March 10 2014
Well rested, my mom headed south on I-15 for the four hour trek from Idaho Falls ID to Salt Lake City Utah, where we will spend a week exploring the natural wonders of the Great Salt Lake Desert, the vibrant downtown of the city's desert oasis and scale the mountains to step onto the 'Greatest Snow on Earth' - Utah's Wasatch Mountains and Park City (home to world-class athletes and the 2002 Olympics).
The sun pierced the clouds revealing speckled blue sky as we rolled down I-15 at 75 miles per hour, through the seemingly endless plains, looking to the mountains in the distance. It is hard to describe the wide open spaces you'll find in Montana-Idaho...to someone from the East Coast - it is so wild, so vast, that you cannot really understand how 'wide open' it is until you stand against the wind on the grassland, searching the horizon for miles and miles. This is contrasted with distant mountains that touch the sky, guardians of each valley, watchers of the gates of the mountains. This area is marked by dark volcanic rock - it is hard to believe these rocks were scattered thousands-to-millions of years ago...some of the boulders so perfectly placed they seem as if an architect carved them in stone mere days before you speed past them on the interstate.
An interactive trail through the 'Hells Half Acre' Volcanic Field, located just off the interstate allows passerby to stop from the hum of the highway and breathe in the peculiar wonders of this open country. The trail only covers a small section of the lava field; it is well worth the stop to see dark charcoal hued volcanic rocks and arid landscape that differs starkly from the terrain of the area around Island Park only 90 miles northeast.
A steady rain intermingled with blue sky, the mood a gray - cool spring-winter day, with temperatures in the 50s. Coming from Bozeman - 50 degrees is a virtual heatwave mind you. With each mile we entered the lonely stretch of beautiful misty mountains covered in snow, the mountains usurping the flatland, the road straddling the acreage of wide open ranch land and daunting mountains. I have always been attracted to mountains. There is something about their mystery and stark enigma that lures me into their spell, coupled with the seemingly hidden and forgotten stretches of highway frequented only by cows and the occasional car, the time is ripe to wander and to allow yourself to get lost in the rhythm of the land.
My mom and I cheered as we crossed into Utah - the state's slogan is 'Life Elevated' I visited Utah in 2004. I had spent the summer as a busser in Yellowstone, and decided to take the long way home, exploring the mountains and desert and canyon country of the most intricately diverse and colorful state of Utah. The state is home to five national parks, dozens of national monuments and countless state parks. In the north it has the best snow for skiing on earth (although Big Sky MT would disagree), the largest lake west of the Mississippi (Flathead Lake in MT is number 1 in size as a freshwater lake) to the arches carved by the hands of time and climate in Arches N.P. to the vast impenetrable Canyonlands and beyond...it is a journey set for wonder and magic.
We stopped for lunch at Wendy's in Logan UT before heading into the heart of Salt Lake City. For our first night in SLC we stayed in Motel 6 downtown, which is conveniently located within walking distance to major city attractions including Temple Square, museums, restaurants and shopping. After getting settled into our room, we ventured out into the shadow of the man-made sky scrapers of steel and God's formidable snow packed mountains of rock and dirt. It is a city marked mostly by the architecture of the 1970s (big buildings with a utilitarian clunky design); the architectural highlights of the city center include the historic buildings from the 1800s - 1930s art deco.
The tepid sixty-five degrees made us sing for joy. In Bozeman a heatwave is anything above 40 degrees. We do not see temps in the 60s until late April-May, even then the days are mostly cold until June. As a hiker who loves long walks and exploring a city on foot, the opportunity to walk five miles on the broad city sidewalks allowing the atmosphere of this city on the rise. Salt Lake City-Park City (40 minutes from downtown) hosted the 2002 Olympic Winter Games - quite a feat.
We stopped at the Downtown Visitor's Center, which is located adjacent to the Utah Museum of Modern Art. We loaded up on attraction brochures for Utah and Arizona, before pounding the pavement, touring the Creek Mall and Temple Square. Temple Square is the headquarters of the Mormon Religion - it is where their Temple is located along with museums, and the world famous Mormon Tabernacle Choir...the highlight of this area (for non-Mormons and Mormons alike) is the Family Tree Center which has billions of records to help trace your genealogy and dig into your roots. It is free and the researchers on staff are very helpful.
Mormonism is intrinsically connected with the fabric of Salt Lake City and the surrounding area. After facing persecution in Illinois and Missouri, the cult of Mormonism moved west under the leadership of Brigham Young. This hardy group of pioneers settled the great Salt Lake Desert in the 1840s. It seems a peculiar place to settled on the banks of the second saltiest body of water on earth (behind the dead sea), in a dry, unforgiving desert climate - marked by torrid hot summers and frigid winters. The Mormons knew that many would not want to contend for this land given its extreme climate/topography. Looking out over the Salt Lake plain, Brigham Young said 'This is the Place' - and it is a place of beauty - even in the extreme, life persists amidst the harsh desert and mountainous terrain - the land can break the spirit of any man, but is also a place of great beauty and in the death of salt and desert, unexpected life from microscopic bacteria that nourishes the desert, brine shrimp that live in the Great Salt Lake, the abundance of wildlife and the mountains packed with snow. I am a Christian (Anglican) and although I disagree with Mormon doctrine, I think you are a fool not to see God in the creation of this place, it shows a reflection of our own character, at time corrosive, but refined through life's tests - beauty in the unexpected and lessons learned in trial. You can see that in this wide open daunting scenery.
We ate dinner at the Chick Fila - this might seem mundane - however Bozeman is 8 hours away from Chick Fila and this was the first taste of that chicken goodness we love in the southeast - in over four years...the fresh squeezed lemonade and grilled chicken strips (we are gluten intolerant so we cannot eat breaded wheat products...)
We settled in for the night into the Motel 6 plotting and planning the remainder of our week in Salt Lake City. The city is home to world class museums, art galleries, cultural pursuits, ski resorts and nature...
Museums of interest: Utah Museum of Modern Art, Utah Museum of Art, Natural History Museum, The Leonardo, Hogle Zoo and so much more...stay tuned for more adventures from Salt Lake City.
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