Yes, indeed, what a difference a year can make.

Uinta Mountains hiker extraordinaire Cordell Andersen created the attached photo illustration showing how snowmelt is roughly two months ahead of where it was in 2011. Just about every mountain thoroughfare is open and so are the low-elevation trails.

That does not mean, however, every trail is going to be open this Memorial Day weekend. Despite the small snow totals from the winter and recent hot spells, snow can still be found above 8,000 feet and trails at that elevation will be iffy.

Any...

Walked up City Creek Canyon lately? How about a mosey up Emigration Canyon or putting your boots onto a trail in Big or Little Cottonwood canyons?

If so, you're enjoying the trails in what the website for National Geographic says is one of the best U.S. cities for hiking.

National Geographic singled out Salt Lake City on its list, saying Utah's capitol "may very well be the easiest major American city to get out of, which is why it attracts a large population of outdoor-minded folk."

The list highlighted

Davis County will be celebrating National Trails Day on June 2 at several spots along the Denver and Rio Grande Western Rail Trail.

Games, prizes, refreshments, doggie prizes, trail information and bike safety information will be available at all sites from 10 a.m. to noon. Guests are encouraged to wear superhero costumes (yes, that's for real), and leashed pets are welcome.

Locations and extra attractions are as follows:

• Clinton — 2300 N. 1000 West: Superhero costume contest, scavenger hunt
• Clearfield — Steed Park, 300 N. 1000 West: Wheel of Fortune, fishing
• Layton — Ellison Park Elementary, 750 N. Cold Creek Way: Geocaching, other games...

Goblin Valley isn't a huge park, but what it lacks in size it makes up for in uniqueness and incredible variety.

Our first visit there was in the middle of the day, a hot time to hike in south-central Utah even in the spring, and we focused on the Valley of the Goblins and its otherworldly collection of terra-cotta-colored rock.

It was discovered, I read in the brochure, by a couple of cowboys looking for cattle. Can you imagine being that guy, just riding along in the desert when all of a sudden you ride onto the surface of Mars?

The valley could be an incredible place for kids. Visitors can crawl up and over all the rocks and into at least one secluded secret cave. ...

Earlier this week, Miners Trail in Emigration Canyon was bursting with blooms.

The highlight, without question, was the aroma wafting from sprays of purshia that fill the sunny, south-facing slopes early in the trail.

Sniff for spices and honey and follow your nose to the cream-colored flowers.

Then keep your eyes peeled for the sausage-shaped clusters of white flowers bouncing from the chokecherry branches.

Ever heard of the small town of Kanarraville, Utah?

Astrology buffs have, albeit recently. The Iron County town is calling itself the "Sweet Spot' for the eclipse arriving Sunday.

People with telescopes and just eye protection will park along Spring Creek Road for the event.

I hiked outside Kanarraville in 2010. If you want to spend some extra time outdoors before or after the eclipse, go to Spring Creek Canyon.

Spring Creek Canyon is a wilderness a...

I wrote it in the hike description and I meant it:

This is an epic day hike because of the distance and the reward.

Druid Arch is one of the strangest-looking landmarks in Utah. That's saying something.

The trail to it is also the first Hike of the Week in the Needles District of Canyonlands National Park.

Click here for the full hike details.

Here are the vital statistics:

Hiking time » 8 hours

Rarely has a blog post about hiking packed in so much.

A. Breeze Harper wrote about her trip to Utah and hike through Bryce Canyon National Park. She used it to discuss nursing her daughter, how few blacks visit the national parks, the beauty of Utah and how nature can unite.

The whole post, written on OutdoorAfro.com, is worth your time to read. Harper, a doctoral degree candidate at University of California-Davis, also made the embedde...

The American Hiking Society is looking for people to volunteer their vacations on one of 50-trail building projects. Go to AmericanHiking.org for a full list of the projects.

There's one project in Utah. The Society needs volunteers to re-establish the Big Bear and Little Bear trails in the Manti La Sal National Forest near Orangeville. This is not a one-afternoon project. The Society warns this is...

Last weekend, I laced up my hiking boots and headed for my very first hike of the week.

I headed for Sunset Trail near Farmington, described as a fairly easy, quick hike up Farmington Canyon.

My hiking partner, newly minted Tribune Close-up editor Sheena McFarland signaled the first sign of trouble the night before, when she heard the road had been washed out by flooding and never reopened. Or maybe it wasn't.

We decided we might as well check it out. Turns out, yes, the road is closed, apparently several miles from the trail...

How many hikes start at a zoo, can take you into some scenery and still provide you a view of an urban skyline?

Reporter Erin Alberty found such a trail for this week's Hike of the Week. Click here for Alberty's instructions to hike in Emigration Canyon to Wagner Spring and the hilltop.

Here are the trail's vital statistics.

Wagner Spring and hilltop

Hiking time » 1 hour

Round-trip miles » 2.6 miles

Elevation gain » 850 feet

Difficulty » Easy

Let's call it a good weekend for Utah hikers.

A woman from Maine survived with a broken leg and no food for four days in Garfield County.

In Millard County, six teenage boys hiked from their campground then got stuck on some ledges. They were able to call for help and a helicopter hauled them to safety the next morning.

The woman and the boys all could have died. There were some things they did wrong to get into those positions in the first place, b...

In the latest Hike of the Week, reporter Erin Alberty goes to the always-popular Millcreek Canyon.

From there, Alberty tells you how to go from Bowman Fork to Baker Pass. Don't be in too much of a hurry.

The trail has a modest length, but the elevation change is 3,300 feet. Click here to read the full details on the hike.

Here are the vital statistics.

Baker Pass

Hiking time » 6 hours

Round trip miles » 6.5 miles

Elevation gain » 3,300 feet

Di...

Those of you who enjoy our front row seats to developments in the outdoor rec industry will be interested to read Tribune reporter Dawn House's story on the uncertain future of the Outdoor Retailer convention's semiannual home in Salt Lake City.

House reports that the convention is outgrowing the Salt Palace, and organizers are looking at other locations, including Denver, Las Vegas, Anaheim, Calif., and Orlando, Fla. Read the story for discussion of the pros and cons of these competing cities.

The convention's contract with the Salt Palace expires in 2014.

...

Every spring I get pumped for hiking season by planning big hikes that will require a fitness level a few notches above my post-hibernation blobbies. Fortunately, Trib reporter Lya Wodraska has some work-out tips to get ready for an early summer of hiking.

Core and ankle strength are the biggies to avoid injury.

Here are some of the hikes I want to start preparing for:

• Notch Peak out by the Nevada border
• Timpanogos
• Neff Canyon to Green Canyon and down to Mill Creek via Desolation Trail (the downhill is actually the dickens on this one — tough on th...

Glacier lilies have sprung up in swaths along Killyons Canyon. I saw bajillions of them Monday morning on the east slope of the drainage. They are especially profuse for the first half mile, tucked under the brush. But for the very best patches, look for a steep little trail spur heading up to your right about a quarter mile from the trailhead (where the main trail veers uphill, away from the creek for a short jog). It's pretty obvious; there aren't other trail spurs like this. Go up the path — maybe 10 yards — to a big, open area of juvenile gambel oak. The path continues through a carpet of the short,...

Canyonlands National Park — If it's April in Utah, I find a reason to drive to southeast Utah.

And why not? The temperatures are warm but not blistering hot. All the shops and restaurants are open but not yet crowded with tourists. You can find a weekend camping spot without using your firstborn child as collateral. And you can find two things you probably won't see in fall hikes: desert water and blooming flowers.

For this year's journey, I made my first visit to the Needles District of Canyonlands National Park. Cacti were sporting red blossoms all over the district.

On a 15-mile hike I made Saturday, I came across some backcountry hikers with wa...

One of the ironies of hiking is it often involves a lot of driving. You have to travel to a trail head just to get out of the car and walk.

Author Michael Restivo reminds us that hiking can require rappelling, too. Restivo visited the Moab area on a hiking and canyoneering trip and wrote about the experience on the website Seattle Backpackers Magazine.

Restivo, who also writes on his own travel blog, MikeOffTheMap, wrote with real joy about his Utah trip.

From the

With this year's early spring, a few blooms already have appeared in the foothills.

On Monday I found some nice, thick patches of Utah Sweetvetch on the slopes near the Emigration Canyon trailhead of the Bonneville Shoreline Trail. Look for the pinkish or magenta pea-like flowers sprouting out of dark green foliage. I don't think I've seen much Sweetvetch before May, but many are in bloom right now.

On those trails, which are across from Donner Hill, you'll also find carpets of Oregon Grape lighting up the gambel oak groves with clusters of yellow flowers. This plant may be pretty familiar to you; it's widely used in landscaping.

Utah Ladyfinger Milkvetch is ...

We don't usually think of the Great Wall of China as a hiking trail, but a lot of people use it as one.

Salt Lake City spouses Erin Alberty and Craig Buschmann hiked a stretch of the wall on a trip there in January. The couple went from Jiankou southeast to Mutianyu.

Alberty, who is a Tribune crime reporter, said just getting to the wall was an adventure. Jiankou is a remote, unrepaired section of the wall.

"To get there, you have to take a taxi to a farm field, walk through a village and hike up a mounta...