I’m starting this post with a couple of photos of Utah’s State Capitol Building in Salt Lake City. Set at the top of Capitol Hill with the mountains as a backdrop, we kept finding our eyes drawn to it wherever we were in the city.
Driving west of Salt Lake City, we visited the Bonneville Salt Flats, the remnants of a large lake that inundated much of Utah between 14,000 and 32,000 years ago. Over time the lake has evaporated leaving behind 30,000 acres of white salt. In summer the sparkling white salty crust is the site of the Bonneville Speedway where new land speed records are attempted each year. In winter the Flats are covered with about an inch of water, becoming a gigantic mirror reflecting its surroundings perfectly. It was spectacular and absolutely worth the 90-minute drive into the middle of nowhere.
Driving south from Salt Lake City we were riveted by the seemingly endless mountains that punctuated the landscape in whichever direction we looked.
And then to our fascination the white snowcapped peaks made way for rock formations in red earthy tones as the entire vista around us changed.
Arriving at Monument Valley Navajo Tribal Park on the Utah/Arizona border, we were entranced by the structures that tower at heights of 400 to 1000 feet and are composed of Cedar Mesa Sandstone from 270 million years ago. As we stood in front of the famous Mitten Buttes, Sammy fully expected to see John Wayne come riding past on a horse. While we didn’t see The Duke, we did take our time dawdling along the 17-mile Valley Drive amongst the soaring monuments, buttes and mesas in the fresh air and sunshine.
Utah is a land of spectacular scenery and it has exceeded all our expectations 😊 To Arizona we now head!
S&P