In January of 2017, Chase and I tried to snowshoe Dog Lake Trail in Utah when I was about 20 weeks pregnant. Chase was worried that I would get my heart rate too high, and didn’t make it all the way to Dog Lake. We disagreed all the time about keeping my heart rate at a decent level, because exerting too much would take precious blood supply away from the baby. However, your body makes almost 50% more blood during pregnancy.
Snowshoeing takes some effort, and it helps if you have good snow shoes or you have crampons if there’s not a ton of snow.
Fast forward to October that same year, and I wanted to try hiking the Dog Lake trail again. This time we actually made it, with our 4 month old in tow!
It was still between 40-50 degrees but as we got closer to Dog Lake it felt like it dropped to about 30-40 degrees.
Alltrials.com lists this hike as a moderate 4.7 mile out-n-back hike. The hike starts out as a decent climb, levels off for a few miles, then starts to climb again towards the end of the hike.
You can get to Dog Lake from either Big Cottonwood Canyon or Millcreek Canyon.
We went up Big Cottonwood Canyon to get to the trailhead: Dog Lake Mill D North Fork Trail.
You start off walking up the side of the mountain, but then end up hiking near a stream. It was really pretty with the fall leaves, and we didn’t see too many hikers on the trail.
You get to a fork in the trail and can head up to Desolation Lake or continue to Dog Lake.
It’s always wise to let baby out, move around and get some wiggles out. It was really pretty, and started to get cold as we sat for a few minutes. The hike down went a lot faster and started to get cold due to the sun setting.
Overall it was a great hike. We do like to incorporate water (either a waterfall or lake) while hiking, which makes it a better ending to a hike.
This is a hike that is good for snowshoeing without constant worry of an avalanche, but it is better to be aware and prepared for something bad to happen, then to not be prepared at all.
Have you hiked Dog Lake before?
P.S. Don’t forget to check out my Shop!
P.P.S. Check out this hiking trail.
