I haven’t written about a domestic trip maybe ever – the closest
I’ve come is my recent list of my favorite 12 cities in the US and Canada,
excepting a whole lot that were too close to home (e.g. NYC of Philly). Well, I
probably should expand that list to 13 after visiting Vancouver, and definitely
up to 14 with a four-day jaunt to, through and around Salt Lake City. I haven’t
done a domestic trip solo in a long time, but getting four days to myself and
my thoughts, at one of the more remote major cities in American was an
incredible experience. Overall, I can’t recommend Salt Lake City enough.
To me, Salt Lake City will also encompass the mountains and
salt flats and everything else in about an hour radius in each direction, from
Antelope Island to the matching Big and Little Cottonwood Canyons. A great deal
of my immediate affection for Salt Lake City will be due to these places that
are a car ride – a beatutiful car ride through canyons – away, but even if we
plop Salt Lake City from its lofty terrain and put it in the middle of, say,
flat Nebraska, it would still be quite charming and a worthy trip.
Despite being a city large enough to be a Delta hub and have
an NBA team, Salt Lake City was perfect in its size, no drive through the city
being more than 15 to 20 minutes, little traffic if ever, wide open roadways.
The city is also pristine, even when venturing away from its 5x5 block heart.
Little litter anywhere, few homeless (a problem in many US cities – take San
Francisco, for example, or the aforementioned Vancouver); just a collection of well-manicured
streets and building hosting a lot of friendly, generally happy, people.
The best parts of Salt Lake City were its food and drink
culture (more on the ‘drink’ part later – time to dispel some myths that even I
had), and its well-presented tourist attractions. Most of the tourist
attraction relate to Salt Lake City’s position as the Vatican of the Mormon
(aka Church of Jesus Christ of the Latter Day Saints; further aka LDS) church.
The heart of the city revolves around a 3x3 block of LDS-related buildings and
religious sites. The main Temple Square area is perfectly maintained, with two
informative visitor’s centers, two churches, and the over-present Cathedral on
one end – closed to the public, but imposing and beautiful even if only from
the outside. This area also has many other buildings related to the LDS church,
and endless streams of young Mormons, mostly all young women, there as guides.
They spoke all sorts of languages, most were doing their 2-year missions from
all over in Salt Lake City. I am not a Mormon, though arguably being a Catholic
as close as you can get, but still found this whole area fascinating.
The other main tourist attraction within Salt Lake City
limits was its Natural History Museum, which was really well put together. A lot
of it was normal ‘Natural History’ fair, but there were one incredible aspect,
being the best maintained pre-historic animals exhibit, from wooly mammoths to
every kind of mainstream dinosaur you can think of. The dinasaurs were all
found in Utah, and all fully put together and arranged in their imposing best.
This alone was worth the price of admission for me.
The meals I had within city limits were all brilliant as
well. I splurged a bit, nothing too extravagant, but each of my four dinners
were at really well put together places service American fare, from rustic to
high-concept, in charming set-ups. My favorite meal was at Pallet, probably the
most high-concept of the places, which had a great menu. I truly wished Ic oudl
have gone with a smorgasboard option, but settled for a perfect pair of Pork
Belly with sunchoke and pumpkin as a starter, and cubes of Elk mixed with
roasted carrots, sunchokes over a carrot puree. Both dishes were incredible.
My other dinners were at restuarants with a similar set-up
of a small but incredibly detailed menu, and price range. The first night was
at Pago, where I had a great roasted beet salad, and then a nice squid-ink
pasta with rock shrimp. The second night at HSL, which was really well
decorated. There, I had another beet salad (I do like my beets), which was as
good as it was at Pago, and their well reputed burger, with a great mix of
greens and a nice sauce topping a well made medium-rare bit of magic. They also
had a nice sorbet selection for dessert. My final dinner was at Copper Onion,
which had the same trappings of local fare and excellent plating, if more mainstream
than the other spots. I tried my third roasted beet dish, this one a bit
different as it had a few pickled beets as well, and then lamb carnitas with a
pumpkin mole, a specialty of the restaurant that was quite good. Overall, my dinners in Salt Lake City
were tremendous, even if I was dining out squarely in the three dollar sign end
of the pool.
My lunches were more or less as good, though not as ‘upscale’.
The first day was at Pretty Bird, a hot fried chicken joint a couple blocks
south of Temple Square. I’ve had hot chicken in Nashville and a few other
places, but this was something else. They serve it either as a half-bird, or a
chicken burger, with seemingly everyone choosing the burger option. I did too,
and it was amazing. The best hot chicken I’ve ever had by some distance, with a
great aoli sauch, as cabbage as the only vegetable. It was simple, but perfect.
Getting to the drink side of the equation, let’s first shape
what this means in a state where alcohol is still somewhat restricted, but
nowhere near what it used to be. Around a decade ago, Utah lifted most of its
most draconian liquor laws, opening up the state to being more or less the same
as any other. There are some exceptions. Any non-beer/wine liquor can only be
served at 2.5oz / portion, something that is measured to the drop. Of course,
there’s no limit to how many of these drinks you can order. Then again, they
aren’t cheap. For beer, all draft beer can be no more than 4% abv. There is no
restriction on bottles, though, which the best beer spots (my favorite was
BeerHive Pub) will take advantage of by having a huge bottle selection.
Finally, alcohol cannot be served after 1am, though this is only an hour
earlier than like 90% of the US. Overall, I wouldn’t come to Salt Lake City to
drink, but it isn’t like that isn’t there to enjoy after a long day hiking.
Speaking of which, my God the natural beauty that surrounds
Salt Lake City! Where to begin, really. I’m not someone who does many hikes (to
be real, nothing I did needed hiking equipment, at most just a lot of patience
and lungs), but I couldn’t help myself in Salt Lake City’s surrounding regions.
Let’s start first with Antelope Island, a large oblong island at the southern
end of Great Salt Lake. The island terrain is fairly barren, but from there you
get amazing views of the Great Salt Lake, and the mountains that surround it.
On the island are many a bison, truly giant creatures. Also it has some nice,
short, hikes that are closer to Salt Lake City’s sea level. These aren’t as
picturesque as the one’s in the canyons to come, but Antelope Island is still a
nice place to visit that is a bit different than the normal pines and valleys
that most people think of when picturing the Salt Lake City area.
Most of the truly brilliant hikes and views are in the
canyons to the East – where the main ski slopes are that are busy during the
winter. In the summer, the snow leaves, with incredible views left over. The
first day I went to Big Cottonwood Canyon (further south is Little Cottonwood
Canyon – not really sure what the ‘big’ and ‘little’ indicate, if anything),
doing two of the hikes in the earlier point of the drive through the canyon.
Firstly, while the road is at the bottom with mountains to either side, it isn’t
really a canyon, more just mountains.
The first spot was a short 1-mile roundtrip hike up to and
back from Donut Falls. This wasn’t the most picturesque hike, unless you
exclude the actual falls. The falls are really just a stream that cascades
through a rock formation that leads to three different openings where the water
cascades through holes in the rocks, some big enough to fit under and get some
really cool photos. The next stop was a hike up to Willow Lake, a winding
3-mile hike with an elevation gain of about 700 feet (elevation gain was a term
I never really knew of prior to this trip) up to a small lake. Compared to the
later hikes to other lakes, this was not as pretty, but the hike did give me a
view up close to a moose, which was worth it. It also whet my appetite for the
hikes to come.
The next day the venue shifted to Little Cottonwood Canyon,
which if anyting is even more beautiful during the drive to the various hike
destinations. My endpoint was the trailhead for Crecret Lake. There are a few
ways to get there, the longest starts further down the road at Albion Basin, a
trail that adds about 2 miles round trip to the 1.5 mile hike from the Cecret
Lake trail-head. The longer one is supposed to get you to pass a lot of
meadows, but I was about a month late for that, with only a few wildflowers
left in bloom. The hike to Cecret lake is not easy, especially during the end
with cascading paths that are mostly rock, but it was well worth it when you
see the majesty of the lake on the top. It isn’t as impressive as, say,
Morraine Lake in Banff National Park (one that you can get to far more easily),
but it is pretty special. Little Cottonwood Canyon on a whole is special.
The third day I returned to Big Cottonwood Canyon, going to
the end of its path towards Brighton Ski Resort, where the trailhead towards
the three Brighton Lakes begins. The lakes are Lake Mary, Lake Martha and Lake
Catherine, in that order, a 4 mile round trip hike, one mile up to Lake Mary, a
further mile up to Lake Catherine (passing Lake Martha on the way), and the
same two miles back down. The trail is fairly easy, with a consistent incline
that never gets too steep, despite gaining 1,300 ft across the course of the
two miles up. Each lake is great, but the best view is the final ascent up to
Lake Catherine, where you can look backwards at both Lake Mary and Lake Martha,
and the canyon behind it. It truly is a stunning view, something unimaginable
so close to a major city. It is amazing that in a place that is ostensibly a ski
resort, there are such great hiking trails to take advantage of when the snow
melts.
The final day was not really about the hike, but more about
the drive, deeper into the Utah-ian wilderness, this time going about 90
minutes away from Salt Lake City, past Park City, ending at Mirror Lake. The ‘hike’
is more of a 3-mile walk around the circumference of the lake, but it too was
beautiful. The real star of the day, though, was the myriad stops the drive
afforded on the way back, to see various incredible images, be it sprawling
hills and canyons, pristine lakes well below, and even a few running creeks and
waterfalls. What should have been a 90-minute drive back, took me 2.5 hours
with all the photo stops and mini-hikes on the way.
In leaving Salt Lake City, I can’t wait to come back, even
if it would be to see many of the same places and hikes that I just did. The
food is excellent. The layout of the city, and the lack of traffic, makes it
incredibly accessible. The local food and drink culture is great. The people in
the city are wonderful, friendly, and open. There is just a great sense of
community and happiness all around. Of course, the wondrous trails, views,
lakes, mountains and all the rest just add to Salt Lake City’s lasting impact
and attractiveness. I can’t wait to return; the city and its brilliant
landscapes in all directions was everything I could have asked for.
