Off to the Grotto.... Falls that is

So this week we hiked Grotto Falls. Grotto Falls is located in the Nebo Loop Scenic Byway. If you have never been on the Nebo loop I highly recommend it. Even if you don't get out and hike at all it is a beautiful drive. The hike itself was pretty short and fairly flat. It is about a half mile up and back so its a really quick hike. It was different from our other hikes in that it was actually in the trees. The other hikes we've been on have just been rocky cliffs on each side. This was a nice change. The trail crosses the river 3 times and there are log bridges. The falls were a lot of fun. It was a hot day so we decided to get our feet wet. That allowed us to get right up to the falls. If we had been a little more daring we could have gotten a “shower” also. The only downside to the hike was that the area by the falls is pretty small and there was a large youth group that made the trip up there right before we did. So there was quite a little crowd at the falls. Everyone was nice though and we took turns on the bridge to the falls ect. It was a great little trip. I think that it would be an ideal summer hike, especially if you don't get out the door as early as planned (we never do) because it is mostly in the shade thanks to the trees.   

(If you look closely there is a squirrel in the tree in the above picture)

Our First Real Hike... Battle Creek Falls; Pleasant Grove

So we had our first real hike today. And I can say that I am VERY out of shape (wait, round is a shape......ok, so I'm IN shape then). We hiked up to battle creek falls in Pleasant Grove. It was a great little hike. The weather was perfect (around 70 degrees). For the first little bit of the hike you kinda wonder where the water is. The reason is that you can see the creek bed but there isn't any water (the creek has been diverted). After the first part of the hike you come to a bridge across the creek and then you are right by the creek for the rest of the hike up to the falls. The trail was in pretty good shape (mostly rocks and dirt of course). Its a steady up hill hike. Liz and I both realized that we need to walk more. We had to keep stopping and our son Brandon just wanted to get to the falls. When you get to the falls its really nice. You can go right up to waterfall. If it had been a hotter day we might have even gotten wet. Right at the falls the trail gives you two options. You can go down to the base of the falls or you can hike up to the top of the falls (the trail actually continues on after the falls but we only went to the falls on this trip. We did both trails. First we went to the top of the falls. Its a great view of the valley below (there is a picture of that below). The whole hike took us around 2 1/2 hours (we spent a lot of time just hanging around the falls). If you just wanted to hike up and back it shouldn't take more than an hour or so. The whole hike is just over a mile. Obviously since this was an actual hike, a stroller was completely out of the question. Emily rode on my shoulders and with Liz for part of the trip. Brandon had no problem walking all the way up and back. As I mentioned he seemed to mostly wonder why Mommy and Daddy wanted to stop so much. We had a great time and I'm sure Liz and I will have a hard time getting out of bed tomorrow :). Until next week...

From the top of the falls

"Hiking" Temple Square

So we "hiked" (aka walked around) Temple Square this past Saturday. I took so many pictures that it was a bit overwhelming to go through them and pick out a few for your viewing pleasure (thanks Liz for finally picking out a few for me). For those who don't know, Temple Square is in downtown Salt Lake City. It is where the LDS church built the Salt Lake Temple. It is surrounded by flowers, trees, and several water features. It is a beautiful place to walk around. We spent a little over 2 hours walking around and we didn't realize how tired we were until we got in the car to go home. When we got out of the car we were surprised to find that we were pretty tired.

Temple Square was a great place to walk around during the Spring. The flowers are gorgeous. It wasn't too hot (or crowded for that matter). We walked around the Temple itself and then walked up past the reflection pool to the church office building. The observation deck of the church office building was open to the public (this is not always the case). I highly recommend that you take advantage of the opportunity if its open when you are there. It was a great view of downtown Salt Lake City. We also had a great view of the Capitol Building. The church office building is 26 stories tall (it doesn't sound like THAT much but when you're at the top, its a spectacular view). Below you will see pictures of the Temple, flowers, and pictures of all of downtown from the observation deck. Today we actually hope to hike again.

Mt. Olympus... Okay yeah so we didn't hike it but the pictures are pretty.

So............................my wife had a lunch with her friends this Saturday and we also heard that Ensign Peak is a bit muddy this early in the season. So we didn't get out for our weekly hike as we would have liked. Having said that, I did get the opportunity to do a bit of walking around up by my father in law's house in the Olympus Cove area of Salt Lake City. These pictures were taken outside of his house.

The pictures really make me think of Spring. What an interesting season in Utah. Snowing one day and 80 degrees the next day. Those beautiful blossoms that I took pictures of will be very yummy peaches come fall (I know from experience). Spring is a great time of year as it is a time of new beginnings like with the blossoms. Take the opportunity to make a new beginning. Maybe there is a skill you've been meaning to learn, or a relationship you've been meaning to mend. Take this opportunity to have a new beginning. I hope we can get back to hiking next week (weather permitting of course) :). If you have any suggestions for places that we could hike in addition to the sites mentioned, please feel free to leave a comment. We are very open to suggestions. Have a great week everyone!!

Bridal Veil Falls (Provo Canyon)

So our first "hike" was to Bridal Veil Falls.  I say "hike" as it is really more of a leisurely stroll than an actual hike.  Unfortunately for reasons unknown to us, the parking area by the falls is still closed.  The only sign that we could find said that the area is closed until March 31st each year.  Well..............it was APRIL 17 but whatever.  So we parked along the road and got down onto the trail.  The trail to the falls is completely paved so we were able to bring the stroller for Emily.  We did test out Emily (18 months) on Daddy's shoulders and she seemed ok with that (which will come in handy on future hikes as most do not allow strollers).  Brandon is  almost 4 and walked (although by the end he was "getting pretty tired").

Its a bit early in the Spring for the trees so it was a little brown along the trail.  Having said that though, between the 75 degree weather and the river along the trail its a pleasant little trip. The falls themselves were beautiful as usual.  We were able to go up the rocks a bit and take some pictures.  While you CAN hike much further up the falls we didn't.  With two little kids it just wasn't practical.  The tram has not operated for some time (this used to take you up to the top of the falls).
I do have one little aside here.  The area directly around the falls has several signs that clearly state "WALKING ONLY".  This area is probably 50 yards or so.  The reason for this is fairly obvious.  People like to STOP and look at the falls, take pictures, skip rocks...you get the idea.  In the 10 minutes that we were there, there were at least 4 groups of bikers who decided that the rules did not apply to them.  Perhaps they couldn't read.....hmmmmm....yeah, that's it!!  maybe they couldn't read.  OR for some reason they thought that the rules didn't apply to them.  Yes, I know.  Its just SOOOOOOO hard to get off of your bike for 15 seconds and walk it through the walking only area.  But for those of you who do visit the falls on a bike, skateboard, scooter, ect.  PLEASE walk through the walking area.  While it was lots of FUN trying to avoid getting run over while keeping two kids from getting run over and trying snap a few pics, NOT having to do that would have been so much better :).  

Overall the falls were great.  It was an excellent way to start our hiking tradition.  Next week Ensign Peak (weather permitting).  Here are a few more pictures from the trip....

(along the trail to the falls)

Snow is definitely not gone yet.