Introduction
With the temperatures soaring into the low 100's this weekend, it meant that I would certainly have to find something indoors to do -- or head up to higher elevations where life tends to be a little cooler.
I had initially tossed around the idea of going out to Wendover for the afternoon, but with all the traveling I've been doing -- and consequently the money spent -- I opted to spend it a little closer to home.
The Hike
I hadn't been to Dog Lake in a while, but if you want to see previous pictures and the write-up, go
here.
I was really hoping to see a bunch of dogs, like last time. People come up the canyon from the north with their dogs and it sort of becomes a communal activity: dogs fetching sticks, dogs barking at one another and just wandering around. Unfortunately, there were just two dogs there today.
I fully expected to see a moose there today as well. Moose and dogs generally don't get along and just about every time I've gone up this trail, I've heard stories about how a dog tried to take on a moose. The only time I saw any sort of wildlife was when I was leaving and saw a Big Cottonwood Police officer parked on the side of the road with its lights flashing watching a huge female moose on the side of the road.
The hike to the lake takes about an hour -- if you are hauling like I was. While it was warm I didn't mind working up a sweat -- and I certainly worked up a sweat. The first bit of the hike is a climb and then it is a gentle ascent from there. However, the last half mile to the lake is a quad burner and one that will test your stamina.
There were a good deal of people on the trail, which is good because it tends to keep the wildlife away. There also was a ton of wildflowers in bloom, which made the hike really nice.
Upon reaching the lake, I wound up soaking up the rays and polished off a 32 ounce Gatorade (it was so warm). I circled the lake and found some more trails going north. Curiosity got the best of me and I wound up exploring some of them. One of the trails led to Butler Fork Trail, which I had been on before and the other one dipped into Millcreek Canyon, which is the next canyon to the north.
Either way I took a ton of pictures:
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Looking south from where I parked |
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Heading up the trail |
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Nice area of wildflowers |
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Still going up |
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Glimpse of Dog Lake |
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Kicking back on the shore of Dog Lake |
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Where are all the dogs? |
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Where are all the dogs? |
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Exploring the trails north and west of Dog Lake |
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The smell of pine was insane here |
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Beautiful view of the Big Cottonwood Canyon |
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Colorado Colombine, I am told |
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Almost back to the parking lot. |
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