One of our favorite summer hikes is in a canyon only about a 30 minute drive from home.  Located in Diamond Fork canyon, there are two trails that lead from the Three Forks trailhead.  The less traveled hike is also beautiful, following a tiny creek, Second Water,  along a pretty drainage.  But we like to go early in the morning to beat the traffic on the well traveled trail along Sixth Water Creek, crossing the bridge to Fifth Water, and hiking all the way to the hot springs at about mile 4.5.  If we leave early enough, we can be swimming in creek water warmed by natural hot springs by 9 a.m.

Last Wednesday, we headed out to the hot springs for the first time this summer.  The flow of Sixth Water creek is controlled by a reservoir high in the mountains above the creek, and it was roaring this year.

Unfortunately, right after I took this picture, my camera ran out of battery — someday I’ll remember to check this before I go out.  I want to share some pictures with you from another year, though, because this is a great little hike you might like to do with your kids sometime.  As you can see, someone has built walls around the pools and even piped mixes so that there are pools about mid-thigh deep that you can sit or swim in.

There are little waterfalls to stand under, swim around and slide down.

We play in the lower pools, but the higher pools are warmer for soaking, so if you’ve left the kids at home, try those out.  After you’ve played in the water as long as you like, the hike back to the car takes only about one hour.  This is really a great short hike to take early on a weekday morning so that you can have the little pools all to yourself.

Do you visit a local hot springs or swimming hole?  Do you enjoy swimming in natural waters, or are you a feet soaker like I am?  Please leave me a comment.

We are continuing our summer hiking with local trips during the week.  We are lucky enough to live close to many different hiking trails, and are able to find some places that are not closed due to forest fires still.  There are huge fires burning to the south and west of us, but in the mountains just north of us there are still some places we haven’t explored, and others we would like to visit again.  This trail begins at the Rock Canyon Trailhead on the north side of Provo.  We hiked the beginning of this trail about a month ago as part of our “Best Hike Ever.”  We wanted to try again at a cooler time of day and see if we could reach Squaw Peak before it got too hot.

The beginning of the trail is a fairly gentle climb over a wide, well-used trail.  About 2 miles into the hike, a trail leaves to the north (left) with a rock that says Squaw Peak Trail marking the trail.

From here, the trail climbs fairly steeply for two miles to the top of Squaw Peak, where you can see all of Utah County spread out below like a map.  From other trip reports on the Internet, I was not sure how much exposure there would be on this hike, especially on the ridge before the summit.  I promised myself that if I felt that it was dangerous, I would turn around before we saw the end of the trail, especially since Shandy was not with us.  I think the “promise to bail” is an important factor in my bravery.  I state conditions under which I will turn around before I go, and then I am brave enough to start.  Rarely do the conditions come about that I have to turn around, but when they do, I already have my own permission to quit.  However, on this trail there is no exposure before the final summit, and the peak is wide enough that there did not seem to be any danger to sit there and eat our snack and enjoy the view.

Lulu loved looking from this place.  She said it looked like a really, really good map.

As we hiked back down the trail, the butterflies were out in full force.  At the water’s edge, Eden was able to lure several onto her hands, and two even kept her company down the trail a while.

We started from the car at 7:40 a.m., and with time spent snacking and checking things out along the way we were still back to the car before 12:00.  This was a great hike for kids who are strong hikers, and the view from the top was well worth seeing.  If you don’t think your kids could make it all the way, even a short distance along this trail is worth the trip.

Now . . . to find the next spot.  There are so many wild fires in Utah right now, our hiking plans have to be made around what is not burning and has not burnt.  Oh, for some rain! (But not on the days I want to be outdoors, right?)  Hope you are enjoying your week.  Do you sneak out for weekday hikes, or is that something you save only for the weekends?  Please leave me a comment below.