There’s a particular kind of magic in a weeknight that ends with your legs a little tired, your camera roll a little fuller, and your circle of people a little bigger. That was last night.
We pointed our boots up toward Catherine’s Pass in Little Cottonwood Canyon for our latest Hiking Happy Hour, and this one packed a punch. Don’t let the mileage fool you. It’s short, but it does not mess around. The trail climbs steadily from the trailhead, and by the time we crested the pass, everyone had earned that first big exhale at the top.
And what a reward it was. Even this late in the season, the wildflowers were still putting on a show, splashing color across the slopes the whole way up. Then the trail opened up to those sweeping views of Lake Catherine tucked into the basin below, the kind of alpine blue that makes you stop mid-sentence and just look. Cameras came out. So did the “okay, this is why we do this” grins.
But if you’ve hiked with us before, you know the trail is only half of it. The best part of a Hiking Happy Hour is the “happy hour,” the part where trail conversations spill into real ones, where new faces become familiar ones, and where nobody hikes back down as a stranger.
We carried that energy straight to dinner at Localz Bistro, swapping stories and refueling together after the climb. And because a great night deserves a sweet ending, we capped it off with Kong cones from Macey’s, because yes, ice cream absolutely counts as a recovery food.
Short trail, big views, better company. That’s the whole formula, and last night nailed it.
To everyone who laced up and showed up: thank you for making the mountains feel like home. Catherine’s Pass gave us the peak, and you all were the people.
