Little Cottonwood Trail Hike

So we have a goal this summer to go on 15 hikes (or something like that) because here we are in Utah with all this access to great outdoor activities and we don't know if we'll always be in Utah so we better take advantage of it now. And it was Sunday and we were both feeling a little crappy and stir-crazy so we thought the fresh air might do us some good. So off we went to Little Cottonwood Canyon. I lamented on the way that we lived on the west side instead of the east side because even though the mountains are fairly close, they would be so much closer if we lived on the east. Oh well - it's no excuse not to get out though.

Here is proud papa with the brand new Baby Bjorn that we just had to get cause it was 30% off at Babies R' Us. But also, Brandon wanted to be able to carry Lucy and the Moby Wrap just wasn't working with his style. And I was more than happy to let Brandon take over carrying duties and give my back a break.
On our way up the trail, we saw some people carrying these rectangular mats and we wondered what the heck they were for. And then we saw these huge boulders and I guess people place the mats on the bottom and climb up the boulders unharnessed. I had never even heard of this activity before but it looked pretty cool - like mini-rock climbing.

Up at the top, we realized that we weren't on the trail we were supposed to be on so we started to head back down.

I was happy to carry the Camelbak which is much easier carrying on your back than a baby on your front.

We think that this must be the area where they got the granite for the Salt Lake City Temple but it was just a guess.

I tried to get all artistic on the way down as I took pictures of these pretty purple flowers I was admiring. I'm always surprised by all the beauty there is just naturally and glad to be able to stop and take a look.

We took one more look at the people bouldering (I don't know if that is the right term)...

and check to make sure that Lucy is still breathing because she has her face squished into Brandon's chest (which is why I like the Moby wrap so much because it keeps her head turned in place). Carrying Lucy seems to automatically put her to sleep but she can't really see much anyway facing in.
Then we get in the car and drive up a bit until we find the right trailhead for the hike we really wanted to do.

We must have had a really good snow pack this past winter because the stream was running like crazy. But it was really nice to hike along the water because it keeps it really cool.
We never actually finished the hike because it wasn't marked very well and the trail kept splitting off in all these directions so we weren't sure where to go. There was supposed to be some kind of old mill or falls at the end but we never made it. But, it was still worth going to get out of the house. We're not really sure how much Lucy enjoys it either but hopefully, it will get her used to being outside so we can do this more when she is old enough to enjoy it more.