A Quick Weekend In Salt Lake City
A couple months ago, my friend Jesse and I spontaneously agreed to do a road trip sometime in the summer. He’s living in Sacramento and I live in Denver. Right in the middle of those two cities is Salt Lake City. We both had never been to Salt Lake so, why not?
To be honest though, I didn’t think the trip was actually going to happen. We picked the weekend a couple months ago but hadn’t really talked about details since. Even the week leading up to our trip, we didn’t end up making any concrete plans. But, I texted him at 6pm on Thursday saying I was leaving Denver and he was already on his way. Alright, it’s on!
Day 1
The drive took us 8/9 hours each, so we both started driving on Thursday night and decided to meet on Friday morning. I picked a cute coffee shop right in Salt Lake City called Rose Establishment where I sipped on black coffee while reading a book.
Once Jesse arrived, we decided to wander around the city. It was a workday so the city was in a somber, but that made the experience of walking around so much more interesting. We were shocked with how much the Mormon church influenced the architecture, culture, and population of the city. I’ve never seen religion be such a prominent factor in a city - even if you wanted to escape it, the church was interwoven into the fabric of this city.
We found ourselves playing around at the planetarium, walking around the very impressive international peace garden, and ended our evening by going to a comedy show.
Day 2
We started out our Saturday by driving up Cottonwood Canyon and hiked up to Donut Falls - a hike recommended by the cashier at a little boutique we visited the day before.
A quick 1.5 mile hike up and a steep rock scramble led us to a really cool waterfall which is named donut falls because the waterfall feeds through an almost perfect circular hole in the side of a sheet of slanted rock. The water pools under the rock and flows out through an arc that became the doorway into the mysterious donut pool.
Antelope Island State Park was the next stop on our trip. It was an hour and a half away from Cottonwood Canyon, but I loved every minute of the drive. The canyon was breathtaking and noticeably different from any of the canyons I have seen in Colorado. They had similarities in their characteristics - sharp rock faces, a sparse scattering of trees, and a creek leading the way of least resistance up the canyon. The main difference though was that the rock here appeared more abrasive than the stone towers of Colorado.
The drive onto the Island was also such an interesting experience. A long stretch of road on a tiny strip of land that lead to our final destination. Since we were visiting in the heat of summer, a lot of the coastline was dried up so we didn’t get see the water come up to the edge of the land strip, but it was interesting to see the layer of dried salt line both sides of the road. It reminded me of the long drive to Key West I did with my mom back in April. And soon enough, we arrived at Antelope Island!
We did a short and steep hike to the highest point on the island which put the size of Salt Lake in perspective. From here we could see the long stretch of road that led back to the mainland, and around us in all directions was the Great Salt Lake. From this position, we could see the streaks of salt that were left behind from the evaporating water. What a strange experience to be standing on an island in the middle of a salty lake surrounded by beautiful mountains.
We continued driving along the east coast of the island to find some bison. To our surprise, the bison seemed to be comfortable with the people and were not phased by our presence.
After cracking far too many puns about bison and antelopes, we headed back into town.
On our drive into town, I heard a terrible clanking sound coming from my car. Rolling down my window, I realized that the sound was coming from my back driver’s side tire. I pulled over to the nearest parking lot and found a bolt stuck in my tire.
We quickly googled for tire repair shops in the area and before long, we were making a pit stop at Les Schwab to get my car looked at. The mechanic said that it would take an hour to get my car into the shop and the tire fixed so Jesse and I made the quick decision to walk over to the shopping mall next door. We wandered around the mall and before we knew it, we were being called to pick up the car.
I’m so thankful that Jesse was so calm and understanding through the whole debacle! I felt bad that we had to put our plans on hold for an hour or two to take care of my car, but he was incredibly patient and flexible. I’m glad it was a reasonably fast and free fix! (Pro Tip: Les Schwab doesn’t charge for patching tires!)
We got back to Salt Lake City and decided to go to a highly rated Mexican restaurant in town. You know it’s a good restaurant when you have a 45-minute wait for a table for two. We stuffed our faces with delicious Mexican flavors, and were too full to do anything else. We went back to the AirBnb and called it a night.
Day 3
We woke up the next morning with the sad realization that we only had a couple of hours of vacation left. I think this feeling is one of the purest feelings anyone can experience - the emotional limbo of being happy about the fun you’ve had and disappointed about it being over. You start to become familiar with a foreign place and prepare your heart for the sad realization that you will probably never return.
What better way to end our trip than breakfast at the best breakfast spot in town! I filled up on veggies and Jesse got a taste of the famous biscuits and limeade, and before long our tummies were full and the clock was running out.
Since we both had long drives ahead of us and had to be ready for work the next day, we ended our trip at 11am to begin the long trek home. Since I don’t mind driving late into the night, I decided to take advantage of my proximity to the desert and make a pit stop in Moab before heading back to Denver. Last time I was out here with friends from The Well church, a couple of folks went and hiked “Corona Arch”. I’ve heard this is one of the coolest hikes in the Moab area so I decided to give it a go!
I’ll be completely honest, I got a little lost and went off trail a little bit, but it turned out to be a really cool photo-op. I walked along the train track that followed the canyon that housed Corona Arch.
I discovered that I had gone off trail by identifying the people n the distance next to the Corona Arch (I spy the Corona Arch in my Train Track picture). I followed the tracks back to the trailhead and finally made my way up the actual trail to the Arch.
The sun was setting in the most perfect way to provide a view of the canyons through the arch. Spending some time letting my ears adjust to the silence of the desert, the sound of the wind passing through the arch became my only distraction.
Moab has a really special place in my heart. I visited the desert for the first time only a couple of years ago, but in the last year, I’ve had the privilege of coming out to Moab three different times.
The rock tells a story of persistence and determination. It convinces us of the power of the earth and reminds us of it’s capabilities. I can see the motion of the earth as it’s intricate history has been carved into these spires of stone.
I’m humbled in more ways than I can describe. I’m humbled at the power of the natural earth - of the wind, water, stone, fire. I’m humbled by the creator who gives power to the elements. And finally I’m humbled at my humanness in the midst of great power. In moments where I feel weak, I am reminded that God created us to rule over all these things, and when I’m inflated with pride, I’m reminded that I can be toppled simply by a strong gust of wind.
The desert has a special place in my heart. There’s many miles of it out there to explore, so I better put on my Chacos and get walking.
