It was a cool day in SLC yesterday barely reaching 70 and a very cool night. It was 57 when I left my house this morning -- 49 up at Brighton (ele ~8750ft) and cloudy (but no rain in the forecast). There are a few cars in the parking lot at 10am but I see no one heading up the trail.
To Lake Mary (the first lake) it's about a 765ft climb in a bout 1 mile. The trail only exists after the ski season ends as it is part of the ski runs. Lots of Avalanche Lilies blooming and a few bluebells.
There's still some snow on the slope but the trail is clear so far.
There's a chipmunk scavenging on the trail in front of me -- he sure does have a long tail.
As the trail heads into the woods, I start to run into snow on the trail (in parts) -- its hard packed so not to bad to walk on.
I pass the trail to Dog Lake (I'll hit that on the way home) and start the last little push to Lake Mary. Lots of snow on the rocky slopes here. The sun is starting to peak out now.
I get to Lake Mary and she's beautiful as usual. Still snow on the mts surrounding her. I take some time to explore a little before continuing onto Lake Martha.
The trail turns around the mountain and there's much more snow on the trail. But I can tell where people have walked (the snow is dirty and there are footsteps) so I keep going. The trail is now in the woods and all I really see is snow. I ask a Dad/Mom/Son coming the other direction how far they went -- they said Catherine Lake and that's its alternates between a snowy and dirt trail along the way. So I go on, passing Lake Martha (which I've never been down too -- maybe on the way back).
The trail is snowy on the other side of Lake Martha but I'm still following tracks in the snow but they are getting fewer and then they stop.
I know I'm not that far from Lake Catherine but there's no trail to follow. I'm so close .... but I don't know the trail well enough to blaze it myself so I turn around.
Some of the snow piles I crossed were pretty steep so I do a little purposeful feet skiiing down them -- its easier than trying to walk down.
I make my way back to the Lake Martha turn-off and head down. Another very pretty lake tucked into mountain range. I look for moose but find only tracks. But its a great spot for lunch --- I only hear the birds singing.
After lunch, it's down to Lake Mary -- still only a few people here. I know it's Father's Day but I was expecting more people.
As I turn to head to Dog Lake, I see lots of people heading up.
Dog Lake is a smaller lake which probably comes close to drying up over the summer but its still very pretty. There are a lot of Marsh Marigolds around the lake -- quite beautiful.
I try to walk around the lake and 2 ground squirrels are playing and running right towards me. They finally sense my presence, stop and then resume chasing each other heading in the opposite direction.
The trail doesn't go around, at least for today. I run into a big rock and lots of snow, so I head back.
On the way down, I see my only bfly for today and it's a Frit.
And I see Gray Headed Junco -- little gray bird with a tan patch on its shoulder -- he seemed to be chasing ground squirrels.
Great day!
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