Monday, September 26, 2011

Alpine Loop and Cascade Springs Interpretive Trail


Distance: Very short (probably around 1 mile)
Elevation Gain: None, although there were a couple of short, steep walks, and a bridge or two were quite curvy.  :)
Highest Peak: N/A
Time: About 45 minutes if you walk around the whole place
General Impression:  It was very pretty, but very crowded and not much of a hike really.  I would go back with older relatives or younger children, but I wouldn't rush back again just for myself.

On Thursday of last week we decided to check out a free Boot-camp provided by LuluLemon at 9th and 9th.  And it KILLED us.  I mean, it was literally painful to move in any way, shape, or form for days afterward.  I can't begin to count how many burpees the instructor made us do, but it was 10 times more burpees than I've ever done before.  Steve basically did die for about an hour after the class, but luckily he came back to life after eating some Thai salad rolls and soup.

So on Sunday, our usual hiking day, we were a bit weary of taking on a big, multi-hour hike.  We also wanted to check out some more Fall colors, and a friend recommended Alpine Loop.  This is technically a drive, not a hike.  And WHAT A DRIVE IT IS!

We paid $6.00 at the entry to the canyon/park place as we were planning to stop.  If you plan to drive right through, you don't need to pay.  Then we stopped at the visitors center to empty our bladders and check out the info.  There were lots of kids everywhere.  Kids, kids, kids.

Driving on from there, we headed up into the mountains and passed more and more beautiful views of mountains, trees, and colorful leaves.  It was amazing.  And our Phish soundtrack didn't hurt.  We got out a few times to take pictures, which I'll let speak for themselves.

Along the drive, we took a little detour to stop and check out the Cascade Springs, which are some naturally forming pools with sediment or something/I'll let Steve explain this one a bit better.  They have built a very accessible boardwalk and path in and around the springs, consisting of three short loops you could walk around for a total of 45 minutes, so this is what I'll consider our "hike" for the purposes of this hiking Utah blog.  There were again lots of kids and families and flip flops here, so remember this one for visiting family or when we have babies or something.  But it was very beautiful and a nice, easy walk in nature.  We felt lucky, again, to be living in Utah.

There was no real elevation gain to speak of, and it's really the easiest walk ever, but it's pretty! 












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