We have always been so busy with baseball that our family has not spent much time hiking. It's something Russell has wanted to do and I was agreeable to but when? A few years ago we hiked to Donut Falls but that is the only hike I can remember our family going on. We talked about going to Ensign Peak since it was Pioneer Day. We worried about the downtown crowd so Russell found a way to access the trail through North Salt Lake. As we researched the hike the night before it seemed like it could potentially be 6 miles round trip. We weren't sure how Mason would fare so we chose something a little shorter.
We picked Cecret Lake (yep, correctly spelled!). It was a close drive and the .9 mile hike seemed perfect. Being a holiday and all it was pretty crowded once we got to Alta. They were shuttling people to the Albion campground where the hike begins. The line for the shuttle was really long so we opted for the 1.6 mile hike to the campground before we started our "real" hike to the lake.
The mountains were covered in a blanket of vibrant wildflowers...blue, purple, red, white, yellow and pink. Unfortunately, my boys are not big appreciators of wildflowers and I didn't stop to take a picture. You get a small sampling from this one of Mason. We found this old ski lift chair to be picture worthy.
It took us 45 minutes to make it to the campground and another 30 minutes to go the .9 miles to the lake. We were under the impression this hike was easy but I'm not going to lie...I was breathing pretty hard. The last little bit was on very steep and rocky terrain. It was kind of adventurous! When we made it to the top of the rocky slope the view did not disappoint.
We sat on a rock and watched for fish in the clear water. Instead of fish we found some fish-like salamander things. They had the body of a fish with legs and they could walk or swim. They were quite fascinating. If I was an experience hiker I would have put our lunch in backpacks but instead we left it in a cooler in our car! We were pretty hungry by this point but we did snack on a few pieces of beef jerky and some Hi Chews. The boys took some time to skip rocks. These pictures may look very similar, and they are, but they tell a touching storing.
On our way out we climbed a giant rock to take a spectacular picture but the people at the top didn't seem too anxious to move so we took a less impressive picture on a smaller rock.
Mason just had to have a walking stick from this pile. We knew it wouldn't make it back to the campground and it didn't. But, how do you say no to a boy on an adventure?
We made it back to the campground in record time. You have to go up the hill to enjoy the down! There was, once again, a line to catch the shuttle back to our car. Instead of hiking the trail we came up we had the brilliant idea of hiking the gravel road the shuttle traveled. Certainly that was the easiest way. NOT! What we didn't stop to think about was the curving winding nature of the road. The trail was a straight shot. It gave us time to talk about the journey of the pioneers and how they didn't even have a gravel road to travel. They walked day in and day out pulling what little belongings they had with them. That conversation only got us so far until we talked about hitch hiking! Stockton mentioned how he always wanted to try it and Mason had to be taught the proper thumb method. As we joked about this a truck passed us by, stopped and asked if we wanted a ride down. YES! We later asked Mason if he was sticking his thumb out and he assured us he wasn't.
I'm certain he took us at least a mile, maybe a little more. I know some small little legs that were grateful for the ride. We guess we went at least 5 miles. Maybe a little more. Glad we took the short hike!
Lunch never tasted better! We were hungry and tired by the time we were done but aren't those the signs of a really great time? There WILL be more hikes in our future!
We picked Cecret Lake (yep, correctly spelled!). It was a close drive and the .9 mile hike seemed perfect. Being a holiday and all it was pretty crowded once we got to Alta. They were shuttling people to the Albion campground where the hike begins. The line for the shuttle was really long so we opted for the 1.6 mile hike to the campground before we started our "real" hike to the lake.
It took us 45 minutes to make it to the campground and another 30 minutes to go the .9 miles to the lake. We were under the impression this hike was easy but I'm not going to lie...I was breathing pretty hard. The last little bit was on very steep and rocky terrain. It was kind of adventurous! When we made it to the top of the rocky slope the view did not disappoint.
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| Stockton instructs Mason in the best rock skipping techniques. Mason listens and watches. |
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| Mason then gives it a shot himself. |
Mason just had to have a walking stick from this pile. We knew it wouldn't make it back to the campground and it didn't. But, how do you say no to a boy on an adventure?
We made it back to the campground in record time. You have to go up the hill to enjoy the down! There was, once again, a line to catch the shuttle back to our car. Instead of hiking the trail we came up we had the brilliant idea of hiking the gravel road the shuttle traveled. Certainly that was the easiest way. NOT! What we didn't stop to think about was the curving winding nature of the road. The trail was a straight shot. It gave us time to talk about the journey of the pioneers and how they didn't even have a gravel road to travel. They walked day in and day out pulling what little belongings they had with them. That conversation only got us so far until we talked about hitch hiking! Stockton mentioned how he always wanted to try it and Mason had to be taught the proper thumb method. As we joked about this a truck passed us by, stopped and asked if we wanted a ride down. YES! We later asked Mason if he was sticking his thumb out and he assured us he wasn't.
I'm certain he took us at least a mile, maybe a little more. I know some small little legs that were grateful for the ride. We guess we went at least 5 miles. Maybe a little more. Glad we took the short hike!
Lunch never tasted better! We were hungry and tired by the time we were done but aren't those the signs of a really great time? There WILL be more hikes in our future!
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