Albion Through the Years

Earlier this month we went camping in one of our very favorite places - Albion Basin. It's a campground up in the Wasatch National Forest nestled within Alta Ski Area in the winter. It's cool in the summer heat, above the summer haze, abounding in wildflowers and deer and moose, and one of the prettiest places on earth.

We went up to Albion again this year with our most longstanding of camping buddies, the Knappenbergers. As we hiked and watched our kids and drank a few beers, it was easy to wax nostalgic about the many summer adventures we've spent on these acres with so many folks we dearly love.

Hike 1: Catherine's Pass

Catherine's is the pass that separates Big and Little Cottonwood Canyons. If you climb up from the Alta side, you look out over Brighton Ski Resort. It's crazy to realize how interconnected our mountains are from above when you're not limited by travel by vehicle - it would take 45+ minutes to drive between Alta and Brighton in the best of weather, and we made the hike in that or less. It's also crazy that I love this little turn in the path so much that I've photographed it for 10 years!

Ben, Cody, Sam 2010

The Cases, Jamie, WanYing (in baby carrier!) 2012

Sam leads the way, 2011

Sasha and Dad walk into the sunset, 2018

When you get up to the Catherine's saddle, you can see right into Millie lake on the Brighton side. It's a lovely place for a snack and a photo.

Sam, 2007

2011, WanYing not so sure about this whole thing

Apparently apples were the theme in 2012

WanYing, Sam, Apples 2012

Steve and Jamie (in case you didn't recognize us) 2012

Sam, 2018

Hike 2: Cecret Lake

Reportedly named by miners with poor spelling skills, this "secret" lake is a favorite in Little Cottonwood Canyon. When you're not up for a big hike, you're always up for a stroll to Cecret. And, yes, all photos must be taken on this particular rock.

I'm pretty sure this was our 2005 Christmas card photo

The boys sporting some sweet hair, 2007

Morningstars and Powells (Sasha in carrier), 2010

Sasha and Dad, 2018

Hike 3: Snowbird to Alta

Our very favorite hike is a big one. We drive down to Snowbird, take the tram up, and then hike across and down to Alta. It's the best!

Look at all of those little babies! 2005

Ben and Zack are still friends... although they don't hold hands anymore, 2007

Still great friends! 2018

We had 2 more blog-worthy memories made this year at Albion. The first is our semi-successful reenactment of our winter photo skiing at Cecret lake in April.

We all had a good chuckle at the "no swimming" sign in April

And here we are in August!

The second blog-worthy story came on our final evening of camping at Albion. Our friend Josh came up for the evening and remarked that he could go for a pizza. Keep in mind that the closest pizza was several miles down the mountain at Snowbird, so we were joking around about needing a delivery service. Eventually Josh said something about paying $100 for a pizza delivered to this remote campground.

A few minutes later, Ben says, "Were you serious about that $100 thing?"

Long story short, Ben embarked upon a 3 hour, 10 mile, $70 profit unicycle ride to Snowbird and back. At sundown we started to get a little worried about him and Josh drove down to make sure he was doing ok (there's no cell coverage at Albion). The kid has grit.

And that pizza, reheated over the fire, was some of the finest I've ever had.