Kamping with Kiddos: Martha and Mary Lake in July

We have done this hike with the kids every year since the twins were one! It's about a mile and a half up and you get a fantastic reward at the top with the most spectacular mountain lakes. I like to do this one near the beginning of the summer because sometimes the lake drops significantly by the end of the summer. You start the hike in the parking lot of Brighton Ski Resort up Big Cottonwood Canyon just east of Sandy, Utah. Make sure you take plenty of water because the trail is not very well shaded. KK, my 3 year old made it almost half way up, and then she pooped out and went into the backpack. We let the kids take off their shoes and dip their feet in the water. Though that's probably not allowed since it's a watershed.

The nice part of this hike is you do all the work on the way up and then you can eat lunch or a snack and then it's downhill all the way back to the car when everyone is tired. We also found some fun snow patches that the kids went sliding down. We've often seen moose and other fun wildlife, though I'm never excited to get too close to a moose, they freak me out!

Here's a few pictures of us over the years with the kiddos. It's fun to see how our family has changed!