Day 5- Great Western and Lake Bonneville Shoreline Trails

I started this hike from South Fork Park outside Provo, UT. There were no signs but I think that I hopped on the Great Western Trail. It was a very remote trail and the path has areas that were barely perceptible. It was true exploration although I was a little nervous about running into a snake because the underbrush was so thick. Their grasshoppers here are very loud and sound some like a rattler when they are getting ready to fly so I was always checking my feet and hoping for the best.

Looking down on the park, you can just barely make out the white Yukon parked down there. It was a quick incline up the mountain and I was out of breath.

This part of the trail had caught back up with the river and was running almost parallel with it. The types of plants growing down here were a lot different. This thicket was low to the ground and I had to crouch down to get through it.

This is my new favorite plant. I am not sure what it is, I am guessing that it is some kind of thistle.

Warning: This next picture is gross but for the sake of science and curiosity I had to take a picture of it. I agree with Clay now that I should have used something to reference this dung's size, but all I had with me was my hands so I will estimate. This pile o' dung was approximately 10 inches long by 6 inches wide. What they heck poops like this???

It is amazing to see all these different shades of green in one place.

I was coming out of the trees into a clearing and saw the back of a sign (the first sign I had seen since entering the park.) I walked around it and to my surprise I had been trespassing all afternoon,YIKES! I am not a rule-breaker and I have to admit I was kinda freaked out, needless to say I headed back a ways where I had seen an access to the main road where I had driven into the park and hopped onto the main road to head back. No voluntary trespassing for me!

I did not let my worry over trespassing ruin my hiking lunch. I plopped down by the stream to enjoy a GIANT gingersnap cookie from Great Harvest. If you are not jealous, you should be because this was an awesome moment.

You see these lines of rock coming down all the mountains here. I got a closer look from the road. The larger formations at the top break of into smaller bits and just fall down the mountain leaving these lines. It sounds beautiful if you are standing there because this type of rock makes a "tink tink" sound almost like a wind chime as they bump into each other.

This is the view from the other side of the park, partially up the mountain looking down at the very green South Fork Park.

When I got back into the car from South Fork Park I traveled back to Nun's park and hit the Provo River Parkway again heading toward Bridal Veil Falls in search of the Bonneville Shoreline trail. I FOUND it!

This trail had a lot more elevation and climbed quickly. I couldn't wait to see the views after getting above the treeline!

Clay and I had seen this formation from the road but it looks so much more amazing up close.

There are a lot of trees hanging off the side of the mountains here that look like these. The dirt has been eroded and exposed the roots clinging onto the rock that was left behind.

Down below is the parking lot where our Yukon is parked. The road heading into the distance goes to Provo.

You can see how thin the trail is here. There are some crazy/brave mountain bikers that were tearing up the trail. I ran down the trail after getting lost at the top and I was worried that I wouldn't make it down before dark. I came around a corner and heard a biker coming up so I jumped off the trail to get out of the way and right into a tree, I hugged it while they passed then hopped back on the trail.

Back to my ride in Provo Canyon Glen Park just in time for sunset!