On my nationwide tour I wanted to pick another state out west after falling in love with Boulder/Denver, Colorado. I was searching the map when I decided I'm going to Salt Lake City, Utah. That's all it took. That evening I looked for unique things to do in Salt Lake City (SLC). The following day my trip was planned.
I was in SLC in mid September. The weather was absolutely perfect during my trip. I went up and down mountains, so the weather ranged from 52 degrees at elevation and 72 degrees in the city. I highly recommend going in either the spring or the fall like I did. In the spring the streams will be in full flow from the melt off of the snow capped mountains. During the fall there is more rain than in the summer, so there was full flow with red, orange and yellow leaves throughout the mountains.
September 16 :
Not much to say. I flew in from a hot Pittsburgh into a chilly midnight in SLC to pick up my rental. The reason I included this date - when I picked up my rental I was loading my suitcase when I noticed a strong sulfur odor coming from the back of the Jeep. I drove off of the lot still smelling the odor, confused as ever. My senses adjusted after about 10 minutes. I noticed the outline of some mountains, yet it was dark so I couldn't really make out the immensity.
September 17 :
I awoke Saturday morning to open the blinds of my room that was roughly 20 minutes from downtown to HUGE mountains. The view was truly breathtaking. I rushed down to get breakfast so I could start scaling the mountains. I got into the Jeep and noticed the sulfur smell once again. I was a bit pissed at this point that I had to put up with the smell. My first stop was a spot that I found on a blog that I am thankful for every day. My goal when searching for spots to see is to visit small websites or blogs that show hidden gems. This is where you will find low foot traffic areas that are exclusive to the locals.
I visited a spot called 'Donut Falls'. So here goes how my adventure went - on this blog I found the nearest address to the falls. I drove up this paved low traffic mountain for what seemed like forever, seeing less and less people as I progressed. I finally got near my location where there was a gravel road. I decided to drive up the gravel road where it then turned into a dirt road. This one lane path seemed to get a bit sketchy after about a mile of seeing no civilization. All of a sudden a truck came barreling towards my rental where I was at a total loss of what to do. I pulled off as much as I could and the truck passed with a wave (the SLC people I encountered were VERY nice). I arrived at a spot on the dirt road where people were pulled off so I pulled in behind them. I got out my ruck sack and starting trekking. I walked for about 2 miles when I felt a bit lost. It's a surreal experience when you're walking in the wilderness, up a mountain, having no idea where you're at with no cell phone service. Everything you hear around you, you assume is a bear, which honestly makes it more fun. Thinking I was no where near it, I encountered an older lady that told me I was on the right path, just about another mile away. I continued on my path until I found some locals scaling a very steep rocky face. I began to scale the face (it's literally probably 70-75 degrees upright). At the top I was rewarded with the donut falls. It is a hole in the mountain where you walk into this cave that the snowmelt runs off into.
After my hike I went down to eat. I then went to Uinta National Forest in Provo, Utah. This spot is so cool because you look over the city of Provo that has a giant lake. At the top of the mountain I watched parachuters glide through the sky into the town where they eventually landed.
During my descend I found another dirt road that I figured I'd try out after having success on the last. I drove for literally 5 miles with only seeing one car on the way. I found a pull of that had one of the best views I have ever seen where I experienced a bugling Elk. From there I drove an hour and half south towards Arches National Park to get a jump on the long haul.
September 18 :
I woke up and began the remaining 2 hours of my 3.5 hour drive to Arches. When I arrived at Arches it was very hot, so I filled up my bottles at the watering station that had signs everywhere to stay hydrated. Arches should be the eighth wonder of the world. The arches are truly breathtaking and seem man made due to how perfect they are. Something I learned in the pamphlet at the entrance of the park, "drops of rainwater soak into the porous Entrada sandstone easily and then slowly dissolve the calcite bonding the sand together – in other words, rotting the rock from the inside out" (nps.gov).
Arches National Park is a must see. You will not see anything in nature as unique as the Arches. They are absolutely huge structures that leave your mind boggled as to how they're standing and how they were formed.
It was really neat to drive the 3.5 hours that I did because I got to see so much of Utah. What makes this area so special is the vastness of the mountains. There was not one minute during my entire trip to Arches that I didn't see mountains. They range in height and shape, each one unique on its own.
That night I began the long journey back to a hotel in downtown SLC.
Side note : When I got to the hotel I was peeing when I got hit with this immense sulfur odor from the toilet. I was scared shitless as to why my urine would smell like sulfur, so I began Googling what it could indicate. I figured I'd get checked when we got back home and if I died at least it was in a cool place.
September 19 :
I left the city to Park City, Utah to check out the ski resort. There was no snow during my visit, but I always wanted to go there. Right outside of the resort is the Utah Olympic Park. The spot was host to the Winter Olympics in 2002, but is still actively used as a training facility. I have an odd fascination of looking at past olympic venues and their abandonment on the internet, but you will not see that present in Utah. They turned the park into a functioning facility using most of the equipment from the Olympics.
You will find skiers practicing the event of 'ski jumping' (super original name) even in the summer due to the felted surfaces. At the main entrance of the park you will find a pool where skiers practice their freestyle moves into a deep swimming pool. During my visit there were even competitors practicing bobsledding with active timing going on. This was another check off of the bucket list that was a really neat experience.
Before wrapping up my trip I had to do one thing. I had to actually go in the Great Salt Lake. It's actually more difficult than you'd think to get into the lake. I finally found a gift shop that had a pier that lead to the lake. As I was approaching the lake I noticed the sulfur smell again. Why does this smell keep occurring and am I going to live? I got out of the car and finally realized the smell! The Great Sale Lake STINKS TERRIBLY!
I needed answers so I looked it up. This is what I found, "Most hyper-saline environments favor bacterial sulfate reduction and one of the byproducts is hydrogen sulfide—the culprit that smells like rotten eggs. In addition to hyper-salinity, GSL sports a relatively low water depth and low oxygen levels. This creates an environment where aerobic (non-smelly, oxygen using) bacteria quickly run out of available oxygen and the population balance swings to anaerobic (smelly) bacteria in order to decompose available organic matter (waste) without the use of oxygen." (wildlife.utah.gov).
There is no aquatic living life in the lake (fish, etc.) other than brine shrimp. At this point I actually Googled if it was safe to go in the lake. Finding mixed results, I still decided to venture knee deep into the Great Salt Lake. The water burns any cut you may have immensely, which I found out quickly. The brine shrimp swarm your feet in flocks, which is a little alarming at first. At any moment you will look down to thousands of these harmless tiny shrimp. Once a year residents of Salt Lake City have a swim in the lake for those that are brave enough to try it.
September 20 :
Early flight out. Back to reality. Blah.
I honestly have no complaints about Salt Lake City, so there are not any don't. As of the end of 2017 it is my favorite place I've been. It is a city nestled in the only flat area around with mountains surrounding it for hundreds of miles.
Do's :
Donut Falls
Uinta National Forest
Arches National Park
Don't think you're dying if your urine smells like sulfur
Park City
Utah Olympic Park
Downtown Salt Lake City
The Great Salt Lake (hold your nose)
Commentaires