I had another day off today so this time, we went to the Canyons to check out their hiking terrain. In previous posts I have ranted and raved about how much I love it as a winter resort, and I was not surprised at how much I liked it in the summer too! They do not allow little baby girls or big ugly dogs on their gondola, so we had to hoof it. We hiked up the switchback trail that went under the gondola and wrapped around and we stopped at the Sun Peak lift. We were the only ones coming up.....many many mountain bikers and a few European hikers were coming down our trail. Mischa and I are very good at throwing ourselves off the trail into a bush to avoid the mountain bikers!!The trail was so beautiful! We hiked through the really dense forest which lies between the Orange Bubble lift and Sun Peak. I was surprised by how lush it was through there. The best part about it was that we didn't find any poisonous oak, like we did at Park City.
The whole way up I was tracking the trail across the ravine, which I came to realize was one of my favorite snow runs on that mountain. It starts at the top of Super Condor and switchbacks all the way down and then into the forest we were in. It is so peaceful and serene through there. One of my most memorable days of the season was the day I played Clair de Lune and the Twilight soundtrack the whole day while riding through the thick forests while it was snowing.
We stopped at Sun Peak and Mischa sat on her first chairlift for a little break in the shade! She is a natural and is ready to train as a mountain avalanche dog :)- we just need to find 100 extra pound to put on her!
We followed the stream which runs through the ravine back to the base. I laughed because there I was, hiking up the rope tow hill again. I am determined to learn how to ride that stupid thing this season!!!
I had never really taken note of all of the great private residences that are located right at the base of the gondola. Deer Valley and Canyons seem to be the best places for ski in- ski out living. The Bird stopped their private residence building, Brighton doesn't have any, Park City has some but they're not great. Once Mischa found the shady grass at the bottom, she pancaked and laid in the cool grass for a while to cool off. It was 85 and we were in the sun most of the hike. But, she was a good girl again, and didn't ask to be picked up once! Both of us are in good hiking shape! My mission for the next few months is to build up my leg muscles for back country hiking and more pop on my ollies. Thigh Steam! (Simon)
