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This is a great hike for the views, the lakes, the landscape, the wildflowers, and of course Moose! We started at the Brighton Ski Resort parking lot. We started our accent to Dog Lake and when we arrived two Bull Moose were hanging out on the lake shore.
One a full grown male, the other, maybe two years old. The younger one I think wanted to put on a show for us, so he proceeded to get in the lake and start swimming around.Warning: A Moose male or female can run 30 miles an hour. If you see one watch from a distance, Do Not Impede their path, for they will charge. A bucking from a Moose most certainly would put you in the hospital, so be careful. After the great Moose show, we started on to Lake Mary.
The trail up to Lake Mary is steep, but short and comes to the lake pretty quickly. The Dam at Lake Mary is really cool, a short hop from there and you are lake side. Lake Mary is the largest of the lakes on this trail, and the views are spectacular. After a snack and some water, we moved on to Lake Martha.
Coming out of the forest we get to the lake, and on the shore there is another Bull Moose. Now this one was far bigger than the 2 we had seen at Dog Lake, and he didn't seem to like us too much. He got up and started our way, so we decided to move on to Lake Catherine. We get to the lake, and a tree was there, cooked from the inside out by lightning. Crazy! Lake Catherine sits below Catherine Pass and Sunset Peak. We headed for the pass, the climb to the pass is about 270 feet, and the last 75 feet kicks your butt! At the Pass we ran into a biologist studying our wild flower species here in the Wasatch. Cool Job! Great lake hike that I will do every year.
Trail Information:
Big Cottonwood Canyon- start from the Brighton Ski Resort Parking Lot
Distance to Dog Lake- ¾ mile
Elevation Gain 600 vertical feet to 9360
Hiking Time- 25 minutes
Distance to Lake Mary- 1mile
Elevation Gain- 760 vertical feet to 9520
Hiking Time- 35 minutes
Distance to Lake Martha- 1 ½ miles
Elevation Gain- 960 vertical feet to 9720
Hiking Time- 40 Minutes
Distance to Lake Catherine- 2 miles
Elevation Gain- 1200 vertical feet to 9950
Hiking Time- 1 hour 30 minutes
Distance to Catherine Pass- 2 ¼ miles
Elevation Gain- 1450 vertical feet to 10,220
Hiking Time- 2hours 10minutes
Related Links:
Big Cottonwood Canyon Hiking Trails
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