The joy of hiking...

Between running, mountain biking and walking around town, there isn't much time left for just hiking in the mountains. Yesterday, after a morning mountain bike outing, I felt it was time to get back into the mountains and do what I used to crave on when I was a kid and a teenager. I rode the gondola at The Canyons and in minutes I was whisked up at 8,100 feet, ready for my fist mountain hike of the year.

It was in fact the second one, as Evelyne and I had hiked down “Holly” a mountain back trail one month or so ago to check it out before we'd redo it straddling our bikes – this one however was all “up” with 1,150 vertical gain. Initially, my deep motive was too search for mushrooms, but I soon discovered that the summer had been far too dry – so far – for any delectable picks to be found. I couldn't quite reach the 9990 ridge, but decided to put it off for my next outing. In the meantime, I rediscovered how fun hiking is...