Moose AND Squirrel

Tonight we had quite the adventure.  We finally made it up to the Albion Basin in Little Cottonwood Canyon.  Based on what we read online, we thought we could park and then just walk around and explore the expansive wildflower-filled meadow, but that wasn't the case.  So instead, we parked and then began a 1-mile hike to Cecret Lake (pronounced "Secret") and enjoyed the wildflowers along the way.  The hike was pretty easy - a wide trail (wide enough for a car most of the way) and just a gradual incline until the last tenth of a mile, which was pretty steep and involved some scrambling over rocks for the young'uns who were so inclined.

Since we hadn't planned on hiking, we never told the kids we would be doing so.  And the hike was so easy that it didn't occur to Eliza that we were actually hiking.  She was just walking along so happily that I wanted to praise her.  "You're such a good hiker!" I complimented, to which she responded that we weren't hiking, we were walking, and harrumphed at the idea of having to go on a hike.  Because walking is fun, but hiking isn't.  So for the rest of our hike, we just walked.  And climbed on rocks.

The most exciting part of the hike walk was when we spotted moose.  Two of them!  They were happily enjoying an early dinner, and even though they looked directly at us, and all of the other hikers walkers who were watching them and taking pictures, they didn't seem bothered at all.  We were probably only about 30 feet away from them.  We stayed and watched them for a while before moving on.

The rainbow of wildflowers was impressive!
And I didn't even get pictures of all of the different flowers.

The last part of the hike walk consisted of some switchbacks up the side of a hill.  It was funny because you can't see the lake at all from the trail and I was beginning to wonder if the "lake" we were hiking walking to was actually a lake, or something that someone imagined at some point.  Or maybe the trail actually cut through an ancient lake bed that had dried up millions of years ago.  It turned out, there was a lake.  (Or really, a pond by East Coast standards) and it was beautiful.  You couldn't see it until you got to the very end of the trail: up the hill and through the rocks at the top.

Do you see the chipmunk?

Cecret Lake really was pretty secret.  And it really was pretty.

You can see how clear the water was in this picture.

And the fact that the lake was freezing cold didn't keep the kids
from putting their hands (and shoes, in Jack's case) in the water.

Ben and I were laughing about how fat this squirrel was.
It probably hangs out right there by the lake, just eating handouts
from the hikers walkers who bring picnics with them.

We were in more of a hurry on the way back from the lake because it had started to sprinkle on us a bit, and the temperature had dropped noticeably.  You can't tell in the pictures, but the sky looked pretty ominous as well.  Eliza was doing a great job of walking back to the car, but since we were trying to hurry the kids along, Ben ended up carrying her (and Luke) almost the entire way.

Since the area we were in is part of the Snowbird ski resort, we passed a few lifts and saw several signs directing skiers to various places.  I thought it was interesting how high the signs were posted - at least 12 feet above the ground so that they can be seen over all of the snow in the winter.

Eliza was holding on to Ben by the hair.

As soon as we were all in the car, the skies opened up.  Rain, hail, thunder, and lightning, and we had miles to drive down a mountain on a dirt road.  Cat was more than a little scared, and quickly asked if we could say a prayer.  She offered the prayer, and during her prayer the rain calmed a bit.  It continued to storm on us the rest of the way down the mountain, but it wasn't as scary as it was at first.

We'd brought a picnic dinner with us, thinking we would just explore a bit and then spread out a blanket and eat, then drive back down the mountain.  Since it didn't happen that way, and thank goodness we'd done our hike walk before eating (otherwise we would have gotten stuck in the storm) we found ourselves in the car at 7pm escaping a big rainstorm and quite hungry.  The rain stopped as we arrived in Sandy, the closest city to the canyon, and quickly found a park with picnic tables under a covered pavilion and ate dinner there.

Highlights from tonight's adventure:

• The MOOSE
• The wildflowers
• Rock climbing (the kids really loved that, especially after seeing real rock climbers on one of the cliffs)
• The pretty (and real) lake
• Avoiding getting drenched while hiking walking

PS> Another thing to mention is that Eliza was the only one of us dressed appropriately for tonight's adventure.  In fact, Ben and I both tried to talk her out of wearing her long-sleeved shirt and jeans, afraid she would be much too warm, but she would not be swayed.  Everyone else was cold, especially on the return hike walk.