Corner Canyon

I'm insane. Seriously. Two hikes in two days.

Sure, neither one was very long, but both of them had me carrying an extra 30 pounds. Tonight I hiked up Corner Canyon in Draper. If I was truly insane I'd hike in City Creek Canyon tomorrow night to hit the three mountainous corners of the Salt Lake Valley. Let's hope I'm not truly insane.

There are a few places you can start your hike in Corner Canyon. I decided to start at the Coyote Hollow trailhead, which is just behind the Draper Temple. From there I took Clark's trail 1.6 miles to the Peak View trailhead. I started at about 5100' in elevation, and ended up at around 5850', for an elevation gain of about 750'. It was only about a 10% grade the whole way, which was great. It wouldn't have been difficult at all without the extra weight.

One thing I love about Corner Canyon is that they have maps at all the trailheads. It's really nice to have an accurate map because there are so many trails going so many different directions. The other thing I really like is that all of the trail intersections are very well marked. Even with all the trails it would be hard to get lost.

The first mile and a half was difficult. Yes, it was the only real uphill part, but that was easy enough to deal with. What made it difficult is having Titan crying most of the way.

I was sure we'd need to turn around and cut the hike short. About 1 1/4 miles in we stopped and had some dinner: a PB&J and applesauce.

From the Peak View trailhead (1.6 miles in) we took Brock's Point Trail down to the Canyon Hollow Trail. After another mile and a half we took a side trail to Ghost Falls. It was a bigger waterfall than I had thought it was going to be. Not huge, but worth the walk anyway.

From the falls we walked back on the Ghost Falls trail, then met back up with the Canyon Hollow Trail, and eventually back up the Bonneville Shoreline Trail to the Coyote Hollow trailhead. It was a beautiful walk with no real steep parts, either up or down.

We came across dozens of mountain bikers and without fail they were all polite and fun to talk to. We didn't get run over a single time. It's a beautiful canyon and I'll definitely be back.

In all, it was 4.3 miles (exactly what the map said it would be) with about 1250' of total elevation gain. The trail was in the shade most of the way, was well maintained, and the weather couldn't have been more perfect.

Yellow Fork Canyon

Tonight I went for a short walk up Yellow Fork Canyon in Herriman. I'd never heard much about the trail, and still didn't know much about it when I got there. After just a few miles of hiking up there I know I'll have to go back for more.

I took Titan along to give Annie a couple hours of girl time, and we made our way up the windy Rose Canyon Road.

The trail is sort of a choose-your-own-adventure kind of trail. There's a dirt road that goes up the canyon pretty straight and even, and then there is a smaller trail that parallels the dirt road that has a little more elevation change and tree cover. I took the trail on the way up, and the road on the way back (they intersect at many points).

The trail (and the road) follow alongside the creek at least as far up as I went. We didn't make it more than a mile and a half up, though, before the 30 pound weight on my back started kicking my kidneys in open rebellion.

There were a lot of people up there tonight. All of them nice. There were also a lot of signs that a lot of people like to hike in the canyon, like these snowmen made out of rocks.

I really enjoyed the scenery. Maybe it's different in the late summer after the sun melts all the trees, but it was one of the prettier hikes I've been on.

After Titan decided he was done, we turned back and stopped at some picnic tables to have dinner. He really is trying to smile in this picture; he just has a mouthful of peanut butter sandwich.

We ended up hiking almost 3 miles total, with only about 300 feet of elevation gain (it almost didn't seem like there was any slope at all; it was GREAT). We saw people on horses, people on bikes, people with dogs; scout troops, young women's groups, and a snake. It was a great hike, and only 20 minutes from home. We're definitely going back.