Bear Creek Bridge & Creek

There isn't too many hikes that have a suspension bridge on them.  Well, guess what..we found one!

Right in Draper, starting at Orson Smith Park, is the trailhead and climbs up to the Bonneville Shore Line (where the super duper large Bonneville Lake once was that covered the entire Salt Lake Valley way back in the day).  This suspension bridge is fairly hidden until you come right up on it.

The bridge shakes and moves, since it's suspended, when the wind blows or when Jacob and Hannah run back and forth on it!

This at a small park at the trailhead.

Very quickly, the climb offers a great view of the valley

The bridge coming into view

There is a small but lush canyon right behind the bridge with Bear Creek flowing through it

Short trail into the canyon. It was beautiful

We came across this much shorter and older bridge crossing the creek

Do you see Hannah and Jacob on the bridge? They're there..running back and forth on it

On our way back down, we passed these houses where we'd like to live

Buffalo Peak

There are not very many places where you can drive to the trailhead, summit a peak, and return back to your car in less than an hour.  And if there was such a place, you'd think it would be overrun with people.

Not so!  Few people have summitted Buffalo Peak because not very many people know about it!  It's a rare peak even kids can summit because it's only 1/2 mile hike each way!  95% of the hike is a gentle climb - it's the last 1/10 mile that is steep steep!  But so worth it!

Buffalo Peak is up Provo Canyon, near Squaw Peak.  Squaw Peak on the other hand is always super crowded, and everyone knows about it, and it's lower than Buffalo Peak!

The "peak" of Buffalo Peak is at 8,029 feet and the views are just as spectacular and amazing!

This is the start of the hike

Very quickly we were up against a huge meadow

In the spring, this dry meadow is probably green and beautiful

Even before the peak, the views of the surrounding mountains are fantastic

Ok..here we go UP the steep part!

We made it to the peak!

Provo and Utah Lake in the background

Time to head back down

Canyon Dinner

One thing we tried to do more of this year, is just go up to the canyon for dinner on a weeknight after work.  The canyon is so close - 20-30 minutes or so and we've never had a problem finding a spot on a weeknight.

This time, Grandma and Grandpa Gwilliam (and Louie), and Grandma Bingham came with us, along with Megan & Corey, and Marissa & Matt.

We roasted hot dogs and enjoyed the wonderful company!

Dry Creek Canyon

Who knew this canyon even existed...and so close to a neighborhood.  We didn't!

It's tucked away at the back of a very very very nice neighborhood with very very very big houses, up above the old WordPerfect complex where I used to work back in the day.  It's called Dry Creek Canyon and it literally is 300 yards from the neighborhood.

When I found it, it just seemed like a normal trail going back into the trees and maybe a meadow or two.  We were totally surprised what we found.  It was amazing!  HUGE rock formations jetting out of the mountain, hidden from even the parking lot!  Through some trees, a meadow and in about 15 minutes you come upon these rock walls all around you.

We climbed to the top of one of the rock outcroppings and the view of the valley was fantastic!

We went in the evening and thought we were just going for a 30 minute stroll to see what this hike was like, so we were prepared to stay longer as it was getting dark.  We will definitely be back to Dry Creek Canyon as we want to explore more.  Legend has it, if you keep going on the trail, you will come to a "saddle" but it's about 2 miles down, so we may not make it that far.

Just starting out on our little hike

All of a sudden we start to see big rock outcroppings

You can see part of Utah Lake in the background

Climbing up to the top of one of the rocks

Fantastic view with Utah Lake in the background

Very pretty little valley between the rocks

The trail winds through these valleys to infinity and beyond!