Ahoy there Trippers! Welcome back aboard. Thanksgiving has come and gone and so has most of the warmth from anywhere north of the 30th Parallel. Which rules out a lot of places in the US except for New Orleans and Home… The Big Easy will have to be patient for now because we last left off just as we were leaving Tahoe and crossing into The Great Basin.
Reno to Salt Lake City is a long desolate drive and takes you through some pretty monotone terrain. Arid, scraggly, scrub brush dotted beige and maroon mountains for what seemed like 500 miles. We broke the trip up with an overnight in Winnemucca which according to Johnny Cash, means we’ve been officially everywhere.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ov4epAJRPMw
After a long morning of driving the basin, the tumbleweeds gave way to pearl white salt and our visibility of the horizon increased drastically as we leveled off into the Salt Flats that lie west of the Great Salt Lake. We were told you could drive out on to it and before we could get a couple miles further east on the highway we saw several cars off of the interstate and wandering aimlessly about the salt. As flat, level and as far as one can see on a (allegedly) round planet, it would be a wonderful place to stay for a couple of days if one had the time and water to do so. We had neither at this point on our trip, our water pump has been on the fritz since our run-in with Iowa sheriffs, limiting us to our gallon jugs (which were mostly empty) and our time-frame to meet a friend for the weekend was narrowing. But we did get a great afternoon and evening to stretch our legs and get Ali out for a good run.
Also, Autumn had taken some time while in California to expand on her inventory turning out some pretty amazing pieces, and the salt flats gave a perfect backdrop for a quick photo-shoot.
What was of particular frustration about accessing the flats in the best possible spot, legally, was the almost 70 mile backtrack we had to do to get to the west-bound rest area. We were headed east to Salt Lake City and the side of the flat that didn’t have the railroad and private fencing was on the north side of I-80 accessible only by west-bound traffic. The UDOT did their due diligence in giving plenty of turn-around spots along that portion of the desert, but they were only legally accessible to emergency vehicles… There were no towns or exits for about 35-40 miles. Which gave us little choice if we wanted out of the van to see it. I’d be one to gamble the legality of the highway U-turn but traffic was oddly high considering the location and also, I was not keen on meeting Utah State Highway Patrol just yet having been in the state for maybe an hour, that would have to wait a couple of days.
We left the flats with the departing light and made it to SLC on time for our rendezvous with Autumn’s school friend. The days that followed were pretty adventure packed and exciting as we settled into the Mormon capital for a bit. We explored most of the city and the surrounding area including some amazing day hikes. Wind Caves near Logan, The Living Room near The University of Utah (it had rocks that were stacked like furniture) and Ensign Peak, where Brigham Young declared that this is where they would settle down.
We did eventually get a chance to catch up with the local police when we got pulled over early one morning heading to a hike, for not having any back running lights. The brake lights, headlights and turn signals all worked fine however. A blown fuse and circuit issue that would continue to be an issue for the rest of the trip. We were now limited to day time driving only, which didn’t shake up our routine all too horribly but gave a level of anxiety to the setting sun and the timing of where we needed to be to finish our day.
SLC was a beautifully clean city, accessible and with light traffic. The only regret was that Temple Square was under renovations, so there was no going inside. We enjoyed our time and the atmosphere so much we filed SLC to the list of potential candidates for future house shopping, and we headed south to start the long chain of gorgeous national parks that make up the southern part of the state.
Starting with Arches just south of the I-70 corridor, to 4-corners and down to the Grand Canyon. Canyonlands, Capitol Reef, Glen Canyon, Grand Staircase, Brice and Zion fill the middle, just to name the top few. There was no possible way to tackle all of it in any sort of timely manner and still have any of 2020 left. So we had to make some cuts. We got some of it but Arches didn’t make our list this year. I know how passionate some of its visitors are but it’ll be the main hook for our next trip to the area.
This part of the country is an absolute must, and we intend to be reoccurring visitors as often as possible. The power of erosion, water and wind have profound and mesmerizing effects on the terrain and form unique and breath-taking features. Bryce Canyon offered a dazzling display of sheer canyon bluffs spiked with weirdly shaped stone hoodoos. A fun word that you won’t quickly forget after seeing a thousand little spires cast a thousand little shadows on flaming orange and red rock.
Zion was aptly named and king of jaw-dropping. Checkered mountain faces eroded by wind and prominent sheer cliffs cut through like a knife by the Virgin River.
It was by the time we were finished with Zion, did the writer Michael Frome began to resonate a bit more. “A national park is not a playground. it’s a sanctuary for nature and for humans who will accept nature on nature’s own terms.”
It’s hard to not feel inspired or passionate about these sanctuaries after passing through Zion canyon. I had been going to the Grand Canyon often since I was young, which gives you at least a base level of what is ‘Awe inspiring’ but Zion took the crown, bested or maybe tied by only Glacier National Park. While we got a couple of days and almost 4 drives through the park, we were sadly limited due to very little/no dog access on any of the trails. Had it not been that one snag, it would have been #1 for both of us.
We got no pictures that do it any justice, it’s not easy getting that kind of experience limited into a single box frame.
Zion gave us goosebumps, and we stayed the night nearby in the town of Orderville, due to its rock shops that we saw as we passed through on our way to the park. We ended up getting a nice lesson on hospitality and history during our stay in Orderville.
Summary from the wiki entry: Orderville was established at the direction of Brigham Young in 1875 specifically to live the United Order, a voluntary form of communalism. Orderville was settled primarily by destitute refugees from failed settlements on the Muddy River in Nevada. Under the United Order, no person in Orderville could have private property, as it was all considered to be God’s land. Each person was made a steward over some personal effects, and every family a steward over a home. During the first two years, the settlers worked without receiving income. They were allowed to use supplies and take food as needed. The bishop of Orderville oversaw the distribution of goods. Credits were recorded for all work done by men, women, and children and used to obtain needed materials and keep track of the labor done in the settlement. In 1877, the Order began a price system to replace the credit system, and monetary values were assigned to all labor and goods. At the beginning of each year, debts were forgiven, and those who had earned a surplus voluntarily gave it back to the Order.
The community was quite successful and prospered for well over a decade before a change of local laws and flash flooding changed the dynamic of the community.
We had a cool side adventure while we were here that was covered on our YouTube channel:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O-QHTwXfPe0
Utah was the epitome of Godliness, in its nature, its community and its history. It is now in both of our top 3 states, and we will be returning. But it was time to put Godliness aside and cross into Sin City… Vegas lights are on the horizon!
Join us next time as we check out The Strip, Alien Brothels, Area 51 (ish) and our adventure into Death Valley and back into California for one of the top crown jewels of the national park system, Yosemite.
