Lisa Falls (Easy, .26 mile round-trip!)

Description:  I drove past this Little Cottonwood Canyon trail for many years before a friend told me about it. It is a very short, very easy, shady hike to a refreshing waterfall, and a great way to cool off on a hot day. Even small children will love the short hike. No dogs, though, and No trailhead restrooms.    There is one geocache along the way.

Directions to Trailhead: From the intersection  of Wasatch Boulevard and Big Cottonwood Canyon road, (The 7-11 Store) head South up Little Cottonwood Canyon 6.7 miles to the small turn-off on your left. (There is also a turn-off on the right, if the other one is full, but you will have to cross the road on a curve, which is nice to avoid if possible.)   The turn-off is between mile markers 6 and 7, just around the bend from a large brown pole with a traffic camera mounted on it.  The gps coordinates of the trailhead parking are: N 40* 34.364' W 111* 43.596'.  There is not a trailhead sign, but there is only one trail, and it is to the right of a dry stream bed. (Don't worry, there will be water at the Falls!)  Just hike up the short trail, enjoy the cool spray of the water mist, or go ahead and dunk your head in the stream!  I had the place to myself at 7 A.M. but I'll bet it gets rather crowded on a hot summer day. There is plenty of space and there are plenty of rocks to have a nice picnic meal.  If you are a geocacher, be sure to find the Lisa Falls Micro Cache: http://www.geocaching.com/geocache/GC1CRNC_lisa-falls?guid=3af3e3ba-07f4-4745-921a-616942410f7a.  I also found a unique cache down the road a bit called Shaker-slc Cache: 
http://www.geocaching.com/geocache/GCZ684_shaker-slc?guid=6c0012a9-7d4a-414e-aa34-9109cf772cc2.  A good way to get to this cache without a lot of bushwhacking is to first go to a fairly large hut made out of sticks at coordinates: N 40* 34.350' W111* 43.765'.

The shady trail.

Almost there.

Lisa Falls

Flowers below the Falls.

                        

Jack's Mountain Mailboxes (Moderate, 3.2 Miles round-trip)

Description: This is a fun hike I found in the Salt Lake Tribune Hike of the Week archives from May 28, 2010.  This hike is not on standard topo maps but is listed as Jack's Mountain on a Wasatch Front Trail map that I purchased at REI.  Two mailboxes were placed on a mountain peak in 1995 as a memorial to a toddler named Jack.  The mailboxes are full of Journals containing comments of people who have done this hike.  The hike starts above Foothill Blvd, near the 'H' on the mountain (for Highland High School) I expected the hike to be just rocks and sagebrush, but after the first 1/2 mile, there are beautiful meadows and abundant wildflowers,( at least in the Spring!)

I also expected to see lots of snakes, as there have been reports of many snakes this year on other trails. But I did not see a single snake. Perhaps they were all over in Rattlesnake Gulch for a convention!  I did see one jackrabbit though.  I would recommend avoiding hiking in the afternoon, because the heat would be unbearable in the summer, although the lights of the city would look awesome at night, so a sunset hike might be nice.  There are no trailhead restrooms. Dogs are allowed on leash. Max. Elevation 6, 475 Feet.

Directions to trailhead:  If entering Foothill Drive from I 80, turn right at I think the second stoplight, Thunderbird Drive (About 2200 South).  Drive .2 miles and turn right on Scenic Drive, then left on Lakeline Drive and continue to the end and park in the cul-de-sac.
 (GPS coordinates N 40* 43.738' W 111* 48.379')

The Hike:  Enter the Bonneville Shoreline Trail from the Northwest part of the cul-de-sac. Follow the trail West for about .3 miles until you see a large black post, (GPS coordinates N40* 43.762' W111* 48.677) Near the post, take the steep trail to the right that will take you up above the rock 'H' on the mountain.  There are a few trails at this point, but take the one that goes northeast about .2 miles where the trail takes a sharp right. (GPS coordinates N40* 43.891' W111* 48.565") Follow the trail up to the ridge and continue along the ridge to the large Communications Tower. (GPS Coordinates N40* 43.976 W111* 48.141) The tower is painted camo, but trust me, you won't need the GPS coordinates to find it!  From here, the trail goes downhill for a short distance, then climbs up to the summit, which is 1.6 miles from the trailhead.  Just before the summit, a trail goes off to the left to the mailboxes.  (GPS Coordinates N40* 44.262 W111* 47.748).  

I did not spend a lot of time at the summit, as thunderstorms were rolling in, so I got off the ridge and took a different way back on a trail below the ridge to the South.  I came out in Carrigan Canyon, very near where I started, but saw a sign on the way out that said this was private property.
Geocaches I found:
Peak Above Beaniebabies: http://www.geocaching.com/geocache/GCHYJ9_peak-above-beany-babies?guid=eb2dc212-4152-4adf-9e3e-3d3480387d5f
The Ten Commandments: http://www.geocaching.com/geocache/GC2X9M4_the-ten-commandments?guid=9f0943da-2013-43e8-b7c2-602a158ba390

Side view of the 'H' on the mountain.

These wildflowers apparently turn pink as they wilt.

One of many views of the Salt Lake Valley.

I had to laugh when I saw this camo-painted tower. maybe it is harder to spot by enemy aircraft?

Sego Lilly.  (One of the few flowers I could name!)

You can't beat nature's own flower arrangements!

Two mailboxes full of interesting journals.

These flowers made me hungry for buttered popcorn.

A hand-made journal with hand-made paper inside.