Lake Blanche

"Just how early do you want to leave", Diane asked. I said,"Lets sleep in and leave the house at 7:30". Thus started our day on Sunday. We left on time and stopped by Einstein's for bagels and coffee. We headed up Big Cottonwood Canyon. From the time we left our home and traveled to the trailhead, we had covered about 13 miles. What a difference 13 miles can make. The canyon is beautiful from mile one. The stream is still in runoff, but starting to settle down a little bit. I hope to be fishing it soon. As we continued our drive up the canyon, it is difficult to keep your eyes on the road. We arrived at the trailhead with gathering, dark clouds. No worry, we had rain gear. The trail begins gently, enticing us upward. We walked along the stream for a half a mile until we came to a bridge that crossed the stream. From here, the trail climbs, and climbs, and climbs. It has been a few years since we have taken this hike before but we both remembered it being long. We settled in for a slow and steady trek. "Are those raindrops?" asked Diane. Yeah, but not heavy enough to pull out the rain gear. At one point I looked up and saw a friend of mine coming down. Serena(her name fits) is a nurse I know. In fact, I worked with her all last week at a surgical center where I fill in sometimes. It was about 8:30 and I was curious as to what time she had started her hike. Six thirty! She, Diane and I talked for awhile. Serena is going to Rocky Mountain NP at the end of the month and I had just given her all my trip reports from the time I lived in Fort Collins. Earlier, she had to huddle under a tree waiting for some heavy rain to pass. "Where is your rain jacket", I asked. Sheepishly, she said she had forgotten it. Her hike was almost done and ours was just beginning. I was envious. We said our goodbyes and continued up. The trail varied quite a bit. Parts of it were long sections of mild elevation and then we would encounter a rocky, uneven, steep trail. Then the switchbacks began. That is when you know the going is steep. The last half mile is really steep. Finally we got to the top and saw Lake Blanche at the base of Sundial Peak. The wind forced us to put on our rain jackets and I looked at my thermometer and it read 45 degrees. Hot in the valley, cool in the mountains. We had a snack and some water and then took a few pictures and started back down. Amazingly, we saw several more hikers coming up without rain gear. We were now treated to views looking down the canyon. At one point we could see the waters of the Great Salt Lake. We got a lot of questions from the people coming up, mostly, "Is it much further?". Afraid so. I felt sorry the the kids who looked like they had reached the end of their abilities. This is usually a very popular hike but with the threatening weather and being Sunday, it was not very crowded. We both had pretty sore feet when we got back but we got back in time to watch the World Cup finals. It is always nice to start your day off with a beautiful hike in the mountains. Right, Diane? Diane..... Take my word for it, she loved it.