Last day's hike to Stewart Falls

Our last day's hike took us through the forest near Sundance resort to Stewart Falls.  This was a very popular hike and full of families with young kids hiking along the trail in both directions.  Those returning were all wet (and often muddy).  It certainly looked refreshing since this hike was a hot one (lower elevation, no breeze).

We stayed at the falls for several hours, picnicked and read books before returning along the trail.  We got to see the angle of the sun move over the falls.  It was beautiful.

Bald Mountain summit hike

This was our destination today:  the summit of Bald Mountain, elevation 11,900 ft.  A 4 mile round trip hike with an elevation gain of 1,200 ft.

 Approaching Bald Mountain pass where the trailhead begins.

 The trail begins in the pines, but very quickly moves above timberline.  There was a good breeze the whole time and we were never hot (and thankfully not chilled either).  A perfect day for hiking.

 Looking down into the valley after climbing a short ways up the trail (just clearing timberline)

 Hiking back and forth across the face of this steep rise.

Looking up the trail after cresting the steep rise.  The apparent summit in the picture is a false summit, with more trail climbing beyond it.

Parking lot for the trail head.  Our van is down there in the loop.

David - about midway up the trail

Looking the other way up the path from where David is standing (above)

Doesn't even look like there is a trail, but it crosses the ridge about 2/3s up.  We could see people moving on it, but the camera didn't quite capture that.

Farther up the trail, same view with lakes in the distance.  The wind really picked up at this point.  We were thankful when someone coming back down clued us in that at the summit the wind was actually not as strong. 

Steepest drop along the trail, several other climbers chose not to go beyond this point, but it was ok with us.  Amazing to come around this bend and see the other peaks in the distance that we hadn't been able to see until this point.

 Yep...snow.  Not much left, but still there and melting.

 Last part of the trail headed to the summit.  You can't tell from this distance, but the trail goes to the left of the snow over some very large boulders (with large crevices under them).  You wouldn't die if you slipped, but a broken bone seems a distinct possibility.

 

Lake shore view of the mountain lakes seen from the summit.

Waterfall near Bald Mountain pass.

Wildflowers - Beautiful!

We got to see so many different flowers, and at a lot of different elevations too.

Timpanogos Cave

The hike today was to Timpanogos cave in American Fork canyon.  The cave is a national park and rangers lead tours through it throughout the day.  The hike up is pretty steep, but paved, so lots of people make this trek.  We had to wait at the bottom for two hours to get our turn.   The caves were discovered in the early 1900s and came into the national park system early to prevent their degradation.  They appear to be pretty well preserved.  We probably got to see about 60% of the system, but we were moving through the caves without stopping a lot, so we didn't get to really stop and look as much as I would have liked.

Looking across the canyon, view from the trail.  Our side of the canyon looked about the same, perhaps with a few more trees.

View down the canyon from near the cave entrance.  American Fork is in view at the mouth of the canyon.

The cave entrance is in the center of the picture (shadowy part above the trees)

 Historic outhouse just below the cave entrance.   

 "Heart" of Timpanogos.  Heavy formation weighing about 4000 lbs.   

 Back side of Timpanogos from the pass near Sundance.

Hiking near Brighton resort

 .75 miles, 600 feet elevation gain:  a good first hike to get acclimated to the elevation... 

 Lunch under the aspens by a small lake

 After lunch we found a second lake with a trail around it (not so quiet and peaceful because there was no climb involved and lots of kids were hiking around and hollering).