Salt Lake City (SLC) was only a 4.5 hour drive from Bryce Canyon and our final stop for a long weekend before heading to Richmond, Virginia and New York to visit family before heading overseas.

Quan’s brother Phil joined us in SLC. We have a family condo in SLC and have traveled here often to ski. There is so much to do in terms of day trips around SLC in the winter, especially if you like winter sports. This post has two suggestions for summer day trips.

Our first morning we climbed part of Mt. Timpanogos (“Timp”). Timp is only an hour drive from SLC, and with a peak of 11,752 feet above sea level is the second highest mountain in the Wasatch range that borders SLC. 


July is the height of wild flowers season and Mt Timp is high on the list for wild flowers!


One mile in, is a large waterfall from the snow melt at higher altitudes:

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The wildflowers were in full bloom:


Climbing to the top of Timp is 15 miles out-and-back, we only went about halfway, then decided we would enjoy Tuna Sandwiches and taking a nap more:


Our second day trip from SLC was Antellope Island State Park which is only a $10 entrance fee. We got to see the Buffalo herd that lives on the island. This is a great spring and fall destination but is incredibly hot in the summer as there are no trees on the island.

Do you see the buffaloes?

Home, home on the range…

Wide open spaces


Quan took the opportunity to practice her bowspring posture. This is the style of yoga she studied while in Denver. The postural alignment of bowspring have been key to helping her keep up with Jesse on their hikes through the National Parks:

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While on Antelope Island, we went for a swim in the Great Salt Lake. We were warned of the gnats near the water and the smell that comes off the lake. We actually did not notice the smell (except from Jesse who hadn’t showered in 2 days) and the gnats were incredible…but not in a bad way. They fly in unison in massive swarms going through the air and they don’t really bother you.  We couldn’t capture on video the gnat formations as they fly through the air over the water, but here they are on the beach leading up the The Great Salt Lake:

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 The water while not as salty as the Dead Sea, which we both have visited, has a similar feel as you lay down you float to the top and can enjoy the scenery of the large mountains around you. A pretty amazing place:

Here we are doing Y-M-C-A while floating in the Great Salt Lake! 

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