This is a
great hike for the views, the lakes, the landscape,
and the wildflowers and of course Moose! We started
at the Brighton Ski Resort parking lot, where there
is meadow restoration being done. So the trail winds
around the old trail, and ends up about a half mile
back on the original trail. We started our accent to
Dog Lake, we get to the lake and behold, there are
two Bull Moose 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.
Directions
and Hike Stats
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
