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brighton lakes hike
We did another hike this week, this time in Big Cottonwood Canyon to the lakes above Brighton Ski Resort. I call them the "lady lakes" because they are named Lake Mary, Lake Martha and Lake Catherine. In the winter time they are covered by snow and really only accessible to hikers in the Summer months when the snowline recedes. The trail starts at the car park at Brighton at 8,750ft and ascends 3 miles to highest lake (Catherine) at 9,950ft. It took us about 2.5hrs to complete the climb to Catherine (with lots of stops for photo ops) and about an hour to climb down again. It was strange seeing the Brighton ski areas with no snow around. Brighton itself had over 500 inches of snow this last winter and now there are only pockets left in crevices on the highest peaks. The waters in the lakes however was very cold!
This signpost suggests the spelling should be Lake Katherine not Catherine but all the guide books and maps we have suggest Catherine. Here we took a short detour from the trail to visit Dog Lake. This small lake sits in an alpine basin that is quite marshy. We're told that hikers will often see wild moose here, although we didn't find any - perhaps because it was a Saturday and there were LOTS of hikers on the trails. In the background is Clayton Peak that tops out at 10,721ft.
Although we didn't find any moose, we did however come across lots of these critters (which we believe are Prairie Dogs - burrowing members of the squirrel family) 
Mark, overlooking Lake Mary (9,545ft). Mary is a glacial basin that was dammed in 1916 to provide a water supply reservoir, swallowing up another lake (Pheobe) and making it the largest of the lakes on this hike.
Lake Martha (9,595ft) with Mt Wolverine (10,795ft) in the background.
Lake Catherine (9,950ft) is a cirque lake with a wide grassy meadow on the upslope side. We encountered some people fishing here (catching brook trout). We sat for a while here enjoying the view and the beautiful sunny day, then did a circuit around the lake and headed back down the trail.
This final shot is from the rim of the Lake Catherine cirque looking down the mountain towards Lake Martha (on the left) and Lake Mary (center of picture).
We did another hike this week, this time in Big Cottonwood Canyon to the lakes above Brighton Ski Resort. I call them the "lady lakes" because they are named Lake Mary, Lake Martha and Lake Catherine. In the winter time they are covered by snow and really only accessible to hikers in the Summer months when the snowline recedes. The trail starts at the car park at Brighton at 8,750ft and ascends 3 miles to highest lake (Catherine) at 9,950ft. It took us about 2.5hrs to complete the climb to Catherine (with lots of stops for photo ops) and about an hour to climb down again. It was strange seeing the Brighton ski areas with no snow around. Brighton itself had over 500 inches of snow this last winter and now there are only pockets left in crevices on the highest peaks. The waters in the lakes however was very cold!
This signpost suggests the spelling should be Lake Katherine not Catherine but all the guide books and maps we have suggest Catherine. Here we took a short detour from the trail to visit Dog Lake. This small lake sits in an alpine basin that is quite marshy. We're told that hikers will often see wild moose here, although we didn't find any - perhaps because it was a Saturday and there were LOTS of hikers on the trails. In the background is Clayton Peak that tops out at 10,721ft.
Although we didn't find any moose, we did however come across lots of these critters (which we believe are Prairie Dogs - burrowing members of the squirrel family) 
Mark, overlooking Lake Mary (9,545ft). Mary is a glacial basin that was dammed in 1916 to provide a water supply reservoir, swallowing up another lake (Pheobe) and making it the largest of the lakes on this hike.
Lake Martha (9,595ft) with Mt Wolverine (10,795ft) in the background.
Lake Catherine (9,950ft) is a cirque lake with a wide grassy meadow on the upslope side. We encountered some people fishing here (catching brook trout). We sat for a while here enjoying the view and the beautiful sunny day, then did a circuit around the lake and headed back down the trail.
This final shot is from the rim of the Lake Catherine cirque looking down the mountain towards Lake Martha (on the left) and Lake Mary (center of picture).
1 comment:
Wow it is so beautiful there. You are very lucky to be able to experience that on an almost daily basis. Of course it is Lake "C"atherine as that's the 'right' way to spell it ;)
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