October 6th--Foggy Summit Park and the Zoo

I'm trying something new today--I'm experimenting with blogging "real time" as a journal (even as I try to catch up on posts.)

After dropping Annika off at Hillside, I took Zion hiking.  He desperately needed out after being cooped up inside this weekend as it rained.  I'd hoped to hike Timpanogos but read that there was 2-3 feet of snow on the trail in places.

So instead, I dusted off my "60 hikes within 60 miles" book and found this trail in Park City.  The Summit Park trails are actually a series of interconnected trails with lots of opportunities to explore different loops.  While I imagine there could be a lot of mountain bikers and hikers some times of year, today I only encountered four other people during the 6.5 miles Zion and I were on the trail.

I didn't expect to encounter such thick fog.  In many places, it felt like I was hiking on Mt. Rainier.

Still, the color in the aspens still popped through in some places.

This hut was intriguing.  Why was it built, when, and by whom?

Nearly to the summit.

Given the poor visibility and very isolated surroundings, I was kind of glad to have Zion there to offer a sense of protection.

Views from the peak.  Hmmm--may have to try again some time.  Even though visibility wasn't great, I'm still really glad I went.  I was able to listen to General Conference the entire time and catch up on some of the sessions I missed this weekend.  Between the fog and the spiritual messages, it was a pretty unique hike.

Remember how I told you that I liked having Zion for protection?  Well, sometimes he's more of a hazard than a help. Today we discovered three moose on the trail in front of us (a fair distance off) and Zion took off chasing them.  He even went after the bull moose, despite my calling him back.  He's extremely fortunate that the moose were good-tempered and ignored him.  I know Zion's a herding breed with strong instincts, but he needs to learn that some animals should be left alone.

I made it back off the mountain in plenty of time to pick up Annika from school at 2:30.  Instead of heading right home, we snacked on Talia's banana bread and headed to the zoo.  We even splurged on a train ride.

It's a conspiracy of lemurs and a tower of giraffes.

Getting ready for Boo at the Zoo.  Mr. Lion does not look scared.

Speaking of spooky, what do you think of this crocodile?  It had its mouth open so long that wasps were crawling in and out.  One was still inside when the giant jaws finally snapped shut and stayed clamp.  Guess that's one way to go.

How many howler monkeys do you see? Their intertwined tails are charming.

Two-headed camel?

All in all, it was a heartwarming successful zoo trip.  It wasn't that long ago when Annika couldn't handle walking through the zoo with her friends because she was in so much pain.  Today she literally raced up the hill with a smile.

Just a girl who loves wolves, but my, there are oh-so-many who love "just a girl."