Donut Falls

I'm pretty sure I've mentioned how I really like hiking and how I had planned to take the kids hiking one a week through the summer.  We haven't quite made it, and even when we have been out and about in the mountains, the hikes haven't always been real "hikes."  Today, however, we went up Big Cottonwood Canyon to hike to Donut Falls.  I read about these falls on a site called, "Family Friendly Hikes in Utah," or something like that, and I was encouraged.  The falls looked beautiful, the trail wasn't that long, and the website said a lot of the hiking was through trees so it was shaded.  It sounded perfect, so off we went this morning, after packing a lunch and a cooler to put food in as I planned to stop at Trader Joe's on the way home.  Bonus!

The hike was, indeed, beautiful and not too difficult.  The children and I talked as we walked along, were surprised by chipmunks and squirrels, and passed many other hikers.  Upon arrival, however, we were fairly disappointed.  At the trailhead and at several points along the way, there were signs saying, "This is a watershed area.  Stay out of the water!"  We had come prepared to be hiking in water and were wearing our water sandals, but were very conscientious about staying out of the water.  When we arrived at the falls, we discovered that the donut part of Donut Falls, the part where the water passes through a round opening like a donut has, was way above us, and would require hiking through the water over rocks to get to it.  Trying to be respectful of all the signs and people's drinking water, we didn't go up.  But as a result, we didn't see what all the internet pictures showed.  We were obedient instead.  And because it was Donut Falls, we stopped at Day's on our way out of town and bought donuts which we ate at the base of the falls.

There is another falls, Hidden Falls, that is also up Big Cottonwood Canyon, off the same road you take to get to Donut Falls.  The same website said it just a short walk off the trail and could almost be seen from the road.  We stopped at several places on our way down the canyon trying to find it, but for us, it remained hidden.  The children were glad.  They didn't want to do any more hiking.

We did make a stop at Trader Joe's and spent way too much money.  The children kept putting things in the cart that I didn't really approve of, but they seemed to think were absolutely necessary.  I had thought ahead and brought a cooler to put frozens in, and so we made it home with all our purchases intact.  With the exception of the JoJos, some of which were opened and consumed before we'd even gotten on the freeway.

 

 

 

Here's what we saw,

but here's what we expected to see.

BIG difference.

This is inside the hole the water passes through.

Eating donuts.

Lots of other people were scrambling around on the falls, 

but I couldn't let us do that.

Cutest baseball playing mango I've seen in a long time.

Perhaps ever.