I love this weather!! It’s been in the mid 80′s for a few days now… and has no signs of it stopping. I love it. Perfect hiking weather.

Saturday I was able to head up Big Cottonwood Canyon with my dad for a nice little drive. We were originally wanting to drive all the way to Park City… but the road is still closed at the top. So that was a bit of a bummer, but we decided we should do a small little hike. So, we went to Brighton Ski Resort and make the hike up to Twin Lakes.

Firstly, I didn’t know that it was a man made lake. There’s a huge ol’ dam up there! I had no idea. Secondly… the lake was still half frozen!! I was surprised at the amount of snow that was up there still. But it was still very nice up there.

It wasn’t even close to the best conditions, photography wise. But… we wanted a picture to prove that we were up there… for memories sake. So, I took a few shots and made it into a pano and also made a color and B&W version.

Jeremy | Sur-Real Photography

Today I went and took a nice little hike up City Creek Canyon, which is where Memory Grove is located in SLC, Utah.

Memory Grove is a beautiful park dedicated to all those who have served and fallen in past wars, but resided in Utah. I noticed memorials from the Civil War to the World Wars. I didn’t see any memorials for the current wars, but that doesn’t mean they aren’t there. All of the memorials are well kept, and beautiful pieces of work.

City Creek Canyon is a natural preserve protected by the state of Utah. It’s very well maintained and all traffic is controlled. So it’s a pretty much guarantee that everything will stay in pristine condition. The actual hiking trail is for foot traffic only (which includes dogs). Up above the hiking trail is a paved road that is one way, for cars, and available for bicyclists also.

Farther up the canyon there are a couple lakes that I think would make for some excellent photo opportunities. I’m not sure how long the hike is though, but one day (hopefully soon) I will hike up to the lakes and see what it’s like up there. The water throughout the entire canyon is crystal clear and freezing cold. It’s actually a drinking source for SLC, which is another reason why the canyon is protected.

Anyways, here are two shots from the hike. I have more, but can’t decide if I like them enough to edit them.

Thanks for reading,

Jeremy | Sur-Real Photography

EDIT:: So, after further investigation… those “lakes” up there, aren’t really lakes. One is a reservoir and the other, I don’t even know what I would call it. The satellite picture of the reservoir shows it completely dried up. But with all the rain/snow we’ve been getting, I’m sure there would be some water in it. But I just don’t know if I want to hike to just see a reservoir. We’ll see.

Another Edit: Here’s a shot of a Dandelion that I edited a couple days ago.

I have a lot more photos that I need to go through… but I’m bored so figured I’d post the ones that I have. And no, I’m not bored enough to edit the remaining photos, so don’t ask.

A few weeks ago a friend of mine wanted some new photos, and I wanted something to do… so I said yes. We headed out at the wonderful hour of 5:30… AM. Why that un-Godly hour? Well… according to The Golden Hour Calculator it said between 5:30 and 6:30 was the best time to take some shots. But, what I forgot to take into account… are the massive mountains to the East that blocks the sun, till roughly 6:20! Haha. Oh well, we were still able to get some good shots, before and after the sun peaked over the lovely mountains.

Anywho, enough rambling. Here are some of the shots.

Thanks for reading, and thanks Mitch for being a willing model.

Jeremy | Sur-Real Photography