Utah in Winter February 2022

 

Utah in Winter

February 2022

 

            We decided to take a mid-winter trip down to Utah and show our exchange student from Germany, Franca, some of the amazing sites in southern Utah.  We had an uneventful drive down to Utah and stayed with Becky’s aunt Margaret and uncle Scott in their new home in Eden, Utah.  Eden is located up in the mountains just northeast of Ogden.  We stayed a couple of nights with them over the weekend.  Several of their kids and their families were there as well.  There were lots of cousins there and everyone had a fun time playing games and talking.

Eden, Utah

            On Monday we drove down to Salt Lake City and looked around Temple Square.  The Salt Lake Temple is being renovated with seismic upgrades and the whole area is one large construction zone.  It was fascinating to see how they have dug all the way to the foundation of the temple and are putting seismic plates under the temple so it can “move” in an earthquake.  Since many of the attractions were closed due to construction, we only spent a little time there.  We then drove up to Park City and looked around a bit before we stopped and stayed with Becky’s cousin Russell for the night.

Salt Lake Temple Seismic Renovation

          

     On Tuesday we drove down to south toward Moab, Utah.  Our first stop was Grandview Point in the Island in the Sky district of Canyonlands National Park.  The drive to the end of the road was almost magical.  As you continued to climb, the fog rolled in and out, with snow gently falling.  When we reached the end of the road, we went a short hike along the rim and looked out over the area.  Since it was the off-season, there weren’t very many people there. 

Grandview Point, Canyonlands National Park

            We then went over and hiked the Upheavel Dome trail.  While we were there, we took our picture at 2:22pm on 2/22/22.  After that we went over and took a quick hike to Mesa Arch.  By then we were getting cold and tired and decided to head down to Moab for the night.

Upheavel Dome at 2:22 on 2/22/22

Mesa Arch

            On Wednesday morning we awoke somewhat early and went out to Arches National Park.  There were very few people in the park.  We parked at Wolfe Ranch and hiked out to Delicate Arch.  We only saw a few people on the trail.  As we were hiking it started to snow, making the trail on the red slick rock very slick in places.  The view at Delicate Arch was amazing, with the red rocks covered in a blanket of snow.  We took lots of pictures, then hiked back through the snow.  Siena decided to stay in the car instead of hiking.  She fell asleep and woke up to the car being covered in snow and pitch black inside.  By the time we got back to the parking lot it had already snowed 3 inches.  As we tried to drive out to the main road, we started sliding all over and had to get out and put the chains on.  As soon as we almost had the first tire chain on, a park service plow truck came by and cleared the road for us.  We decided it would be best to head out of the park and back up toward Provo.

Hiking out to Delicate Arch, Arches National Park

Delicate Arch

        

    On Thursday we spent the day looking around BYU and Provo.  That evening we went to a BYU basketball game.  I forgot how loud the Marriott Center can get!

            We then spent the next day driving back home to Washington.