Dog Lake

The kids had a couple days off from school this week, so I took today off work. We all headed up Millcreek Canyon to the Big Water Trail up to Dog Lake. We figured we’ve got the dog, they’ve got the lake–it’s a perfect combination!

We’ve missed the peak of the fall foliage, but the mountain is still quite resplendent. It was a beautiful day out, though a little chilly to begin with. We didn’t notice after a while, partly because Sam likes to climb mountains even faster than Richard!

Dog lake is about three miles up, along the ridge between Millcreek and Big Cottonwood Canyons. There are actually two ways to get there, but only one trail allows dogs. It took us a awhile, but we finally found it.

Sam is a black lab, so we were a bit surprised that he’s not really a water dog. He doesn’t mind getting wet, but it’s not his favorite thing by any stretch. He was happy enough to chase sticks into the lake, but if we threw them too far out he would just let them go. One time he went too far out and had to swim a little to get back, and that was it for him.
He wasn’t about to chase anything more than about five feet from shore. The important thing is that he didn’t want to stop playing, in any case. We’d still be up there now if he had his way. But we were big meanies and made him come back down with us. We thought he would be a little tired after that, but no. He pulled us all the way down the mountain, too. And when we got home he was still ready to play.

Of course now that we’re home and had lunch and everyone gone their own direction he’s finally crashing. That’s our Sam: play hard, sleep hard, live life with gusto.

Millcreek Canyon has some really nice trails. You have to pay a little per car to get in, but it was well worth it for the gorgeous scenery, fresh mountain air, and the last hurrah of fall colors. It’s really a treat to have trails this nice so close to home.