Big Cottonwood Canyon hike

My dad and I went out last Saturday for a hike.

It was an incredibly hot day so we wanted to get up in the mountains away from the suffocating heat.

We were also aware of the Tour of Utah bike race going on, so avoided (or attempted to avoid) the traffic and crowds around for that (more on this to come...).

I had heard a few people talk about Donut Falls, so as we drove past and saw the sign we decided to stop there and see what it was all about. We read that it was only about a mile and a half round trip and knew that would only be a warm-up for my dad and I, but we went ahead anyway.

I'm not going to lie, it was definitely beautiful, but hard to be impressed after living in the pacific northwest.

I mean, nothing can really compare to Multnomah Falls!

But, it was definitely pretty!

After seeing Donut Falls we decided to veer off the beaten path and take some spurs off the main trail.

We ended up finding a mining road that we hiked along for a while.

It was a steady elevation gain, so we got in a good workout, but we also found some incredible gems along the way.

^ I mean, look at that!

I love hiking with my dad because he always finds these unknown places.

We didn't see one other person while we were hiking, and it was so refreshing.

We had a couple scary moments with some thunder and lightning off in the distance over Little Cottonwood Canyon, but we luckily didn't run into a storm!

After turning around and starting to head back we stopped to attempt to eat our lunch on this huge unique looking boulder that we passed.

Unfortunately, when we got up on top of it we realized there were fire ants everywhere.

So I immediately tried to abort that plan, but my dad, being the adventurer he is, found a rock he was fascinated with.

My dad is a rock lover, so only he would be so fascinated by a hidden rock behind a huge boulder!

It's the white rock right there in the middle of the photo.

As soon as my dad picked it up he gasped and said that there was a treasure under there!

I was starting to climb down the big boulder, but found myself venturing back up to him to see what in the world he was talking about.

Turns out, he randomly found a geocache! 

It was so cool to see all of the little treasures people had left in there, from yearly updates and pictures, to a little porcelain tea cup!  

It was so fun to stumble across that!

We've never actually searched for geocaches, and it was pretty lucky we found this one!

It was definitely very strategically hidden.

After getting down to the parking lot and eating our lunch, we headed out to get home.

Once we got to the main road we were told that we had to wait for about half an hour because the Tour of Utah was about to come through.

We thought it was supposed to be in Little Cottonwood Canyon!

We ended up watching all the bikers and their teams ride by, and it was so fun!

Last year we watched as the Tour of Utah rode right in front of our house on South Temple, so my dad and I decided that since we keep stumbling upon this annual event that it has to be a tradition now :)

It was such a fun hike and a great day spent with my dad :)

I'm loving these Utah summers and all of the beauty that this place has to offer!

I think I'm starting to love it here.