August 2018 Hikes

Upper Big Water to Dog Lake

Upper Big Water is a trail in Millcreek Canyon – 20 miles southeast of Salt Lake City. Millcreek Canyon is a State Park in Salt Lake County that has miles of hiking and biking trails. On odd numbered days, no bikes are allowed on the trails and dogs can be off-leash. Snickers and I set out to do the Upper Big Water trail to Dog Lake and return on  the Little Water trail. It was a 5 mile loop that wound through the pine forest to a large lake. The Big Water Trail is longer than Little Water, but isn’t very steep; Little Water is a much shorter distance, but is much rockier and fairly steep. We chose to hike up Big Water and run down Little Water. The lake at the top was filled with dogs cooling off, which was a nice break before the descent. The wildflowers were in full bloom in early August making for some beautiful scenery. The trail is pretty heavily trafficked – we probably wouldn’t do it again – but it was nice to get into some elevation to have a break from the heat and experience some shade.

Centerville Canyon via Deuel Creek Trail

The South Deuel Creek Trail in Centerville is a 4.3 mile lightly trafficked trail. The trail gains roughly 1,400 feet over the first half and runs along a creek. Snickers enjoyed the multiple creek crossings and the shade from the trees was much welcomed. About a mile in, there’s a rope swing and there are numerous campsites along the way. The trail ends at a small waterfall which you can view from both the top and bottom. It was a very enjoyable, short hike close to the city.

Midmountain Trail – Park City

The Midmountain Trail is a 25 mile, point-to-point trail in Park City that can be accessed at a number of points for anywhere from a 9-25+ mile hike. We went on a Saturday morning and, aside from two 1/2-1 mile sections where the trail met up with other bike trails, it was very lightly trafficked. The trail itself was relatively easy. There are very few steep inclines and the trail isn’t too technical. The elevation gain was 2,500 ft, but the trail is overall downhill (though it didn’t feel like it!) with an elevation loss of 3,186 ft. The trail is very well marked, though I did get off at one point and ended up adding 1 mile to the expected distance. We went slower than normal mainly due to the altitude – Park City is at 8,000 ft, so even a slight incline left us winded. Beth did 26.5 miles for a long training run, and Matt and Snickers did about 9 miles starting at the end and meeting up with Beth around mile 21.5. Park City is a great place to get on the trails because there’s a lot more shade and the elevation makes it much cooler than in the city. This is a nice, gradual trail to log some serious miles. Udpate – I ran into two moose on the run! Running in the mountains has its perks.