6/9/22 – 6/11/22
We spent a short amount of time in northern Utah, where I was very excited to get out of the desert for a while and into a city…A city with many Planet Fitnesses, Walmarts, and water fountains. Salt Lake City continues to be one of our favorite cities we have visited. It felt safe and clean, and it was easy to bike around.
This was our first time on our own camping in a city, and we ended up parking overnight at one of the 24-hour Planet Fitness locations. We called ahead to make sure it was OK and the man on the phone said, “I mean technically I can’t make you leave,” so that was good enough for us. This is a strategy we have had to use a couple of times since then.
One of our goals during this trip was to immerse ourselves in the local cultures as we explored. So, when we arrived in Salt Lake City, I Googled what kind of food this area was known for. The top two answers were pastrami burgers and cream sodas. We got our burgers at a Crown Burger, which honestly just tasted like a bacon burger, but the fry sauce they put on them is really yummy. The cream sodas were very interesting. We went to a Sodalicious (get it??) and you get to pick what soda you want and add syrups like a coffee shop. I got a coffee-flavored Dr. Pepper soda and Nick got a s’mores-flavored Rootbeer soda, and we were actually really surprised by how much we enjoyed them. I would highly recommend trying if you get the chance.
Of course, one other thing Utah is known for is its Mormon population. According to 2022 data, 68.55% of the state of Utah is Morman. This is a religion Nick and I didn’t know much about, so we decided to visit Temple Square and the Church History Museum to learn about Mormon history. I think one of the reasons we liked Salt Lake City so much was how nice the people were. Morman missionaries walk around the city and always say hi to you as they pass, which was a sense of community and hospitality I was missing from back home in the Midwest. When we visited the museum, the people there were so excited to tell us about their religion and we were so happy to listen to them. And although they were excited to share their faith with us, they did not once attempt to convince us to join them, which we greatly appreciated since we were just there to learn.
The Great Salt Lake was an interesting visit. One thing about Nick and me is we don’t research places much before we visit them. This is on purpose because it feels like we are “ruining” it. This was a mistake here. We wore our swimsuits and carried beach towels thinking we were going to have a beach day. However, if you’ve been to the Great Salt Lake before, then you know how silly that idea is. First of all, the water was VERY low when we visited, which was exposing the benthic layer and not the soft sand you expect on a beach day. Second, it smelled awful. The lake is so salty that the only things that live there are brine shrimp, which makes it hard for dead things to decay, so they just sink to the bottom of the lake creating a horrible smell. Third, the flies were nasty. Even if you could ignore those other things and wanted to get in the water, you would have to fight a layer of small flies on top of the water (dead and alive). Nick decided to brave this to see if the rumors of higher buoyancy in the lake were true (they were). This was a great place for birding though, and I was able to add a couple of new ones to my Life List.
Lastly, we visited the Bonneville Salt Flats, which was a high priority on Nick’s bucket list. We saw people racing, and we drove Winnie on them a bit. We had a little photo shoot and took my favorite picture on this trip so far with us and Winnie:
I enjoyed this part of Utah, but I was SO excited for the southern portion later in this trip. We also knew this would be our last city for a while, really until we finished the John Muir Trail in July, so we did a double-check to make sure we had everything we needed for our thru-hike.
Places visited:
- Salt Lake City
- Great Salt Lake
- Bonneville Salt Flats
In-state miles hiked: 0.89
Total miles hiked: 96.8
Thanks for including us in your travels. Be safe and get ready to decorate Winny for Christmas. Take pictures for us.