Well, it’s definitely fall in Utah! The Lord last week graciously gave us time off work to fly up to the land of the Salt Lake to spend days in the open air and nights under the stars, and to get to hug the necks of our dear friends Erica & Bo! This is my favorite picture of the four of us from this week-
On Day 1 of our trip we jumped right into the outdoorsy lifestyle of Utah with an evening viewing of a Sundance film at an outdoor amphitheater, with the picturesque mountains placed perfectly behind the scene.
After breakfast and coffee on Day 2, we spent some time up at the University of Utah campus (where my brilliant best friend is working on her PhD in Psychology). We blended in by grabbing some Starbucks and relaxing on the soft grass while people-watching and remembering our college days. The atmosphere was fun and lively since it was Game Day, and there was also a farmer’s market there. The campus is beautiful! It just sits right there in the mountains so you can always see them while you’re walking along. Here it is…
Our first hike was in City Creek Canyon:
At night we packed up a picnic dinner and drove up to Big Cottonwood Canyon for an evening hike. It was absolutely beautiful up there! AND we saw moose! Three of them! Apparently it’s not too common to see them (so they say).
The hike was chilly (crazy!) up in the mountains and the forest was full of Christmas trees and beautiful sights. Our turnaround point was this stunning lake at the top-
Oh and we found a cave…
On Friday we drove up to Park City, an adorably quaint ski town about 40 minutes from Salt Lake City. We meandered through the cute shops, ate lunch at a pizza parlor, stopped for some tasty ice cream, and then were on our way. We drove into the Uinta mountains where I saw the most colors in trees that I have ever seen before!
Deep in the Uintas at a place called Lily Lake is where we chose for our campsite. After we set up camp, we hiked some more and saw yet ANOTHER moose!
Once evening came we got a fire going and cooked hot dogs and s’mores for dinner and dessert. When the sun went down we sat in our chairs and chatted and gazed at the sky. And that night is honestly the most stars I have ever seen in my whole life. God brought to my mind Psalm 8-
When I consider your heavens,
the work of your fingers,
the moon and the stars,
which you have set in place,
what is man that you are mindful of him,
the son of man that you care for him?
-Psalm 8:3-4
The God of the universe and the Creator of the world, who breathed and the stars came into existence, cares for unworthy humans enough to become like us by walking in the flesh. That in Jesus He relates to us and empathizes and knows everything we experience in life because HE LIVED IT. Perfectly. Who are we to deserve such a Love?! We don’t deserve any of it.
Well, I got just a lil scared at night because we could hear coyotes howling EVERYWHERE and I was nervous that they were right outside our tent. But by the grace of God we survived the night and woke up in the morning to drink coffee and sit in our hammocks overlooking the lake. Late morning we drove to the trailhead of my favorite hike of the whole trip, Lofty Lake Loop. This has got to be the most beautiful hike I have ever been on! There were Christmas trees everywhere, yellow Aspens, several creeks and lakes, open meadows, an ominous storm passing into the distance. I’ll let the pictures attempt to do it justice.
Even though we were tuckered out, we couldn’t miss a chance to ride the Alpine Slide at the ski resort in Park City!
On our last full day in Utah, we began the day with a delicious diner breakfast and praising Jesus at their home church. We then took a short hike up to Ensign Peak, the vantage point where the first settlers mapped out the layout of the whole city. We rested in the afternoon by catching a show at the the movie theater, then went on our final (and definitely most difficult) hike in Bell’s Canyon. It was worth the exhausted leg muscles for the view at the top and the waterfall.
Overall we hiked / walked a total of 40 miles over 5 days! We can’t say thank you enough to our gracious hosts Erica + Bo who fed us and took us into their home and showed us amazing adventures. Love you guys! Thanks for getting us into the fresh air :).
crosstravelers 