Granite Lakes is a wonderful section of mountain trail that connects Lake Mary to Twin Lakes crossing along the base of Mount Millicent. It must get it's name from the towering 15 foot granite cliff that the trail passes beneath.
Begin by hiking the Lake Mary trail in Big Cottonwood Canyon. Just after reaching the large trail sign for Dog Lake, Lake Mary, Lake Katherine, Albion Basin you will come to a much smaller sign pointing out the trail to Twin Lakes at about .8 miles from the trailhead.
The trail continues on the right side of the Lake Mary dam. First point of interest is an old cabin, I would love to know the history of this cabin and if it is still used. The views from it's boarded up window would be awesome. The trail climbs up slightly from behind the cabin for a great view of Lake Mary then continues through forest and granite scree, beneath huge granite cliffs and at 2 miles arriving at Twin Lakes.
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| Spooky old tree near the cabin. |
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| Paintbrush still very vivid in color! |
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| Lake Mary |
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| The trail winds through beautiful forest. |
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| Granite scree before and after. |
Did you know that the Limber Pine pictured below is a super durable tree? It mostly grows where other conifers can't survive like on the very edge of cliffs. The branches are so limber that they can be bent double without breaking (hence the name Limber Pine) Limber Pine nuts are edible and squirrels love them, but they are not quite as tasty or nutritious as pinyon nuts. -- just a fun fact I thought I would share.
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| Limber Pine |
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| Another limber pine growing from the cliffs. |
I was hiking solo today in the morning hours and had the most awesome wildlife encounters!
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| White crown sparrow. |
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| Two mule deer sightings. |
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| Very friendly pika. He seemed to want his picture taken. |
From Twin Lakes dam I followed an old service road down towards the Brighton ski resort parking area. I had to bushwhack a little and came out at the Milly Express ski lift, crossing the huge parking lot back to my car for a hiking distance of just shy of 3 miles. I loved this hike!!
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| Approaching Twin Lakes |
A very cool old work truck was sitting in the Brighton parking lot waiting to be hauled away from the maintenance area so I just had to snap a picture!
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Wildflower of the Week
Fireweed dominates the mountain landscape at this time of wildflower season . You can not miss this beautiful, tall, bright pink plant. It gets it's name from the plants ability to populate over burned and logged areas with a eye catching cover of pink to magenta flowers.
For myself I hold no preferences among flowers
so long as they are wild, free, spontaneous!"
Ed Abbey
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******Miles hiked tally
beginning March 22, 2013
Beginning of this Blog
319.9
