Avenue Twin Peaks, Wasatch Foothills, Utah Nov 2012

I feel regardless of your affiliations and beliefs, holidays are time to be spent with family. I spent the whole weekend with my family, including hiking with my daughter on her first ascent of a peak. We have, after instant winter, begun to experience a high pressure ridge that is just keeping out all of the storms. Plus we have been upper 50's during the day, so just really unseasonable weather. We started on the Bonneville Shoreline Trail, and headed up the trail. This has some good climbs without it being too steep. We climbed and climbed, taking a few breaks so my daughter would not be worn out, and finally reached the ridge. After a few snacks, we continued on and made the final push for the top. Avenue Twin Peaks are 2 miles to the peak, and it is about 1100 feet of elevation gain to the top. So it is a great workout. I think this was a great experience for my daughter, she really was loving being up there. We crossed over from the north peak to the south peak and had a full panoramic view of the Salt Lake valley. After soaking it in for a while, we made our way down, just having fun all the way to the car. I am very proud of my daughter, she did so well and never quit. This was by far the latest in the year I have ever gone hiking here in the Wasatch. By this time I usually have switched to just winter activities at this point. But when life hands you lemons, you make lemonade. I love hiking, and it was a treat to be on trail this late in the year. The only bummer was looking at the inversion that was in the valley, realizing that when the adventure was over, we had to go down in that gunky soup. I hope you all had a great holiday.