strolling on the shoreline trail

From about 32,000 years ago until +/- 14,000 years ago, all of the greater Salt Lake valley was under water.  This was Lake Bonneville and at its highest, covered around 19,800 square miles and was around 1,000 feet deep.  When it started to dry up, it left behind the Great Salt Lake, Utah Lake and several others.  Now, there is a single-track trail that follows the former shoreline for 100 miles; it's proposed to add another 180 miles, and thereby stretch from Idaho to Nephi, Utah. 

Looking up/east from the Bonneville Shoreline Trail

We found an access point at Hidden Valley in Sandy (there are lots of trail heads but you have to hunt for them) and did an out-and-back, about 1.5 hours each way.  The trail is in good shape, level and well-packed, running north/south along the eastern bench.  There are a few ups and downs as side canyons and creeks are crossed, but for the most part it's pretty level.  Made me want a mountain bike and soon!  For future exploration we noted several trails heading east (and up) into the mountains: Bear Creek and Cherry Canyon.

A at Bear Creek

There were a number of other folks out enjoying the trail and the day, sunny and mostly clear, although not hot.  Mountain bikers, hikers and trail-runners all take advantage of this great trail.  H and I spent a lot of time stopping and gawking, picking out landmarks and searching for wildlife - the rocky crags above us seemed perfect for mountain goats (but alas, no).  The wildflowers are just starting to come out, however: the gorgeous alpine meadows won't be in full bloom until late June/early July but the teeny high desert flowers are brave enough to begin to show their colorful faces now.

Teeny and tough in this climate