Salty Lakes and The Beehive State

Ranchester, Wyoming

October 20th- October 21st

Prior to our trip the only notable places I was familiar with in Wyoming was Yellowstone and Grand Teton National Parks. Unfortunately, while we were in the Badlands we watched the weather report for the parks and realized we needed to reevaluate our next move. Northwest Wyoming was expecting 7-8 inches of snow and freezing temperatures as low as -4 degrees. Prior to digging into the weather report, I spoke to the woman in charge of booking at the Mammoth Campground (The only campground open in Yellowstone all year). I told her we wanted to stay four nights at the park. She let me know they were expecting major snow and most of the roads within the park would likely be closed off and the roads leading into the campground would likely not be accessible. She also reminded me of their refund policy; basically that there wasn’t one. We went back and forth and hesitantly decided to change our next two moves, which would alter our route entirely. 

We were suppose to visit Yellowstone and then head to Missoula, Montana as a stopover before visiting Glacier National Park. Each one of these moves would only bring us further North and into colder, more unpredictable territory. We accepted the fact that everything we planned would no longer happen according to our itinerary and talked about a future vacation in the Summer months where we could visit and enjoy Yellowstone and Glacier in their prime. We pulled our laptops out, set them side by side and immediately started Googling. Something kept drawing us toward Utah, I think because many of our fellow Instagram RV travel friends are there now, hiking the Canyonlands and Arches National Parks (Two parks we plan to visit right before we arrive in Colorado for Thanksgiving). Mike suggested Salt Lake City (Northern Utah), which my Dad and sisters have skied before. We found a campground close to the mountains, hiking trails and even a dog park for Berk to make some new friends. Perfect, we thought. We decided we wanted to camp, one because we haven’t showered in a few days and two because we needed hook-ups when we stay somewhere for an extended period. 

There’s something odd about having the freedom to choose what you’re going to do with your day, every day. It’s something we rarely ever experience, other than some Saturday’s or Sunday’s when we don’t have prior commitments. At first it sounds euphoric, being in a location of your choice, choosing exactly what you’ll eat, see and take in that day. Other days I think Mike and I are still adjusting to this lack of schedule and structure. It requires a different kind of effort, to enjoy every single moment given to us and to do so in a way that seems balanced (Less technology, more connection, less stress, more conversation etc.) 

Wyoming is GORGEOUS and I had no idea.The sun is shining and there are mountains everywhere and sheep and antelope. Mike loves telling me everytime he sees an antelope, to make sure I see it too. It’s pretty cute, so I go along with it. Even back in New York, I swear he pulls his truck over every time we see a deer. 

We stayed at Lazy R Campground in Ranchester, Wyoming (Ranchester is basically Rochester, but say it with a weird accent) Also, it’s nothing like Rochester actually. There’s two gas stations, one stop-light, a couple taxidermy businesses and a handful of bars with Busch signs on the outside that read “Welcome Hunters” in camo and orange print. It seemed like most of the other campers in the park lived there full time, maybe working on an oil-rig or pipeline nearby. We brushed the snow off our picnic table and made cheeseburgers, walked Berk and then settled in for the night. In the morning we ate homemade Buttermilk biscuits and local grape jam for breakfast. We headed out a day early, hopefully to avoid the snow and see the Big Horn mountains without getting stuck in the snow in the middle of them. 

Lander, Wyoming

October 21st- October 22nd

We settled in Lander, Wyoming at their local city park for the night. They allow 3 nights of free camping, which was a big draw for other campers like us, just passing through. We explored the little town on bikes, made tacos for dinner and met a guy named Chris who gave us a tour of his newly renovated van he was living in. Before heading out of town, we chowed down breakfast at Lander Bake Shop and bought a “My heart is in Wyoming” sticker at Wild Iris, an outdoor gear store.

Heber City, Utah

October 22nd- October 26th

At first when we arrived I was a little bummed that we were 50 minutes away from Salt Lake City. Come to find out Heber City is the coolest little place. We stayed at Mountain Valley RV Resort which is by far the most boujee RV park in all of Utah. I’m not too sure how we ended up there. The other guests’ RV’s are so fancy and massive, they make the Dutchmen look like a tiny thing. Most of them pull trailers behind them, carrying cars, motorcycles and golf carts.

Late morning on Friday we headed for the town of Brighton, where we’d begin our hike for the day. Little did we know at the time that we picked one of the highest peaks to climb in the area, but we were up fot the challenge. One of the reasons we chose the hike in the first place was because there were three lakes tucked into the mountain along the way. Lake Mary, Lake Catherine and Lake Martha all who gave each other a run for their money. The views were so picturesque and the water below us was crystal clear. After admiring the lakes, the terrain changed quickly to a much steeper, sandy trail. We weaved for a short time along the mountainside and then went straight uphill for what felt like an hour. To be honest, Mike made it to the peak by himself and captured an image overlooking the entire valley and the three lakes. I was sitting in the dirt about 200 feet in elevation below him, chewing on a PB & Banana Cliff Bar, trying to calm myself down. Being at over 10,000 feet with cliffs on either side of me, I suddenly froze up and felt like I couldn’t climb any further. I kept picturing one of us stumbling and falling to our death. Luckily, we made it out okay in just over 2 ½  hours. We hiked six miles and climbed 1,985 feet. 

We replenished ourselves at Lola’s Street Kitchen in a small town called Midway after visiting a shop called “Fernweh Lifestyle Company!” So neat! I exchanged stickers with one of the employees, who was just as excited as I was that we had the same name. I commented on the fact that all the buildings in the town resembled those in Switzerland. Come to find out Swiss farmers immigrated to Midway and made it a point to have the architecture reflect their culture. The town’s nickname is “Little Switzerland.” 

We spent Saturday in Salt Lake City. We visited the Mormon Temple, which is under construction until 2024- ate lunch at Even Stevens Sandwiches and attempted thrifting at their mormon thrift store “Deseret Industries”, but found absolutely nothing.

On Sunday, we woke up to strong winds and flurries. We decided to skip our hike and spend a few hours in Park City instead. Park City is colorful, unique and quaint. I love the vibes of the town, with vibrant shops and outdoorsy people. We ended up finding trekking poles at the Eddie Bauer outlet for 50% off, so we’re pumped to use them on our next hike. Sunday evening we headed North of Salt Lake City to Layton, Utah. My mom’s cousin Chris and her husband Chuck graciously invited us to their house for dinner. We shared stories and ate yummy, homemade fajitas. Berkley became instant friends with their two dogs, Carly and Jax.

Monday afternoon, we ate our turkey sandwiches and ran across the Bonneville Salt Flats, minutes before crossing into the Pacific Daylight Time Zone and over the border into Nevada. The Salt Flats are 30,000 acres of hard, white salt which sit on the edge of the Great Salt Lake basin. They span about 12 miles long and 5 miles wide. There is no speed limit, so there were several cars and motorcycles doing donuts and speeding around off in the distance. We’re looking forward to exploring Nevada for the next couple days!!