tradition

We have, the past few years, done a hike at Solitude/Brighton after the first snow of the year, to say goodbye to summer and welcome winter.  The original route was from Silver Lake to Lake Solitude, up and over the back of Solitude, past the Twin Lakes dam and along the Sol-Bright trail back to Silver Lake.  Last year, since the snow situation was looking dire in the early season, we did that loop backwards and lo, last winter we had the best snow we've had in years.  H, who is not superstitious about anything, announced on Friday that we would be doing the Sol-Bright hike on Saturday and, since it worked so well last time, we would again be doing it in reverse.  So much for not being superstitious.

Silver Lake, early winter style

It was pretty chilly in the morning so we busied ourselves with some chores: house-cleaning, laundry, making oatmeal-dried cranberry cookies.  We got up to the Solitude Nordic Center at Silver Lake around 12:30 and were surprised to find plenty of parking places; the Big Cottonwood Canyon road had been pretty busy on the way up and the various hiking trailheads had been quite full, so we assumed Silver Lake would be jam-packed too.  Happy to be wrong!

View of Brighton

We went clockwise around the lake on the boardwalk, teetering on the ice, then turned off onto the Twin Lakes trail.  Although the snow wasn't super-deep, we were walking on snow for the most part, unlike last year when there wasn't any at all.  It was mostly sunny, with a light breeze, and temperatures were in the low 30s but noticeably colder in the shade.  We warmed right up climbing up to the Twin Lakes dam, then kept the grind going on up to the top of Solitude's Summit lift.

Top of Summit lift

Once past the dam, there was more snow and so many animal tracks.  Deer, porcupine, coyote, squirrels and smaller critters - the snow was positively trampled in spots.  We stumped our way up to the top of the lift to enjoy the views of Honeycomb Canyon, Brighton and Guardsman Pass across the canyon (now closed for the winter).  Then, before we could get too chilled, we retraced our steps for a ways before turning off onto an access road down into Solitude.  The snow was deep in some spots here, coming up to nearly my knees, and we found a couple of short pitches where we were surprised no one had come up to ski.  No fat bike tire tracks either - just critters.

Totally skiable

We went around Lake Solitude, the snow depth dropping with our elevation, crossed through the woods and under the Sunrise lift, heading back towards Silver Lake.  In a shady grove we happened upon a small herd of mule deer: a buck and what we guessed were two does and two fawns, now old enough to have lost their spots and look like mini-mes of their moms.  The buck was skittish but the does were not, standing their ground and watching us, warily and interestedly, but not at all scared.  We watched them for a little while and then continued on our way, letting them go theirs.

Very much unafraid

Back at the car, we were surprised to find the parking lot busier than before; there seemed to be lots of photographers taking advantage of the afternoon light.  We paused at the Silver Fork on our way down the canyon, stopping in for a couple of beers and some chips and salsa (they have a restaurant license and have to serve food, even if you're just sitting at the bar), and talked with another couple (transplants from New Jersey/Maryland) about how awesome Utah winters are.  And we're ready for another one.  Let it snow.

Hike stats:  4.92 miles; 1:59 hours; 1,400 feet of elevation