Red Pine Lake

Tuesday was the perfect day for hiking with my brother Mike Walsh and his ten-year old son Michael "Boo" Walsh who were visiting from Florida. The weather was in the mid-80's and the humidity, especially for a couple of Floridians, was down.

We decided on giving the Red Pine Lake trail a try. It is a fun hike with lots of shade along the trail, gorgeous views of the Salt Lake valley, and spectacular views of the surrounding Wasatch when the lower lake is reached, 3 miles and 2,000 feet in elevation gain later.

The start of the trail is covered with avalanche debris from this past Winter, which the Park Service has cut a path through. It is amazing to see the size of the trees that were snapped in half by the snow.

The first mile of the hike follows a dirt road that heads up White Pine Canyon. Shortly we came to a pretty stream coming down White Pine Canyon. This is where the trail to White Pine Lake splits off. To continue up towards Red Pine Lake we crossed the bridge in the picture below.




After the bridge the trail, although very well marked, becomes more like a trail and less like a road. In this picture you can see Boo under a nice aspen canopy through which the trail cuts.



As the trail circles around the ridge towards Red Pine Canyon, we got a nice view up Little Cottonwood Canyon towards Alta and Snowbird. A half mile after the stream crossing we came to a spot with spectacular views of the Salt Lake Valley.



At this point we were working our way up Red Pine Canyon. Although we were steadily working our way higher, there were plenty of spots to stop and admire the surroundings. Here is a picture of Mike with Broads Fork Twin Peaks behind him.



About the time the hike was starting to feel like work, about 2 1/2 miles in, we came to another bridge. This bridge, which crosses Red Pike Creek, is where the trail splits with the western leg continuing up towards Red Pine Lake and the other crossing the bridge headed towards Maybird Gulch.



After stopping here for a quick rest we headed up the last half mile towards lower Red Pine Lake. Boo was starting to tire, but the first signs of snow along the trail kept him motivated to reach the lake. Well, that, and we told him he couldn't have any lunch until then!

As we reached the top of Red Pine Canyon, we broke from the forest below and got our first view of Lower Red Pine Lake and the surrounding ridges.



After admiring the views for a bit, we decided to walk to the far side of the lake, where a stream feeding the lake comes down from Upper Red Pine Lake. Here we had our well earned lunch. Boo was much happier at this point, as you can see in this picture.



Refreshed and motivated by the surroundings, we decided to push up to the higher ridge that overlooks Upper Red Pine Lake. At this point the trail is not well marked, but it is easy to find your way up. Here Boo is crossing the stream that feeds the lower lake.



Picking our way through the snow fields, we quickly reached the ridge overlooking the upper lake. As you can see in the picture below, there is still a good bit of snow in the upper part of the canyon and it appears that the upper lake still freezes over at night. Makes it hard to believe that this picture was taken in late July after a number of days where it was above 100 degrees in the valley!



The views from the upper ridge are even better than from the lower lake. In this picture you can see Cottonwood Ridge with, from left to right, Broads Fork Twin Peaks, Sunrise Peak, and Dromedary Peak.



With our fill of the beautiful surroundings sated, we headed back down to the trailhead and our car. I think this was Boo's favorite part of the hike, as we glissaded down the snow field towards lower Red Pine Lake.