Today was the day of trail exploration.
I headed out from the Bonneville Shoreline trail head with the intention of going deeper into the canyon on that trail than I ever had before. While I did accomplish the goal of going deeper into the canyon than every before, I did not do it on the Shoreline trail, I actually hopped off the trail and explored a vast network of smaller tributary trails.
I jumped off the shoreline and meandered my way up and up until I was totally out in the middle of nowhere and closer to the base of Mt. Timpanogos than ever before.
Not only was the view of Timpanogos breathtaking, but TBH, there were remarkable views in every direction for almost the entire hike.
When I started off today’s hike, I accompanied a father and daughter started their trail ride on horses. I took a few pix and then they went far ahead of me. However, once I got off trail and was exploring, I saw them coming back down the trail I was on. Of all the trails, we were on the same one.
I know I recently posted a photo of this section of trail, but today, the lighting was better so I shot it again. It does not really show the steep grade and the height of the drop off, but it does give a decent idea of why I do NOT want to go on it.
After I hit the 5 mile mark, Ann joined me and we did some more exploring. She is a good hiker and is much faster than I am on the climbs.
One of the best surprises of the day was when I was way up and knew I had to head down to meet Ann. I just happened to stumble across the Great Western Trail. I have wanted to find it, and I just happened to stumble across it today.
One last photo – a very colorful bird. This is not a great shot, but was the best I could do because the bird would not let me get close.
The Umenum 