Doughnut Falls

In all our guide books, Doughnut Falls is rated one of the best short hikes. Situated in a beautiful area in Big Cottonwood Canyon, the scenery was enough to keep me photographing for hours. The smell of pine was around us, and although there was still TONS of snow, the trail seemed pretty well packed.

The gate was closed at the trailhead parking, which added an extra .8 miles each way to the hike, but it was nice and the easiest part, in fact. There were families everywhere that day sledding and we also saw several snowmobilers, snowboarders and skiiers in the back country. 

The melting snow started our hike in a GIANT puddle

An incredibly beautiful area

Let's think about this in perspective for a second please... this trail sign (in addition to the parking signs) were buried this much... when they are usually about 5 feet off the ground.. just sayin...

We attempted some geocaches... but the second we walked off the path and 6 foot tall Brad was in snow up to his upper thighs.. we knew that was out of the question. Especially because we just wore hiking pants today, not snow pants

Parts of the trail were steep downhill and were like iced over.. so we used our walking sticks as ski poles and just slid down the hills! Everyone was sliding down on their bums but we didnt have snow pants so after one try of that, being soaked through was bad news haha!

Almost at the falls!

Check out that bowl we have to hike up! So scary because it is so slick! Everyone takes forever to climb up and slides back down. From this view in the summer, you would see the falls, the water going through the hole and everything.

In the summer, Doughnut Falls is a situation where rushing water comes through a giant hole. You see the water above the hole, you see the hole, and you see it rush through. In the winter, however, you don't see anything. You get up to it, and you just see.. a cave. People take turns crawling into this tiny space, that by the way is super slippery, to see the interior of this phenomenon.. basically looks like a cave of frozen water. Still very cool, but pretty different.

Very cool! We were in a tiny little space in here and thank God we had the tripod with us because this was like a 4 second exposure. Pretty awesome :)

Brighton Resort

Brad wants to name this post "Rachel goes pro..."

We branched out of our practice snowboarding, and bought tickets for a real, live resort day!  Everyone says Brighton is a lot of fun and has a lot of runs made for beginners. We saw the map when we got there, and it was something like 25% beginner runs, 40% intermediate runs, and 35% advanced runs. Nice balance, I think.

Anyways, we bought a "learner's pass".. awesome value and lets us take two lifts which is about 6-7 runs available to us total. PLENTY for me and enough to keep Brad excited and non-bored. The snow here was... nothing I've ever felt. The moment I stood up I picked up tremendous speed and got insanely nervous. I have only snowboarded on a slow, slow hill that is wide and clear. Here, we were still on wide beginner runs, but much steeper, faster, and integrated in the trees.

I was a little shaky at the beginning, but honestly today, something CLICKED. It made since. It was snowing the whole time we were there so we were in constant beautiful, light, fluffy, soft powder snow which made it helpful in nailing my turns! On our usual practice hill, I am going so, so slow that it's hard to get up enough speed to practice the turning in S shapes down the hill. Here, however, it was crucial I used that skill.

 I got really good at it and comfortable with it. I was happy, excited and having fun, which meant Brad was over-the moon happy. He is so excited when I excel. Also, there were tiny jumps built into the sides of the runs and he could go off trail and wind through the trees, so it was awesome for both skill levels.

Check out these videos. Might not seem like a big deal to see me casually weave down the mountain... but to us, it's a huge deal that I understand how to move on the board, and I am going down the long runs without falling at all. Not once :) Just sayin...

In this first video, you see a skiier go by at first-- but look at the top of the hill. I am in a black jacket and you will see me flawlessly S curve from side to side down the hill and wave at the end like a pro :) hehe

This is a video of Brad.. he thinks it looks stupid but he's so good I wanted to show it. He goes over a little jump you will hardly notice, but seemed bigger in person haha, and then disappears into the trees! Love my hubby he's so good at this :)

The End!

The Living Room/Quarry Mountain

Brad and I have been checking out all these guide books from the library  trying to find the perfect snow hikes! Many hikes in Utah are closed during the winter because there is too high of an avalanche risk. But there are many trails you can snowshoe... not many trails you can hike without snowshoes- in just your boots.

Our families are coming out to visit in March. March, as all the Utahans have been telling us, is hit or miss with the weather. It could be beautiful in the 50s, or we could have snow storms. In case of snow, Brad and I are trying to go test out the hikes to see which ones to take our families on, that we could do in the spring weather but that are ALSO doable on snowpacked trails.

The trail we did yesterday, was an AWESOME hike. It was great in the snow, and would be great in any weather really. It was called "living room" because at the top there were supposedly large flat boulders set up to look like furniture!

First geocache on the trail--

Name "Be Gone Long One" 

The cache description said if we knew what that quote was, we would know what to look for. We googled it and found it was a quote by that bear in Robin Hood talking to the snake! So we were looking for a snake somewhere... see it here in the image?? It blends very well!

Probably one of the coolest geocaches we have seen yet... When we saw the log book container in it's mouth.. I was like... uhhh how are we gonna get it out of there!?

OH MY GOSH! Look how small it is... the log book actually came out of there and unrolled... I thought for sure we wouldn't be able to get it back in.. but Brad got it haha. Very cool

A little while into the hike, we started getting confused. There are about 15 trails that are in the same area, always intersecting, etc. We asked a passing hiker, and he was nice enough to guide us up most of the way!

Our new guide!

Tons of people with dogs on the trail!

Amazing views already...

I felt like we were in an airplane.. you know that look you get looking through the clouds? Amazing

 At this point we had to break off from our guide. We are not up to par with him on who is in better shape! We were so tired already! We needed a break. He was so fit and fast! He left us a note in the snow further up the mountain though saying "go left" at another confusing point. We wrote back "Thanks!" but doubt he ever saw it. So nice.

It was about 30 degrees and I was burning up in my Tshirt! Such a good work out.

Bradley got a doggie!

Hiking with a tripod on your back is SO worth it sometimes! Most amazing view!!

Another geocache around the corner! Clue: "Evergreen"

Got it!

We found this in the cache! It's so cool! It's a CD of 14 songs having to do with a theme. There are then 14 trivia questions based on the songs. Once you solve the questions, you can find out where the corresponding cache is hidden!! You take this CD with you, complete it, and then hide it in another cache- any other in SLC that you want. What a great idea!

 Sorry guys... Brad made me take the picture... dead elk we saw on the way

Almost at the top!

Can't get enough of this view! We know our families are gonna love this hike!

Made it! See the couch!? There are arm rests and everything  There are lots of little couches, etc down the hill- most are snow covered right now, but we can see their shapes still!

Relaxing on the couch...

This was honestly, incredible. The "couch" was a perfect spot. Surprisingly comfortable and the perfect place for a picnic! The view was breathtaking.

(Note Brad on the right hand side)

Another geocache was located up at the highest tree.. There was no way I was gonna climb that while it was snow covered and I didn't want Brad to either. But my stubborn husband climbed his way up there

 Do you see him? Arm up holding the ammo can he found??

One more deep breath before we head back down...

The hike took us about three hours, even though it was only 2.5 miles. We took breaks, and geocached on the way, but it also physically wore us out. It was short in distance, yes, but it was entirely up hill with an extremley steep elevation gain of 1100 feet in 1.25 miles... we were worn out!!

BUT WAIT.

You thought we were done, but of course not! After lunch, we drove up to Park City to try out another cache a coworker suggested. This one near her house is unnamed, but it climbs up Quarry Mountain for views of the city!

2nd hike of the day! GO!

Welcome to Park City, Suburbia!

Measuring the elk tracks. There were tracks and hair everywhere! Dana (coworker) said she saw tons of elk on this trail the day before, but we didn't see any! :(

Just thought this was a cool shot :)

Views from the top of Quarry Mountain

:)

Yay :)

Another nice viewpoint :)

Bradley decided he was too tired to walk back down... sliding it is...

2nd hike of the day coming to an end.. We now commence fatigue and complaining about sore joints!!

Awesome day.

Hope you all liked the pictures :) Let us know what you think...