Trailing Ahead : Adventures in Hiking Utah

Some of the hikes in our guide, 60 Hikes Within 60 Miles: Salt Lake City, are less exciting than others. I don't really see the draw in hiking to an overlook of a city valley when many trails offer overlooks as well as waterfalls, streams, etc. Nevertheless, we've made a goal to make a stab at each of the trails in this book, so we did. Note: my perception of this trail may have been effected by huge amount of flies we had to contend with on this hot summery day.

As you can see, the overlook is the shortest destination on this route that leads all the way to desolation lake.

I keep seeing these roses wherever we go. Are they native?

The desolation trail, at least the part we hiked, is not exactly desolate.

Wild peas. I've been seeing a lot of these. Are they edible?

The rocky outcropping you walk down to from the trail to overlook the valley is kind of cool after all.

To the north.

To the south.

When your wife gets a hold of the camera you can bet you might end up in the focus, even if you detract from the scenery.

Wow, way cool. If this butterfly had been on a tree, instead of this wooden sign, I might not have noticed it.

The camoflage butterfly was the highlight of this trip!