We're Going to See a Moose Today

6 Of Our Favorite Hiking Decisions

Utah makes me want to smash this computer and run outside never to be seen again, but that would be a mistake. Fortunately, one can quietly close a laptop and casually walk outside to enjoy all the splendor Utah has to offer and return to their loved ones safe and sound. That is what we did quite often during our month in Salt Lake City and we enjoyed every moment of it.

Hiking was our respite from work and technology, our way of clearing the mind and gaining the physical exercise needed to make up for 8 hours of productive slouching. Utah make it easy for anyone to hike, with some of the most beautiful and trail-ridden surroundings in the country. Here's a small list of our favorite hikes from our month in Utah:

1. City Creek/Bonneville Shoreline

• 4.4 miles
• 
• Out and Back
• 
• 1,138 ft. elev. gain

You can hop on this trail from about a million spots conveniently surrounding the border of the city. Me and Ashley literally walked on to it by accident during a quick stretch of the legs from our Airbnb.

2. Ensign Peak:

• 0.8 miles
• 
• Out and Back
• 
• 374 ft. elev. gain

Short and steep, but whew.. what a view. Easily one of the best views of the city for your weary eyes. Come for sunset and watch planes fly into the sun from SLC airport.

3. Lake Blanche Trail:

• 6.8 miles
• 
• Out and Back
• 
• 2,808 ft. elev. gain

Right in beautiful Cottonwood Canyon, this is a toughy. Howeva, the reward is well worth the effort. Take your well earned break at the pristine alpine lake at the top. Also! Watch out for moose!

4. Bell Canyon:

• 4.6 miles
• 
• Out and Back
• 
• 1,453 ft. elev. gain

Guess what? Another area in Utah with a plethora of excellent hikes. You won't even need your hiking boots because you'll basically float up this whimsically beautiful canyon.

5. Grandeur Peak:

• 3.7 miles
• 
• Out and Back
• 
• 1,177 ft. elev. gain

The name says it all. It's not a breeze on the way up, but you might get lucky like us and almost get carried away by a golden eagle.

8 Tasty Decisions We Made in SLC

How to fuel all that hiking? Luckily, in a metropolis such as SLC, there are plenty of ways to regain those precious calories. Here are some of our favorite pit stops:

2 Day Trips

Sure, there's plenty to do in town. But, sometimes you gotta get behind the wheel, blast that murder podcast, and cruise out to nowhere to check out some unique landscape, park, oddity, ghost town, or what have you. Here are two day trip decisions we made while in SLC that I would highly recommend:

1. Bonneville Salt Flats:

The thousands of tons of salt embedded in our vehicle was well worth the visit. What even is this place? A place to get behind the wheel during your lunch break to drive into a dizzy endlessness and never return just like you fantasized about at your desk over that salad? Yes sure, drive into the sun, but generally it's a packed salt pan in Northwest Utah where people drive really fast and take very cool Instagram photos. Three things:

• It's free. Go drive fast and take videos out of the window of your car.
• You'll probably see some really cool cars there.
• This flat lies where a gigantic Pleistocene lake used to reside. Apparently, it covered a third of Utah and was one-thousand feet deep and definitely had freaky water habitants. Read more definite facts here.

2. Antelope Island:

Another pretty sweet place to visit in Northwest Utah. Right on the Great Salt Lake you can find a huge island with hiking trails and wildlife- including my favorite animal head, the bison. Three things:

• You WILL see bison, just keep driving round and round enjoying yourself.
• You'll read a lot about the bugs at this place and yeah they were annoying, but it's still worth it so just come prepared.
• Check out Fielding Garr Ranch, which offers an interesting look into the past when life seemed much more miserable. Check out the old houses, museums, and artifacts from when men were probably more manly.