Explorations – Page 5 – On the Loose Live

Stupendous Stewart Falls in the Summer and Fall, Sundance, UT

November 16, 2024June 11, 2025livevigorously

Distance: ~3.5 miles out and back via lower trail

Elevation Gain: 650 ft (You’re starting at about 6,100 ft)

Difficulty: Easy to moderate, depending on your fitness level

I finally made it to the spectacular 200-foot, double-tiered Stewart Falls! What took me so long?

(The truth is, I’m guilty of prioritizing marvelous Mount Timpanogos via the Aspen Grove or Timpooneke routes when I’m up here and rarely have time to fit in this quickie.) This time, I fit in Lake Blanche in the morning and made this my afternoon destination. A bit of driving, but worth it.

This lovely, runnable, single-track trail through the forest is especially enchanting in the Fall, with the Aspens at the height of their color. You can’t beat the splendid reward of this shortie

Make a day of it; check out the beautiful grounds of the Sundance Resort, grab a bite, and browse the shops.

Turns out Stewart Falls is just as splendid in the summer. In fact, with the snow melt, it really rushes and mists, and you may get to see additional falls!

Getting there: The trail begins at the Aspen Grove Trailhead parking lot. The entrance fee is $10 or free with a National Park Pass. This lot fills early, and they do ticket cars along the street. Pay close attention to the “No Parking” signs; they’re easy to miss.

Happy Trails!

Devil’s Garden Loop, Arches National Park, UT

November 9, 2024November 9, 2024livevigorously

Distance: 8 miles via the “Primitive Trail”

Elevation Gain: 1,085 Ft

Difficulty: Easy to moderate, mild scrambling and slick rock traverses, requires some route finding, download a map

This hike will take you on a fun tour of 9 of the 2,000 arches in Arches National Park, including Landscape Arch, which is the longest arch in the world. So many arches so little time! The good news is in this park, no matter how short on time or energy you may be, there’s always an arch to see from the road or just a few steps away.

The first 2-miles of the Devil’s Garden Loop or so is on an easy wide gravel trail. (There are 3 arches in the first couple of miles, Tunnel Arch, Pine Tree Arch, and Landscape Arch. Beyond that the trail gets more interesting as it branches into a loop and takes you up a mild scramble to a slick rock traverse. While the trail is relatively well marked by cairns, there are a few tricky spots along the slick rock traverses. If you’re used to hiking across our rugged Utah topography, you won’t blink. If you take the loop counter clockwise, you’ll see all the arches at the beginning and middle of the hike. Word to the wise, we ran into a couple of people who were lost even though they were following their downloaded AllTrails map.

If you’re short on time or energy, the imposing Dark Angel rock formation can be seen and photographed best (IMO) from the distance from Double-O Arch area so you can skip the offshoot trail to it and shave about a mile off the hike’s total distance. (I took a picture up close that didn’t even make my final cut. )

On the other hand, if you have extra time and energy, you can drive down the road and add on a 3-mile loop hike to Sand Dune Arch, Broken Arch, and Tapestry Arch. (Sand Dune Arch is only a half mile total distance, add Broken Arch for 1.5 miles, and Tapestry Arch for ~3 miles.)

If you go, let me know which arches were your favorites!

Happy Trails!

Lovely Lake Blanche, Twin Peaks Wilderness Area, Salt Lake County, UT

October 18, 2024August 5, 2025livevigorously

Distance: ~7 Miles

Elevation Gain: ~2,800 FT (Evenly distributed across the 3.5 miles.)

Difficulty: Moderate +/-, depending upon your fitness level

Known as one of the best hikes in the Twin Peaks Wilderness Area, Lovely Lake Blanche, with its dramatic granite spire backdrop (Sundial Peak), has an allure of its own. Hence, its well-documented, high-profile social media status and popularity.

Begin your hike along the rushing creek on your left and make your first right onto the Lake Blanche Trail. The climb is gradual and consistent, with colorful foliage (in the Fall) and peak-a-boo, foreshadowing views of Sundial Peak up ahead and down the canyon to the Great Salt Lake Valley to the West. I kept waiting for the climb to get steeper as I’d read reports that this hike was “challenging.” Perhaps I was just transfixed by the scenery, as you’ll see why.

Lake Blanche and its smaller sister lakes, Florence and Lillian, sit at 8,888 feet. The lakes were a bit low but still high on the beauty scale. While it’s a popular hike, there’s plenty of room to find your zen once you reach the lakes. Just keep strolling past Lake Blanche, where most people seem to congregate.

There’s an off-trail hike up Sundial Peak; I’ll have to try it next. Unfortunately, I didn’t have time this time.

I revisited in late July and just missed the wildflowers! Must go earlier next year. This time, I was running short on daylight, so off-trail exploration is still to come.

Directions: Take Big Cottonwood Canyon Road to the Mill B South Fork Trailhead. The parking lot fills FAST as in FULL at 7 AM on a Saturday.) Parking is allowed along the road, but that fills quickly, too!

Notes: Unfortunately, dogs and swimming aren’t allowed due to the area being a protected watershed.

Happy Trails!

Fifth Water Hot Springs, Uinta-Wasatch-Cache National Forest

October 12, 2024livevigorously

Fifth Water Hot Springs has been on my radar for years. I’ve seen the gorgeous pictures on IG and FB, but I knew the experience would be more like an “attraction” than a hike, so I haven’t gone out of my way to check it out. On this adventure trip, it was on my way with daylight to burn. While its popularity is a major deterrent, I decided to brave the “crowds” and finally see it for myself.

I arrived midday. (Yes, it was a mistake, but it was either now or never). (If you can, go at dawn.) The parking lot was full. People were parked at risk along the roadside. Luckily, I found a pullout a mile back and didn’t get towed or ticketed. (However, I did see a tow truck getting busy on the way back.)

Lots of people (too many) on the trail and in the pools, as you’d expect. It definitely has more of a water park vibe. I guess that’s to be expected with an easy, short, 4.5-mile roundtrip hike near a big city (SLC).

The trail to the pools along the stream is especially lovely in the Fall.

As you get closer, there’s a slight smell of sulfur that seems to dissipate when you reach the pools.

The waterfall at the end was a nice surprise.

I satisfied my curiosity. Would I go back? Only if I can make it to the trailhead at dawn.

Notes: The road is closed in the winter. Info here. Harmful bacteria may be present in the hot springs. Info here

Getting there: Take the US-6 towards Price and make a left on Diamond Fork Road.

Spectacular Shadow of the Minaret, Inyo National Forest, Mammoth, CA.

September 15, 2024November 5, 2024livevigorously

The Shadow to the Minaret (Agnew Meadows to Devil’s Postpile) route packs so much breathtaking beauty into a challenging 17-mile hike. Backpacking might be the best way to experience it, or you can choose a waterfall or any of the 7 amazing alpine lakes (Olaine, Shadow, Ediza, Iceberg, Cecile, Minaret, and Johnston) along the way as your destination for a shorter out-and-back hike. I wanted to see as much as I could in the limited time I had in the area, so I did it as a day hike.

Miles: 17, or create your own out-and-back adventure (~7 miles RT to enchanting Ediza Lake with only 400 feet elevation is an excellent option for a shorter day hike and is popular for good reason ).

Elevation gain: ~2.529

Difficulty: Hard/Challenging, especially for a day hike

From Agnew Meadows, you’ll encounter Olaine Lake first, then the gorgeous tiered Shadow Creek Falls, Shadow Lake, and dazzling Ediza Lake.

Enchanting Ediza Lake

Take the trail above Ediza Lake for a glimpse of dramatic Iceberg Lake.

From there, if you wish to venture beyond, you’ll have to climb/scramble the rugged loose scree and talus cliffs to reach Cecile Lake.

Note that I wouldn’t recommend attempting this if snow is present. There’s an argument if you’ve come this far to keep going. You’ll need to boulder hop for a half mile or so around Cecile to get to the slippery, rugged drop into Minaret Lake.

Scaling Iceberg’s cliffs, boulder hopping around Cecile, and “sliding down” the loose sandy “trail” into Minaret can be quite time-consuming despite these sections’ short distances. (Some AllTrails hikers reported it taking 2 hours for these miles 9 & 10 .) I made it up Iceberg in 20 minutes or so, but I am accustomed to scaling rugged, steep landscape. The boulder hopping around Cecile Lake was slow going for me, and the slide down into Minaret was even slower as my knees did not appreciate the vertical angle.

From Minaret to Devil’s Postpile, it’s all downhill with some rocky sections. Highlights include a wonderful, wide, terraced waterfall, and close to the end, a cool canyon area with a stream going through it, and finally, Johnston Lake.

Notes:

Get to the Agnew Meadows trailhead before 7am for self-drive and parking, or take the shuttle.

Equipment: Would poles have helped on the descent to Minaret? I’m not sure. Personally, I prefer to have my hands free. Prophylactically for me, knee braces would have been a good call, but not needed until the Minaret descent. If you’re going over 12 miles, I’d recommend hiking shoes. Much as I love hiking in light trail runners, my feet were beaten up/done at the end of this 17-mile day.

Was it worth it? ABSOLUTELY! I hope you can see why.

Happy Trails!