I would really love an endless summer. I like winter sports and all but there is just way too much to do in the summer and there never seems to be enough time. One of the summer activities my boyfriend and I wanted to do more of this year is hiking, so we picked a few hikes from the hiking guide book “60 Hikes Within 60 Miles: Salt Lake City.” Today’s adventure took us to a local favorite called Adam’s Canyon in Ogden, UT. Usually the extent of our hiking is just whatever is required to get to the climbing spot we’re headed to for that day, (which should really happen more often as well) so we are not avid hikers by any means.

This hike was a great one to start getting into the sport, with absolutely beautiful scenery (the hike ends with a gorgeous waterfall) and not too terribly difficult terrain.

The trail head parking lot was full with vehicles, which was a little discouraging to us, as we like our mountains to ourselves as much as possible. We probably only ran into about 10-15 couples and families along the way though, and we actually had the waterfall at the end to ourselves for about half an hour, so it really isn’t a busy place. The hike starts out on a very loose sand which will give your calves the workout of a lifetime but don’t worry, the sand comes to an end. There is also no tree cover in the first part of the trail, but once you enter the canyon you don’t get much more sun on you at all. You come across the creek pretty quickly once you enter the canyon, and hike alongside it quite a bit. I think this makes you feel like you should be close to the waterfall early on, so the hike up seems like it’s never going to end. It is kind of a tough hike, with some fairly steep ups and downs along the way which adds to your desire to reach the trail end. I thought at first that we just felt that way because we really are not used to long hikes but as we were coming down, every single group coming up asked us in desperation if they were close to the end. Although hiking alongside the creek so much makes you think you should arrive at the top faster, it really makes the whole entire hike gorgeous, not just the waterfall you finally come to at the end. It also makes for great places to stop and rest if you need to and awesome photo ops. It’s sure a tough hike in some places, but it’s so worth it in the end!
There are a few unmarked forks in the trail which we read later in the hiking guide that if you take the wrong one you start following the Bonnevile Shoreline trail, so you want to always pick the fork on the left to stay on the path to the waterfall. The hike is approx. 3.6 miles round trip and took us about 3 hours with plenty of time to rest and play at the waterfall too.  I would reccommend a little more than a liter to drink per person, sunscreen, camera, good comfortable hiking clothes, snacks and even a swimsuit. The water is pretty cold but you just have to get in after going all that way on a hot day. If your knees ever give you issues, bring some knee braces for the way down and you definitely want good hiking shoes or sandals for this trail. I usually just wear flip flops hiking to our climbing spots but I am so glad I just bought the Keen Whisper to wear today, (check out the gear review!) it gave me a lot more grip in the steep areas that flip flops definitely don’t. This was really a fun trail and I would recommend it for beginners as well as more experienced hikers; there were even families with small children there today enjoying the beautiful summer day.