The Pfeifferhorn

Josh and I like to do at least one hike or two each summer together.  This year, we decided to tackle the Pfeifferhorn.  It's part of the Alpine ridge and the trailhead starts up Little Cottonwood Canyon.  We took a vacation day because this was definitely an all-day thing.

Those yellow leaves were in all their glory.

 We first hiked about 3.5 miles into Red Pine Lake, then its another 1.5 or so to the summit.  We also caught a glimpse of Upper Red Pine Lake.

 From Red Pine, there's no clear trail and you have to pick a route up a steep boulder field.  That got us up to the ridge line. There's Utah Lake clear down there.

 From the ridge line there's still quite a bit of rock scrambling over the ridge to go and up to the summit.  This part freaked me out just a bit.  Josh was a rock ninja and cruised right over.

 This is the final push to the summit.  It's kind of stepep on either side of that ridge, but not as bad as the early section called the "knife edge".

 On the top of the world.  11,300 feet with lots of other peaks off in the distance, including Lone Peak.

Labor Day in Lava

We sent summer out with a weekend camping trip in Lava Hot Springs with our good friends the Larsens.  The girls always have fun playing with Livy (and Max and Lauren too!).  Lava is a funny, random kind of place.  We spent most of the day one day at the waterpark, and then headed to the hot springs that evening.  The crowd there was maybe not the kind of crowd you want to sit in a pool with?  But there was some good people watching.  And the girls thought it was cool.

Here's some of the randomness...

This is supposedly the "REAL LIFE" car that was used on Ghostbusters.  Josh had some doubts on its authenticity.

 Random skeleton in town.

 Super cute girls ready for some swimming.  Piper ate some kind of blue popsicle treat.  It was a cool day, I think it only got to the high 60s, but the pools were all heated and it really didn't stop the kids.

 Group pic at the campsite.

 In the hot springs.  They have redone this place and it is actually really nice, but like I said, interesting crowd.

Summer of Trails: Part 2

Before we end the summer, we have been trying to sneak more time in on the trails.  We had a great time hiking up to Lake Mary at Brighton as a family one Sunday.  The girls were troopers because this one was a little steeper than the other hikes we've done this summer.

 Once we got to Lake Mary, Piper was a little angry.  She was chasing squirrels, but they wouldn't let her catch them, and there just weren't enough of them.  Bummer!!

Later that week, Brynn and I went back up for a long run in the mountains.  We did a fun loop course that started at Alta, ran up Grizzly Gulch and Twin Lakes Pass through Solitude to Brighton, then up to Lake Mary, Catherine, Catherine's Pass, and back down to Alta.  Three ski resorts, 10 miles, and about 2700 feet of climbing.  Super fun morning.