Hiking Albion Basin

Today we went hiking in an area we'd never ventured into before: Alta Ski Resort. Our hike was in the area behind the first ridge you see here:

We'd heard all about these hikes before, and that they were really popular (no kidding! See all the people on the trail here?)

It took some creative framing sometimes to keep ski lifts and people out of the shots.
But it turns out that the areas cleared for ski runs are just BURSTING with wildflowers! So we decided to go check it out. And it was quite the show!



We hiked mostly through meadows in the "supreme lift" and "Ceret Lift" area until we came to some switchbacks

that lead past a waterfall:

and up and over a ridge to Cecret Lake:


That mountain behind the lake in the second photo is Sugarloaf, at the top of one of the most well-known runs at Alta.

The lake was full of these funny looking salamanders swimming just under the surface:


And the views were incredible! (Sing it with me now: "The Hills Are Alive, With the Sound of Music....")