Lake Blanche-a-licious

Lake Blanche is a beautiful hike just off of Big Cotton Wood Canyon in Salt Lake City. It is also a hike that we had never heard of until Joseph Creswell invited us to hike it with him. We set out early on a Saturday morning in August to brave the 3 mile trip up the canyon. While the reported distance is probably accurate, it is hard to imagine what the accompanying 2000+ ft. vertical ascent translates to over such a relatively short distance. Needless to say, it felt more like 4-5 miles by the time we got up there.

We had a great time enjoying our lunch at the top and exploring the other small lakes in the area. We saw lots of fish that live in the streams and lakes of the area, and enjoyed trying catch one for a while with predictably little success. We did manage to remember our camera before we left, but the two bars the battery reported earlier were no longer doing any good, so the picture is courteous of Joseph's camera phone.

It starts... With Fifth Waters

While it may sound like the beginning of many a journal, which this essentially is, we are going to endeavor to start writing about who we are and what makes us us. To start with, we will talk about our adventure to "Fifth Waters" hot springs.

It all started when Maren's friend/coworker Eileen told her about a date she went on to the springs. She said that it was really nice, but that it was notorious for skinny dipping so you should be careful if you go. We looked it up on the internet, and found that her account was true and that it did indeed exist. We recruited Joseph and Kathryn Creswell to accompany us and we set off for the springs.

We found the head of the trail behind some construction which is being done on the washed out bridge, and began our hike up. The weather was fair and the conversation jovial as we worked our way up the 2.5 mile trip to the springs. We stopped several times to test the temperature of the water as we really didn't know what we were getting into. When we finally reached the springs, however, we were pleasantly surprised by the groomed nature of the area. We tested out several of the springs and enjoyed the varying temperatures, as well as the naked man reading Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows in one of the pools. Gratefully he had a suit with him that he put on before he got out, but it was cause for laughing nonetheless.

We will let pictures tell the rest of the story, but it was a diverting and pleasant experience to be sure. Directions and such can be found on the internet if you search: Fifth Waters Utah.