There's still snow in them thar hills
We hadn't realized that it was the first weekend of the Wasatch Wildflower Festival and thus were a little surprised to see so many cars at Brighton on such a gloomy day. The clouds certainly weren't keeping the crowds away and the guided hikes were lining up right on schedule. We upped our pace to get ahead of folks, cruising quickly through the lower part of the ski area to the turn-off for Clayton Peak. Once on that trail, we didn't see anyone else until we were headed back down.
Brave little flowers
To be honest, this year's wildflower festival was a little short on the wildflowers due to the cool spring and the lingering snowpack. We saw just a few hardy blossoms in the lower meadows and once we got up higher, there was still a good amount of snow in the pine forests. The ephemeral creeks were cranking, rushing their way down the mountains to join up with Big Cottonwood Creek.
On the ridge, Clayton Peak behind me
We had to route-find a little bit on our way up to the ridge, due to the snow in the woods. Once up on the saddle, it proved blustery and cold. Even though the trail up to Clayton looked clear, we weren't really dressed for the chilly temperatures; one really doesn't expect cold weather in Utah in mid-July.
Still impressive tree wells
When we got back down to the main trail, there were literally hordes of people coming down from the lakes. We couldn't get out of there fast enough and eventually found respite at the base of Big Cottonwood Canyon in a pitcher of Epic Session IPA at the Hog Wallow. The older we get, the less we like crowds - but we'll always like beer.
Hike stats: 4.5 miles; moving 1:52 and 2.4 m.p.h. / overall 2:20 and 1.9 m.p.h.; 1,150 feet of elevation
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