very hard to find a flower still in bloom but I manage to find a couple of White Geraniums, 1 Pink and a few Yellow Composites hanging on. Early on, I spot 3 does on the left side of the canyon; they try to hide but I still find. I know at the sighting that I'm doing the right hike today. Moving up the canyon a ways, I see a dark bro...

 Sunny day with temps near 60 degrees. Tropical Storm Rachel blew thru Sun-Wed leaving us with our first real mountain snow of the year. Depending on the elevation, a dusting to a foot. Today, I'm going to explore that snow heading up to my perch; yes, I'm making it today! Easy drive up. The storm knocked off a majority of the Fall leaves but there are still patches of color. Don't really see snow from the road until I reach Solitude. Starting to look nice. Silver Lake parking was pretty empty the morning. It's it the upper 30s and very windy. I start off around the lake and it looks very different from a week ago; snow on peaks and far less color. No moose or deer that I can see. I stop at the pier and the water is definitely higher than just a week ago; guess that's what 4-5inches of rain/snow will do. The trail around the lake clear except one icy patch and so it the trail to Lake Solitude. There's snow along the trail but mostly clear with a few icy/snow-pac...

 Sunny day with temps in the low 80s. Took a vacation to hike and my choice wasn't too different than a normal week-end; Lake Solitude. (Just can't make myself do anything different.) This is probably the end of the Fall mountain colors as we have a big rain storm coming so taking my last shot. On the drive up BCC, I get a quick look at the back-end of a moose in the woods as I drive up the canyon. There are still good colors BUT a good chunk of leaves have already fallen.  Quite a few cars already at Willow Lake; I should have gone up after work this week; oh well. I arrive at Silver Lake and still plenty of spots open. It's in the low 50s with sunny still not over the peak. The Fall view is still good but definitely fading. I make my way to the TH with no moose or deer in sight. I start up the trail; quiet trip as I meet only one person on her way back. But before that, I do see 2 deer (doe) feeding in the woods.  Otherwise, there are chipmunks and squirrels running aro...