free food!

But first we went on a great hike: up to Desolation Lake in Big Cottonwood Canyon, in an attempt to escape the heat in the valley. Valley's hot these days, y'all.

And this trail isn't even known for its wildflowers

We parked at the Mill D North Fork trailhead and retraced some of our steps from our winter hike to Dog Lake.  This time the trail was lush and green with wildflowers everywhere.  Since we were following a creek, it was fairly humid and we were sweating pretty good by the time we got to the trail junction (1.7 miles): left to Dog and right to Desolation.  The trail was in the shade nearly all the way, aspens and evergreens providing a cool respite from this summer sun.  It climbed steadily but never steeply and the footing was great - soft and solid.  These trails - connecting with the Great Western Trail and the Desolation Trail - are popular with mountain bikers and we often had to step off the trail to let them go by. Except for the loose and rocky bits right at the crest of the Spine, I think I could ride [down] what we hiked [up]. I just need a mountain bike.

Yeah, that's not pretty at all

After another 1.9 miles we arrived at the lake, nestled into a pretty bowl.  It wasn't desolate at all - several other hikers and numerous mountain bikers didn't dissuade a curious young mule deer from checking us out.  There's no swimming allowed (yeah, right - like people pay attention to that) because of the watershed issues, but the little lake was extremely inviting and crystal clear.

Bambi! I think he was interested in our snacks

We had a quick snack and then continued up a series of switchbacks until we reached the Great Western Trail up on the ridgeline.  From the ridge we could look right down into the Canyons ski resort and Park City - I wouldn't have thought we were far enough up Big Cottonwood Canyon for that, but geography has never been my strong suit.  We followed the GWT along the ridge a-ways and then turned right at a small cairn, following a lesser used trail down into Beartrap Canyon.  Our guidebook had warned us about this "faint, unmarked trail" and if that cairn hadn't been there, we totally would have missed it.

There's actually some mountain bikers up there on that ridge - trust me

The Beartrap trail (2.2 miles) was much steeper, lushly overgrown and humid in spots, again following creeks and springs through forests and meadows.  We emerged on BCC Road about 1.5 miles up from our car and had to walk back down along the road; we could have retraced our steps but it's always better to make a loop when you can, even if it means a little asphalt.  This was the hottest part of the day - even the "cool" canyon temperatures were nearly 90 and there's no shade on the road - and we were pretty worn out from the heat by the time we reached the car.

And then we went to the Porcupine and since it was my turn to buy, H suggested we have lunch to go along with our pitcher of Full Suspension: a turkey club sandwich for him; and most of a Thai chicken pizza for me (he finished it off).  When we got the bill, we were amazed to see that as per the "Manager's Promo" listed on the check, they'd discounted for both our meals, charging us only for the beer.  We have no idea why - maybe because I was wearing my Porcupine hat? - but you better believe we gave the bartender a BIG tip.  Could it be possible that we're slowly gaining regulars status?