The days have been sunny and warm the last couple of weeks although the nights have been cooling off quite a bit and the leaves on the trees are starting to change color. Mark & I took a short trip up American Fork Canyon to enjoy a picnic lunch and take in the first of the Fall colors.
Yes, Mark & I have birthday's that are only 5 days apart so it's usually a busy week for us. We went out for a nice romantic dinner on my birthday at Market Street Grill - our favorite seafood restaurant here. Who'd have thought that you could find good seafood in land-locked Utah? They fly the seafood in fresh from across the US and overseas (including Australia & NZ). I had Alaskan Halibut topped with shrimp and Bernaise sauce, while Mark had pan-seared Ahi Tuna with a ginger-soy glaze. Yum. Thanks to everyone who sent cards and wishes :-)
Working off our big birthday dinner from the night before, Mark, his Dad and I headed up Mill Creek Canyon for a hike. From the Upper Big Water trailhead the trail heads east & then south climbing 1,000ft for the 2.5 miles to Dog Lake. For the first half of the climb the trail follows the stream through spruce and aspen forest.
The trails in Mill Creek are shared-use with mountain bikes allowed on even-numbered days & dogs allowed off-leash on odd-numbered days. On this odd-numbered Sunday there were lots of people with dogs heading up to the aptly-named Dog Lake to give their furry friends some exercise and a swim.
Mark & Dan continued on past Dog Lake to climb the extra 1/2 mile 650ft to nearby Reynolds Peak. They had trouble finding the trail and had to scramble most of the way up the slope through long grass & scrub.
From the top of Reynolds Peak (9,423ft) there were spectacular 360 degree views. Here, looking down into Big Cottonwood Canyon and across to Kessler Peak (10,400ft).
Dan takes in the view from the top looking down Big Cottonwood Canyon towards Salt Lake Valley and the Oquirrh Mountains beyond.
It was Mark's birthday this week. On Thursday night we went into the city to see the stage musical Cats. The show was in Salt Lake City as part of a "Broadway Across America" program that takes Broadway shows to other cities across the country. The sets, costumes, singing and dancing were great. We had dinner before the show at Martine - a restaurant in the city that we hadn't tried before that serves Spanish Tapas-style dishes. We knew the outdoor activities would be great here in Utah, but we have been pleasantly surprised at the good selection of restaurants and other cultural activities also on offer here. On Saturday night (Mark's actual birthday), we had his family over for dinner & birthday cake. Happy Birthday husband!
On Saturday Mark & I headed up to Solitude Mountain Resort for a delicious brunch at the Creekside Restaurant before meeting Mark's Dad for a 3.5 mile hike. We set out from the car park (8,730ft) at Silver Lake (which freezes over in the winter and is used for Nordic skiing) and headed around the lake and up the trail to Twin Lakes Reservoir
The initial climb up from Silver Lake is quite steep gaining 700 ft over the first mile of the trail. Here are Mark & Dan on the trail now high above Silver Lake.
The original "twin lakes" are now joined into one lake by the concrete dam wall of Twin Lakes Reservoir. Across the lake to the South is Mt Millicent 10,452ft (3186m).
Here we are taking a break on the shores of Twin Lakes Reservoir. We then skirted around the northern shore of the lake, climbing again towards Mt Evergreen.
The 400ft climb up to Evergreen Peak is quite steep and required some scrambling up a narrow, rocky ridgeline. You can see Dan a little way down the ridgeline from me.
The trees up here have to weather some pretty harsh conditions. I thought the scarred trunk of this tree had an artistic beauty to it.
Mark at the top of Evergreen Peak (9,843ft or 3000m).
After descending from the Evergreen Peak trail we looped around to the north west, returning to the carpark via Lake Solitude, a tiny alpine lake in a steep-walled bowl.
We also met a couple of "natives" - two mule deer (named for their mule-like ears), grazing just off the trail.
