Miles: 310
Route: Island Park, ID - Salt Lake City, UT
As Alex and I planned our trip, we were excited to make a familiar West Coast stop: In-N-Out Burger. We expected to enjoy this meal once we arrived in California so we were thrilled when we realized there were a ton of locations throughout Utah (perhaps the religious connection has something to do with it?). After a quick and easy drive from Idaho we had a delicious (and cheap!) lunch that was just as good as we remembered.
Obligatory shot of our animal-style double-double burgers. For my own health I am somewhat happy we don't have access to this everywhere we go.
Once we arrived in Salt Lake City (SLC as it was referenced everywhere we went) we headed to Big Cottonwood Canyon to check out the mountains and ski resort views. We had a beautiful day and enjoyed taking in the fall scenery.
First look of Big Cottonwood Canyon.
More beautiful fall views.
Looking out into the Wasatch National Forest.
After driving through the Wasatch National Forest and exploring some of Utah's famous ski resorts - still beautiful without the snow - we decided to take a hike to continue enjoying the nice weather.
We headed to Millcreek Canyon to take the Desolation Trail to an overlook of the entire city.
You can barely tell, but behind me is Salt Lake City!
The hike was hard but the views of downtown Salt Lake City were worth it.
What we had planned as a leisurely afternoon hike was actually a tough uphill trek - two miles each way - so we were pretty tired afterward.
Since we only had the day, we headed to SLC's famous Temple Square to walk around for a bit before sundown. The entire area is exceptionally well manicured: clean pathways, lush lawns, bright flowers and impressive buildings. As we checked out some of the historical signage, we were aware of a number of conservatively clad women walking around the square. Upon closer inspection we realized these women were all "sisters" of the Mormon faith and were looking to provide advice to tourists (Alex is sure they were also trying to convert everyone though).
Assembly Hall at Temple Square.
Salt Lake Temple at Temple Square.
"Sisters" walking in the square.
Next, we grabbed a drink nearby to cool off and rest a bit after a day of intense hiking / walking. To our surprise, it was pretty easy to find a number of bars in the area, and we had no problem locating beer of standard strength (vs. the lower alcohol content type we had heard about).
Feeling a little tired, we opted to grab takeout on the way to our hotel for the night. Luckily, Oh Mai was located very close to our hotel so we stopped there to pick up dinner. The Vietnamese restaurant was featured on the Food Network and deserves every accolade! For $20 we got two banh mi sandwhiches, a noodle entrée and a thai iced tea. We had more than enough for dinner and every bite was full of flavor. Definitely make it a point to stop here if you are ever in SLC!
The Salt Lake Temple at night.
SLC definitely has a different feel as compared to some of the other large cities we have been to but we really enjoyed our brief time here.