bells canyon #2

Way back in April, H and I attempted Bells Canyon but turned around early due to icy and steep trail conditions.  I said then that we'd have to go back since we didn't make to either of the waterfalls or the reservoir way up at the top of the canyon.  On Sunday we went back and while we didn't attempt the reservoir, being further/steeper than we wanted to go, we did get to both the lower and the upper falls.

Upper falls

We parked at a different trailhead - the Granite Trailhead - and the initial ascent to the lower Bells Canyon reservoir was much less steep than taking the Boulders Trailhead as we'd done in April.  This was fine since the actual trail up Bells Canyon is very steep and rocky, called by many a "granite staircase."  The trail is mostly shaded, which was welcomed since we were working pretty hard, but there were breaks in the trees enough that we could see the awesome (in the original sense of the word) cliffs towering over us.

Snack spot, looking to Thunder Mtn.

At 1.7 miles we passed a spur trail leading to the lower falls, opting to continue to the upper falls first.  The trail got even steeper and fairly overgrown, but still followable.  The upper falls are at about 2.6 miles from the trailhead.  We continued up a little further and had a snack on a large granite slab where we could see out to the Great Salt Lake while behind us the canyon continued up to Thunder Mountain and the Bells Canyon reservoir.  At this point it was clear that there was no way we were going to attempt the reservoir, another 1+ miles and nearly 2,000 feet of elevation gain, plus at this point our guidebooks got very confused as to where the trail continuing up the canyon might be.

Lower falls

On the descent we somehow got off the trail we'd come up, following game trails or spur trails for a bit, but rejoined the main trail somewhere below the upper falls.  We had remembered to bring our hiking poles with us this time and were particularly grateful for them on this trail.  As we went down, we spied a couple of rock climbers on the Bell Towers - those guys are nuts, clinging to the cliffs like that.  When we got to the trail junction, we went down to the lower falls which are larger and more easily seen than the upper falls, and pretty darn spectacular.  It was getting hot at this point too and the spray from the cascade felt too good to want to leave.

the Bell Towers

But leave we did, H draining his Camelbak on the long, hot run out.  I'm glad we went back to Bells Canyon, something that had been in the back of my mind since the spring.  Now I can cross that one off the list.