Cecret Lake, Little Cottonwood Canyon, Salt Lake City, Utah

The tots and I met up with our friends from Rocky Mountain Mammas Meetup to explore the secret that is Cecret Lake. Above Alta ski resort in Little Cottonwood Canyon lies the Albion Basin. A beautiful high altitude area guarded on all sides by soaring cliffs and pines. 

In the winter this area is extreme skiers paradise, but luckily for us there was none of the 50 average annual feet of snow on the ground yet. 

I had read about the Cecret Lake hike in Greg Witt’s book, 60 Hikes Within 60 Miles Salt Lake City. From the excellent information in that book I had concluded that the hike to Cecret Lake would be flat and easy. Surprise! It was not that flat, especially toward the end and not that easy hauling an extra  forty pounds of pack and baby. 

Little g constantly said “I wanna WAAK!” to which I replied, “Sorry, your legs are just too short to keep up.” Did I mention it was steep toward the end?

Big E, on the other hand, ran the entire way up and back along with his buddies from the Rocky Mountain meetup crew. He loved building cairns along the way, taking mental photos and throwing rocks into the water. Unfortunately he got so distracted by those fun activities he neglected to answer when nature called. Luckily I found a pair of dry pants in the bottom of my diaper bag back at the truck, and even though they were size two, he was able to stretch into them (thank you elastic)!

To get to the trailhead, drive ten miles up Little Cottonwood Canyon to the Albion Basin entrance booth. Follow the dirt road another 2.5 miles to find the trailhead parking lot on your left.