One thing that is a bummer about living in Davis County is that getting to the trails in east Salt Lake City is difficult – at least with my schedule. I have toyed with the idea of doing it as an early morning thing before work, but worried it would still put me to work too late. With summer turning to autumn and the specter of snow on the horizon I decided that I had to hit some trails up there this season. I asked the Wasatch Mountain Wranglers group on facebook for their #1 recommendation and a number agreed that the 10 mile loop between Altra and Brighton is the way to go.  Wow. They were right.

I hit the trail at Alta around 5:45 AM and power hiked slowly up Grizzly Gulch for the two miles up to Twin Lakes Pass, over looking Twin Lakes Reservoir. This route takes you from Little to Big Cottonwood Canyon. Once the sun came up, I could see what I was in for.

Wow.

The trail heads down past Twin Lakes Reservoir and to Silver Lake at Brighton. From there, the trail loops around Silver Lake and treks up through Brighton to Catherine Pass. Along the way you pass Mary’s Lake and Catherine Lake. From Catherine Pass you drop down into the Albion Basin, into Alta and back to the car.

Wow. My most beautiful route to date. Unfortunately, a knot in my back that has been there for a long time started hurting more and more as I went – slowing me down quite a bit. Later that day it fully went into spasm mode, debilitating me for a few days.  Ouch.  Totally worth it though!

 10.3 miles in 2:21:50 @ 13:47 min/mile and with 2,950 ft. elevation gain