Day 92 - Sunday, August 29
Today marks a major milestone on our journey west - the end point of The Mormon Trail in Salt Lake City at This is the Place Heritage Park after almost 1,000 miles from Kearney, NE.
Before we get to the celebration, there was a big bump in the road last night. Bob and I had a challenging day - major climbs, trails, heat and the daily dreaded headwind. For weeks, I have been doing great physically but my digestive system is struggling. This materializes as I cannot eat a lot of the great dinners that Chris prepares and last night I couldn’t eat anything. Even my beer sat 3/4 full as I felt intense nausea. I lay down for a bit and after an hour I was able to eat a bowl of ice cream. When I woke this morning I was nervous about having missed a meal and with my weight already being down, the risk of running out of energy.
Bob and I set out at 4:30am on the ascent of the final passes that take the Mormon Trail home to SLC. Following up on yesterday’s spectacular day, we were amazed at the beauty of todays route as well. Bob has a knack for finding the queen stage days and the last two were certainly at the top of the list for this trip. Chris met us after 19 miles and as Bob and I came to the RV, we smelled first the breakfast sausage cooking which he served with cheddar scramble eggs and toast. If I was feeling fatigue, it was certainly gone after the calorie bomb I ate. From there on, I got stronger through the day and yesterday’s digestive issues were a non-event.
We all arrived at This is the Place shortly after 4pm and I felt fatigue and joy wash over me. We snapped a few pictures and feeling like we had R&R from the front lines we sprinted to the AirBnB we reserved in SLC. This was the first time in 3 months I have entered a house, taken a shower - not in the RV, used a toilet or had real space!
Caroline who lives in SLC was kind enough to pick us up and shuttle us to Carmine’s Italian close by. We had a smash up evening catching up, eating a ton, drinking good wine and dreaming about the next big event. Afterwards we dropped her off and met her cute shitsu-poodle Bella who is 11 and joins her on 10+ mile hikes into the mountains for solo camping trips.
Tomorrow is RV service day and I anxiously await a time frame for the repairs so we can plan our last leg. So far, 2,500 miles complete and “only” 875 miles left.
The rest in pictures below…
Thank you for your support.
Cheers,
David.
Still following the major trails but we will soon finish the Mormon Trai.
Canyon for sale anyone?
East Canyon Resevoir which is 35’ below normal levels
Friendly Magpie singing to us early in the morning on the guardrail above the resevoir
The dam at East Canyon Resevoir
A bald eagle sitting in a tree close to the road. A young hunter told us there were now 3 of them locally
A waterway coming to the Resevoir and one of the prettiest sunrises I have seen on this trip
Bob was very excited with the eggs - I was too!
Our next leg up to Big Mountain Top which was 2,500’ climb
At the summit of Big Mountain, I chatted with Brett and Peter who introduced me to another way off the summit - the Mormon Trail
One quick group picture to memorialize the summit
And Bob and I are heading down the trail
The trail was perfectly groomed and exquisitely scenic
After Big Mountain Summit, I met Chris at Little Del Reservoir which was also 25’ below averages.
Our final spot for the day, This is the Place Heritage Park which Brigham Young stated as he came into Salt Lake.