Highlighted Community: Park City, Utah

Today’s highlighted community has undergone quite the journey. From its start as a silver mining town, to an almost ghost town, and now a premier destination for anything from winter sports to spotting your favorite celebrity today we will highlight Park City, Utah.

LOCATION:

Park City, Utah is located in the Summit County which is located in the Northeastern part of the state. Just like many Wasatch Mountain locations Park City is located in close proximity to Salt Lake City metro so you can access this area from Salt Lake City. It is only a 35-45ish minute drive from Downtown Salt Lake City using Interstate 80, assuming normal traffic conditions. You can also take a Ski Bus or use a shuttle bus service to get from Salt Lake City to Park City.

Figure 1: Google Map highlight of Utah. The highlighted county is Summit County and the star is the approximate location of Park City.

Figure 2: A close up of the Park City region, showing the various ski resorts.

Geology:

The link above covers the Geology section of Park City quite well. I will just hit the highlights as far as Park City’s Geology is concerned. At various times in the last 300 million years the area that is now a part of Park City was part of a shallow sea, a tropical coastline, a desert with huge sand dunes similar to the Sahara, and a volcanic zone. Major units include the Permian Park City Formation a unit of limestone and sandstone representative of a coastal environment or shallow sea. Triassic and Jurassic Sandstone units representative of sand dunes in a desert and volcanic materials deposited around 23-33 million years ago as the Rocky Mountains were being uplifted. Just like with the Wasatch Mountains and Salt Lake City there is concern for earthquake activity due to active faults that formed during the various uplift events that have created the Wasatch Mountains. A 6.0 earthquake hasn’t been recorded but there still remains an earthquake risk.

This combination of porous rocks, volcanic influences, and structure have created an ideal situation for mineral formation and in this case silver production.

Weather/Climate:

Park City exhibits a Dfb or Humid Continental Climate (cool variant) with warm and mostly pleasant summers, a fall and spring season, and winters that are jam-packed with cold and snow. Average rainfall is around 20-25 inches and average snowfall is around 150 inches annually. Snow is most common from November to April but can fall as early as September and as late as June. Summers are nice with highs typically in the 70s and 80s and low humidity. Due to the drier summers there is a wildfire risk to be aware of during the summer and early fall months. Elevations range from about 6,500 feet to near 9.000 feet with the higher elevations having even colder winters and over 300 inches of snow a year.

Figure 3: Park City Climate Table courtesy of Wikipedia and the Western Regional Climate Center.

History:

Mining in Park City and therefore the creation of Park City occurred in the 1860s. This occurred when soldiers stationed in Salt Lake City crossed over the Big Cottonwood Canyon and discovered silver. Throughout the 19th century and into the mid 20th century, Park City was a mining town. The creation of the Trans Continental Railroad along with the development of electricity made the area very attractive for workers. The population of Park City at this time in the late 1890s was similar to today around 7,500 people. In 1898, a tragic fire impacted the city and burned 3/4th of it to the ground. In a year and a half most of the town was rebuilt.

In the 1930s, as silver mining was on the decline and interest in skiing began with a ski jump being constructed in 1930 and also in 1946 in what would be Deer Valley. In the 1960s, Treasure Mountain Resort opened which generated attention from Sports Illustrated. The rest is history as currently Park City has over 8,000 permanent residents, hosted the 2002 Winter Olympics, became a thriving arts community, and is a popular winter and summer tourist attraction.

For more information go to the following links. https://historicparkcityutah.com/news/park-citys-history

Figure 4: Historic Park City around 1900. From the Park City Museum

Figure 5: Utah Olympic Park what was once training grounds for the 2002 Winter Olympics is now a museum. It also features ziplines, training facilitates, and a guided tour/ museum. Photo is from Utah Olympic Legacy Foundation.

Figure 6: Mine carts which were actually used in lieu of lift chairs during the early ski operations in Park City.

Figure 7: Park City Museum Interior. Highly recommended if going to Park City.

Figure 8: The classic Egyptian Theater in Downtown Park City.

Things To Do:

There are several winter and summer tourists activities. In the winter time, winter sports and the Sundance Film Festival are the main attractions. In the summer season, the main attractions are hiking, mountain biking, and fly fishing.

Winter and Summer Sports:

There are two major skiing places in Park City. One is Park City Mountain which combined with Canyons Resort provides over 7,300 acres of skiing. Park City Mountain provides a variety of runs so it is good for beginners, intermediate, and expert run. You can ski and snowboard at Park City Mountain. This is owned by Vail, so they will be in charge of ticket passes. Summer time features ziplines, hiking, and such. https://www.parkcitymountain.com/the-mountain/about-the-mountain/trail-map.aspx

^^ The Link above contains information about Winter and Summer Trail Maps ^^

Figure 9: Park City Mountain Base

Another place is Deer Valley just to the south of downtown Park City. Just like Park City Mountain, Deer Valley has a variety of runs from beginners to the experts. The notable difference is that Deer Valley is a ski only resort so that means that snowboarders have to stick to Park City Mountain. In the summer time, Deer Valley features mountain biking opportunities.

https://www.ski.com/deer-valley-resort-trail-maps

Figure 10: This is a picture of Deer Valley www. OntheSnow.com

Sundance Film Festival:

Park City, Utah is the main headquarters of the Sundance Film Festival. This is an opportunity for independent film makers to get their start. It usually occurs in late January and early February and features screenings, celebratory sightings, and various exhibitions. Several artists such as Kevin Smith and Quentin Tarantino got their start from Sundance. Live performances and music also occurs at the Sundance Film Festival.

Figure 11: Park City, Utah on Sundance night. From the Sundance Film Festival website.

Conclusion:

Main street Park City has plenty of entertainment including Escape Room’s, artist exhibits, and a various amounts of shopping. One thing to note is that Park City is a very affluent area so if you are planning on shopping here make sure you bring a good deal of money. One can do Park City on a modest budget (not a shoestring budget though) if they go during the shoulder seasons (Early Fall and Late Spring) and do their research on restaurants before venturing to the city. I am very far from being rich and even I felt a bit of a pinch to the wallet after one day in Park City. The average consumer is said to spend over $100 a day in Park City especially during the Winter and Summer peak season. If you are careful then it isn’t that much different than say Gatlinburg from a cost standpoint.

One good thing about Park City is that it has a free transit system that takes you to across downtown, Kimball Junction (a shopping center area near I-80), and to the various resorts. There are public transportation options from Salt Lake City to Park City including the SLC-PC connect and shuttle options.

All in all I would recommend everyone to visit Park City at least once in their life even if it is just for half a day. The surrounding scenery, the unique Old West style Main Street, and the various museums and themed restaurants is something everyone should see at least once in their life. If you are into winter sports then you should definitely stop by as there is plenty of opportunity for winter sports. Thanks for reading Highlighted Community Park City. Plans on future posts are listed in the closing paragraph along with some additional pictures.

Figure 12: Main Street Park City, Utah

Figure 13: The Kimball Junction section of Park City showcasing its status as a Winter Olympics City.

Figure 14: Parleys Canyon, is the canyon that carries traffic across Interstate 80 through the Wasatch Mountains. This also serves as the main connection from Salt Lake City to Park City.

Figure 15: Looking towards the Wasatch Mountains from Kimball Junction. The Kimball Junction area just north of downtown Park City was developed as a result of the 2002 Winter Olympics.

Coming Up On Highlighted Community:

After today’s post the Highlighted Community Series will return to the Kentucky Bluegrass for one episode and will highlight the fascinating town of Berea. That post will be out on Friday May 31st. Then the first week of June will finish up the North Utah posts with a post about Great Salt Lake/ Salt Flats (June 3rd) and Salt Lake City itself (June 7th) . After that there will be more Highlighted Community across IL, KY, and TN throughout June, July, and August.

 

Highlighted Community: Great Salt Lake/Bonneville Salt Flats

I did not get to directly visit the Great Salt Lake (barely saw it from a mountaintop video) or the adjacent salt flats, but since this area is so intriguing I feel like I could not do the Northern Utah highlighted series without a blog episode about it. Credit was given in the photos since I was unable to get photos personally from these areas.

Location:

Great Salt Lake is a large lake that is located just west of Salt Lake City. One interesting thing to note is that there is not direct access from the lake from Salt Lake City. The closet would be going to Antelope Island State Park which is just west of Syracuse, Utah in Davis County which is about a 30-35 minute drive from Salt Lake City. The Bonneville Salt Flats are located just west of Great Salt Lake and for the most part are located in Tooele County. They stretch over 30,000 acres and cover much of Tooele County and adjacent parts of other counties and even a small part of Nevada near West Wendover.

Figure 1: Courtesy of Google Maps, this is a map of the Great Salt Lake and the Bonneville Salt Flats relative to Salt Lake City Metro and the Nevada/Utah state line. The white/light gray area is the Bonneville Salt Flats.

Weather/Climate:

The Bonneville Salt Flats feature an Arid Climate which is classified as a BWk (Cold Desert) under the Koppen Climate Classification. This climate features hot summers like you would typically associate with a desert with highs sometimes reaching into the triple digits, but winters are on the colder side and occasionally feature snow. Areas closer to the Great Salt Lake tend to get more snow and can even receive heavy lake effect snow.

Figure 2: This is the climate table for Wendover, Utah which is on the Utah/Nevada border courtesy of Wikipedia and the Western Regional Climate Center. Areas closer to the Great Salt Lake receive a bit more precipitation and snow.

How did Great Salt Lake and the Bonneville Salt Flats Form?:

Great Salt Lake and the Bonneville Salt Flats are in a part of the United States known as the Great Basin. A basin is a bowl-like landform that is surrounded on all sides by higher elevations. The Wasatch Mountains to the east, the Columbia Plateau to the north, the Colorado Plateau to the south,, and the Sierra Nevada mountain range to the west surround the lower elevation Great Basin that covers much of Nevada, southeastern Oregon, and the western half of Utah.

During the Ice Age this area was part of a large lake called Lake Bonneville as this area became a drainage area due to its bowl shape (think of a giant bath tub) along with increased precipitation and decreased evaporation across the board. Lake Bonneville covered modern day Salt Lake City, Provo, Wendover, and even adjacent parts of Nevada and Idaho (Figure 3).

Figure 3: Lake Bonneville covered a large swath of Utah as well as adjacent parts of Idaho and Nevada. Lake Lahontan formed in NW Nevada. This image is courtesy of the Idaho State Department of Geology and Wikipedia.

As the climate turned warmer at the end of the Ice Age the evaporation rate increased. Higher Temperatures = Higher Evaporation Rates. Since Lake Bonneville was in a basin there was no outlet for the water so as temperatures began to warm the lakewater started to evaporate or gradually seep into the ground. When the lake began to evaporate it left behind other particles that were not water such as salt. This continued till all that was left from Lake Bonneville was Great Salt Lake and other smaller lakes such as Utah Lake, which is west of Provo. Since these lakes lack sufficient inflow from other sources freshwater is unable to get to them combined with evaporation leaving behind products such as salt allows for the salinity of these lakes to be greater than even the ocean. Also the shallow groundwater allows for any salt to be pushed to the surface. The exception to this is during periods of solid rain that can dissolve the salt at the surface and create ponds.

Great Salt Lake Today:

The Great Salt Lake is currently one of the largest saline lakes in the Western Hemisphere. It covers portions of several counties just west of Salt Lake City and Ogden, Utah. Due to the high saline content which is over seven times as much as the ocean, humans can float in the Great Salt Lake. The salinity also impacts the life that can live there. Some parts only algae can survive and in those parts of the Great Salt Lake you can see the lake turn a pink color due to the specialized algae that live there. Brine shrimp and brine flies can also live there as well.

Currently due to the arid to semiarid climate and increasing temperatures there is the risk of the Great Salt Lake disappearing which will threaten the local ecosystem. The Great Salt Lake is too saline to use as drinking water.

Figure 4: The pink tint of the lake is caused by specific algae. This is courtesy of www. sciencefriday

Figure 5: Antelope Island State Park courtesy of Utah.com

Bonneville Salt Flats Today:

The Bonneville Salt Flats is an example of a vast and flat desert. This makes an ideal situation for racing because you have a vast and flat landscape. This also makes a perfect landscape for pictures as well. During rainstorms ponding of water can occur and when this happens the ponding can act as a mirror and reflect the surrounding landscape. This area is starting to shrink due to salt mining and local climate factors.

Figure 6: The Bonneville Salt Flats after a rainstorm. From Utah.com

Figure 7: This image is from travelyourplanet.com in which it shows a race from 1955. This area has had a long history of racing and many speed records were set here due to its vast landscape.

WOW! Comparison to World of Warcraft (Possible Influence):

In the World of Warcraft, before the events of Cataclysm the area of Thousand Needles was very Utah-like in its landscape. Which included mesas, red rocks, and mining operations. The most Utah thing in the world of Thousand Needles is a zone known as Shimmering Flats. Shimmering Flats is a giant salt flat that leads to a zone that is not too dissimilar in appearance to Southern Nevada or Arizona. Similar to the Bonneville Salt Flats there is a racing facility. Also there are some abandoned boats that suggest that just like the Bonneville Salt Flats the area was once a lake. In the Cataclysm area the area becomes a lake again, which is not expected to be the fate of Northwest Utah. The following pictures are of the World of Warcraft world posted by various online sources compared to pictures from other photographers of the Bonneville Salt Flats. Could it be possible that this area influenced the developers of the World of Warcraft? That will be up for you to decide.

Figure 8: Thousand Needles (World of Warcraft prior to Cataclysm) was an arid landscape very similar to what you would see across the Western and Southern portions of Utah. Which begs the question was Utah an influence when the creators crafted this level? This photo was from http://www.Engadget.com

Figure 9: Mirage Raceway in Shimmering Flats/Thousand Needles (WOW) courtesy of wowpedia and the Bonneville Speedway courtesy of travelyourplanet.com

Figure 10: The picture to the right is courtesy of Jeffery Favero (Bonneville Salt Flats) and the photo to the left (Shimmering Flats) is from http://www.engagdget.com

Figure 11: The left is the ruins of Tahonda a destroyed Tauren village in Shimmering Flats courtesy of Wow Wiki and to the right is an entrance to the Bonneville Speedway courtesy of Trip Advisor

Conclusion:

The Great Salt Lake and the Salt Flats are both definitly interesting places to visit in Utah. When visiting the Great Salt Lake the recommed place is at Antelope Island State Park which is north of Salt Lake City in Syracuse, Utah. You cannot access the lake directly from the city because it is surrounded by wetlands.

The salt flats are accessed from Interstate 80. It does take several hours to reach the scenic stop off I-80 (Exit 10) or the Bonneville Salt Flat Speedway which is Exit 4 (meaning 4 miles from the Nevada/Utah state line). That is why I wasn’t able to personally directly view the area because it takes 1 hour and 45 minutes to get there from Salt Lake City just one-way and assuming normal traffic. The salt flats do make a good backdrop for photographs especially if you can make it over there after a rain storm to have that mirror effect. All in all they are both good places to visit in Northern Utah.

Coming up in the next week or so will be Highlighted Salt Lake City, Utah to close out the Northern Utah Highlighted Community Series. As I start my teaching job, posts will probably be sparse but I will do my best to have at least a few per month.

 

Highlighted Community: Alta/Snowbird, UT

This is the start of the Northern/Utah Wasatch Mountain Range Series that we will begin today. We will start off with the Little Cottonwood Canyon which is just east of Salt Lake City in the Wasatch Mountains. Nestled in the Little Cottonwood Canyon is the land that is known for snow. Known as the land with the best snow today we will highlight the towns of Alta and Snowbird. Snowbird is a winter sports resort with skiing and especially snowboarding that features shops, restaurants, cabins, and a tram that takes up high up in the Wasatch Mountains. A few miles up the Little Cottonwood Canyon is a town turned ski resort known as Alta. Both of these are a short drive from Salt Lake City (within 35-45 minutes assuming average traffic conditions).

Figure 1: An image of Little Cottonwood Canyon and the communities of Alta and Snowbird.

Geology:

The Western USA is a treasure cove of Geology. The Little Cottonwood Canyon displays rock units that range over 1 billion years in time. This area features schist and gneiss which are metamorphic rocks that are formed by intense heat and pressure that is over 1 billion years old. Beneath that is altering layers of Granite (remains of ancient volcanoes), some limestone for when the area was covered by the sea, and some shale and sandstone for when the area was either near-marine or even a desert. There is also significant glacial till as well. The granite layers in particular are very important for the town of Alta as it is within those layers that prospectors discovered silver which lead to the birth of this town.

The biggest geological features in this area include the various mountain building events known as orogenies, the faulting that resulted from those orogenies, and the impacts of glaciers. Throughout time many mountain building events occurred starting with an event called the Antler Orgeny, 350 million years ago to more recent mountain events. Currently a major fault and movement along that fault is responsible of the Wasatch Range rising relative to the Great Basin region (from Salt Lake City to Reno, NV). This fault is seismically active and due to this the general Salt Lake City/Wasatch Mountains do have a earthquake risk. As seen in Figure 2 below, this has created a very complex geology that most of us in Kentucky and Tennessee are not used to seeing. In which, older units have been shifted and moved over younger units. It is like organizing your clothes by type (e.g. socks in one place, shirts in the another, and etc.) and someone ransacks your room and you have socks in the same place that your dress shirts are located at.

Figure 2: This image from Alta Historical Society shows the influence of faulting on the landscape of Little Cottonwood Canyon. In Geology, younger units are deposited on top followed by older units. Due to faulting and movement during the various mountain events the older quartzite has been uplifted and shifted in such a way that it is now over the younger limestone units.

The impacts of glaciers during the last Ice Age is also very important in the history of Little Cottonwood Canyon. The steep canyon walls of Little Cottonwood Canyon were formed by these Alpine Glaciers. Glaciers have tremendous erosion power and can move/pluck hundred’s of feet of rock. The U-Shaped valley (see Figure 3 courtesy of the Alta Historical Society). These glaciers also form other spectacular landforms such as Cirques which are amphitheater shaped landforms formed by the erosion of glaciers at the head of a mountain valley. Albion Basin in Alta is a classic Little Cottonwood Canyon example. An Arete is a shape ridge that is formed when two or more glaciers erode adjacent/parallel valleys (see Figure 4).

Figure 3: This is an example using Google Maps of an Arete. The Sugarloaf Mountain and the ridgeline to its west is an example of an Arete. As glaciers were eroding the areas surrounding Sugarloaf Mountain what remained was the ridgeline that you see pictured above.

Figure 4: The carved out amphitheater sections you see highlighted in pink are examples of a Cirque. The entire Albion Basin area is a Cirque as it was the headwater region of the Alpine Ice-Aged Glacier that shaped Little Cottonwood Canyon.

Figure 5: The steep walls of Little Cottonwood Canyon are influenced by glaciers that carved the area out during the last Ice Age.

Figure 6: This picture from Alta Historical Society is a broad view of Little Cottonwood Canyon. Little Cottonwood Canyon is an example of an U-Shaped Valley. Valleys that are carved by glaciers have a U shape to them. Valleys that are carved by rivers have more of a V shape.

These glacial features are what makes this area such a great place for snowboarding and skiing especially for those expert and professional winter sports athletes. As the significant elevation changes (from 11,000 feet to 8 or 9k feet) and jawdropping scenery provide a perfect background for a challenging and thrilling experience.

Weather/Climate:

This will likely be the snowiest place we will ever cover in the Highlighted Community Series. This area is on the windward side of the Wasatch Mountains and is above 7,500 feet to as high as 11,000 feet in elevation. In addition, Snowbird and Alta are in the primary lake-effect snow belt of the Great Salt Lake. This combination of lake effect snow and elevation leads to one of the snowiest places in all of North America. Alta, Utah receives around 510 inches of snow a year. This year (2018-19) which was an unusually snowy year featured over 700 inches of snow. Which is more snow than Marquette, Michigan; Buffalo, New York; and Minneapolis, Minnesota receive combined. Higher elevations of Snowbird and Alta likely receive even more snow. The surrounding semi-arid to arid landscape results in lower humidity which causes the snow to take on a dry and powdery texture. This makes for some of the best possible snow to sled, ski, or snowboard on.

As far as an specific Koppen Climate Classification it depends on your elevation. The tops of the mountains such as the top of Snowbird and higher mountains around Albion Basin experience an Alpine/Tundra climate with snowcover most of the year and temperatures that are too cold year round for major trees and tall plants to grow. These areas tend to feature more shrub like vegetation and tend to grow together to protect themselves from the high winds harsh conditions much of the year.

Figure 7: An example of an Alpine Tundra in the summer courtesy of Utah Education Network. These climates do warm up enough in the summer (July and August) to support some flowers before quickly turning colder and snowier in September/October.

Little Cottonwood Canyon itself, including Alta proper and the base of Snowbird would be classified as having a very cold Humid Continental Climate according to Koppen. This climate is characterized by short springs and summers and a long and extremely snowy winter with accumulating snow an certainty between October and May. The summers (July and August) do feature average high temperatures that are around room temperature (68-72F). Here you have a predominately coniferous forest with bark that helps protect the trees from the harsh and long winters.

Figure 8: The coniferous trees in Snowbird, Utah.

History:

The Little Cottonwood Canyon and especially the town of Alta started off as a mining town. The Granite layers contained mineral resources and in particular silver. The first claim was staked in 1865 and by 1872 a few thousand residents were living. This was short lived as economic factors and natural hazards struck the area. Alta, in particular was suspected to terrible avalanches some which would nearly wipe out the town due to the sharp terrain differences formed by the impacts of Ice Age Glaciers. A second boom occurred in 1904 but that ended with the onset of the Great Depression. As the town struggled to survive and was at risk of being another Old Western Ghost town the mayor at the time donated the land to the US Forest Service for development of a ski area. This paid off as over time the town of Alta became one of the premier skiing locations in Western North America due to its terrain and abundant powdery snow. Because of the areas mining history the ski lifts were able to be constructed with mining equipment. https://townofalta.com/about-alta/history/

^^ The link above has more information about the history of Alta. ^^

Nearby Snowbird came along later and was inspired by the dream of a man named Ted Johnson. In 1969, Ted Johnson met a man named Richard D. Bass an oilman and rancher at a party in Vail, Colorado. The two men toured North American and European ski resorts in the late 60s and early 70s to gain inspiration to what would became the opening of Snowbird in December of 1971. It included a tram, three lifts, the Snowbird Inn, the Snowbird Center, and lodge. This would grow to include more tunnels and trams and even connections to Alta to allow for a vast expansion in terrain. See https://www.snowbird.com/history/ for more information on the history of Snowbird.

Figure 9: The older advertisement announcing the opening of Snowbird. Courtesy of https://www.snowbird.com/history/

Winter Activities:

The biggest attractions at both Snowbird and Alta relate to winter sports. In Snowbird, that includes Skiing and Snowboarding. In Alta, it is ski’s only. Both areas provide several trails for winter sports. Both areas do have trails for those who are beginning and intermediate snowboarders and skiers, but many of the trails in this area due to its terrain are designed for experts. If you have beginners in your group do keep that in mind. The Albion Basin in Alta is a good beginner place for skiers in Alta and they do have some beginner runs in Snowbird. Snowbird has 171 trails and 4 lifts. Alta has over 100 runs. It should be noted that 55% of Alta’s runs are black diamond’s meaning that they are for advanced skiers only. Another advantage especially for Snowbird is that it has the longest season in Utah. Because it has been an unusually snowy season you can actually still ski Snowbird this year likely through June since they still have 116 inches of snow still on the ground. Even in a down snow year there is still often enough snow to ski or snowboard into May.

Both places are also well known for snowshoeing which is pretty much hiking with special snow boats that allow you to essentially float on the top of the snow. They also have ski schools and since they are part of the Wasatch National Forest you can also catch a tour with a nearby ranger. For those who do not ski there are great opportunities to view the scenery, go to a spa, shop, and eat at several of the restaurants specific to that area. You can even experience an avalanche control operation in which smaller avalanches are intentionally set off to prevent much bigger avalanche events.

Summer Activities (Late June- Early September)

The summers in Little Cottonwood Canyon are short but they offer abundant opportunity. Two popular summer activities include hiking and mountain biking. Fly fishing is also a popular activity in this area. Just like in the winter season you can still take the tram in Snowbird to get spectacular views of the general Little Cottonwood Canyon landscape. Unfortunately, when I was there it was way too foggy so I did not get to enjoy that feature. Another popular activity is seeing the wildflowers bloom which typically occurs in July as once snow filled landscapes blossom with plant life. Some of which you can only find in this general area of Utah. In particular the Cecret Lake hike in Alta is highly regarded and gives you excellent views of wildflowers and the general landscape.

Figure 10: From Alta.com , This is Alta, Utah in the summertime.

Overall this is a very nice area that is very accessible to a major city and major airport (Salt Lake City). In matter of fact, you can actually access both Snowbird and Alta from Salt Lake City without even needing to rent a car since there are ski bus routes that run from about Late November/Early December to Early April between Salt Lake City Metro and the Little Cottonwood Canyon. There are also shuttle services that can take you from the airport to Alta and a service that can take you back and forth between various stops in the Little Cottonwood Canyon. In a state that is known for natural beauty both the Cottonwood Canyons are highly recommended. If possible I would recommend going once in the winter/ski season and once in the summer season. I went here once but unfortunately the fog did restrict my view throughout my time there and hopefully I can make it out here again during clearer weather conditions.

One caution I do need to state is to beware of Attitude Sickness especially if you are not used to high elevations (above 5,000 feet). The symptoms of Attitude Sickness are very similar to a hangover and can put a damper on your trip. I did not experience this on my trip there but everyone is different. If you are not used to high elevations I would recommend staying a night or two at a mid-elevation place like Salt Lake City to allow for your body to adjust to the higher elevations before venturing up to places like Snowbird and Alta.

Here are some additional pictures of the general area. Next up will Park City, Utah. I should have that one up by Memorial Day or maybe even later Sunday.

Figure 11: A Subaru at Snowbird, Utah.

Figure 12: The welcome sign at Snowbird.

Figure 13: A whole lot of Powder (Snow) in Alta.

Figure 14: The fog rolls in from the Gold Miner’s Daughter Lodge.