The original plan was to go with a group of people up to Catherine's Pass -- its a great trail w/ 3 lakes and the Pass is above the 3rd Lake at over 10K ft. Went a couple times last summer and after the first real snowfall of last winter.
The group wasn't meeting until 10am and I was getting antsy so I went up there myself. Figured if it looked doable for me (i.e., no or little snow), I'd just wait for the group.
The drive up Big Cottonwood Canyon was beautiful. It's sunny and mid-60s. The creek is flowing fast and furious, the trees are leafing out, pine trees look fresh ... perfect. Trailheads are packed with folks hitting the trails.
As I near the ski resorts (Solitude and Brighton -- Brighton is the end of the canyon and the road just loops back), I can see snow in the higher elevations. Didn't figure it would have melted by now.
I pass the Nordic Center (which becomes the Silver Lake Interpretive Trail in the Spring/Summer/Fall), round the corner and pull into the Brighton parking lot to where the Catherine Pass Trail begins - at the end of a ski run. Its pretty steep -- definitely greater than 20% -- I've slipped down a portion of it in the summer because of dry dirt and I've seen a guy do a nice slide in the mud last summer. I look to see the slope still pretty much covered in snow --- that's a no-go for me today - too much snow. (But the snowy mountains are still very pretty.) If I come back next week-end, I'm sure I'd be willing to give it a try.
No great loss, I just loop back around to the Silver Lake parking area. It's pretty crowded. But that's probably because there's a huge group of girls walking around the lake. I have to assume Girl Scouts (or some church organization). Since they were walking towards me, I decide to go in the same direction they're heading (clockwise). I can see Silver Lake now. Last time I was here in Feb/Mar it was buried until lots of snow. In fact, all the snow that was around the lake is all gone and its just a lake and wetlands. (There are a few spots of snow on the trail around the lake in the shadier spots.)
The trail cuts through the woods NW of the lake. I'm passing thru an aspen forest that does not have its leaves yet. The ground is covered in yellow glacier lilies (another book I now have calls them Avalanche Lilies). There's some columbine plants that are peaking out but only the lilies are in bloom. I finally get to a split in the trail and follow the Twin Lakes trail.
The trail comes up above Silver Lake on an old service road. The trail is now covered in snow and a really good slip could send me heading down towards Silver Lake. I must be getting used to these drop-offs because I'm not too nervous to cross the snow. I even stop to take-in the beautiful view below me and the mountains across the horizon.
I come around one corner and there's a family heading down snow towards me. Mom, Dad and 4 girls (no older than 10). I ask them if they made it to the Lakes and he said that they just turned around. The 2yr got tired -- she was in his backpack now. I told the Mom that the girls are great hikers -- that's a pretty amazing feat for kids their ages.
There was an older fellow just behind them. He was only his own and made it to the Lake. Since the trail and surrounding land is basically snow covered, I asked for directions (since there wasn't really a trail). He said to just follow the curve of the mountain side. I'm off.
After a while, I got tired of the snow -- it's a little slow going --
There are little buttercups in the clear areas and Comma butterflies out -- always amazes me to see them flying when there's so much snow around. And there around chipmunks and Uinta ground squirrels out.
I finally see the Twin Lake Reservoir Dam and then my bare land runs out. I have no choice but to plow through the snow to the Dam. It's untouched so I'm prepared to sink knee deep into it but to my surprise, I walked right across without even a dent in the snow. :) (So lite on my feet - yea right.)
Just a note that before the dam was built, there was actually 2 lakes (aka Twins Lake). Once the dam was built, there is only a single lake but its still Twin Lakes.
The lake and the surrounding mountains were worth the hike.
The lake is still 50-60% frozen and is backdropped by a still snowy mountain range. The rocks (acting as a beach) were snow free, so I walked down towards the water, found a good rock and had lunch. There was another family already here but a little further down the "beach". It was so peaceful.
About 10 other people arrived a little while later, so it was time to head back down. There was a father/teenage son heading down the same time I was. I'm not sure how they got up, but they were heading down a different way than me. I was tempted to follow them but decided to retrace my steps.
Retracing steps proved a little harder heading down so I just went through the snow. It reminded me of going down the Indiana Dunes (which I've done many many times) just a bit colder. And I don't sink up to my knee in the sand -- like I didn't the snow many times today. But it was an easy downhill.
I got back to my turn-off to head back to Silver Lake but decided to follow the road -- I thought it led to Lake Solitude. After awhile of going downhill, wasn't quite sure where the trail went and turned around. On the way back up, found a side trail (I missed) and there was a family heading toward me. They said the trail went back to Silver Lake so I followed it back.
I get back to Silver Lake and there are people kayaking on the lake. As I head back to the parking lot, I notice the Pussy Willows are out. Some are even in bloom. The mountain view are really nice from this side.
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