Ebay J Hamilton

Albion Meadows to Cecret Lake: Miners in Little Cottonwood Canyon most likely misspelled the name 'Cecret' and it stuck.

I used to hike to Cecret Lake often in my teenage years and early twenties. I even skipped class once or twice while hanging out with the salamanders at Cecret Lake. But it had been years (at least a decade) since I had done this hike and initially wanted to do the shorter version where you park at the lot near the lake. Unfortunately there was a 30+ min wait for the lot and a $12 fee so I decided to add on the extra miles and do the longer, Albion Meadows to Cecret Lake hike. This was the right choice due to the beauty of the Albion meadow. The wildflowers were just starting to bloom, another week or so and the meadow will be blanketed in blooms. It's about 2-miles from the parking lot at Alta before you'll connect to the Cecret Lake trail, but it's a beautiful hike and worth the extra miles. There was overcast for much of my hike, and once I connected with the Cecret Lake trail it started to hail before turning to rain. Cecret Lake is popular and often busy, but the rain dispersed the crowd and there were far less people to navigate around once I reached the switchbacks. The switchbacks are probably the most challenging part of this hike. You gain a good amount of elevation but once you reach the top it's more than worth it.

Cecret Lake is a part of our watershed and provides a good amount of the drinking water that we end up using here in the valley. And it's a beautiful little lake. I rested up and refueled before making my way back down. It's very rocky on the switchbacks and as usual I suggest bringing hiking poles. I saw numerous butterflies, birds and even a few deer on my way back down.

Cecret Lake is an alpine lake with an elevation of 9,875 feet. Albion Meadows to Cecret Lake is 4.5 miles out-and-back, with an elevation gain of 1,217 feet.