july fourth weekend

We had a houseguest over the holiday weekend: R, one of H’s longest-running friends whose wife and kids were out of town.  His request list included: beer and Crown burgers.  We thought we could probably hook him up.

We picked him up at the airport Friday night and then proceeded to stay up way too late catching up as it had been about five years since we’d gotten together.  Saturday morning arrived bright and sunny, so we packed up some hiking gear and headed off to the Silver Fork for a late breakfast.  We timed it just perfectly too, managing a table outside on the deck with only a three minute wait to be seated.  This was the first time we’d been out on the deck – every other time we’ve been to the Silver Fork it’s just been too chilly – and it was pretty fabulous, sitting in the sun, under an umbrella, surrounded by the mountains. 

After breakfast we drove to Millcreek Canyon.  R had asked us to take it easy on him hiking-wise so H picked out a gentle 5+ mile round-trip that was fairly well shaded: Desolation Trail to the SLC overlook, a pretty busy trail due to its location in heavily-visited Millcreek Canyon.  We managed to perch out on some rocks at the overlook all by ourselves for a while, however, enjoying the views.  On the return trip, we were grateful for as much shade as there was as it was getting hot (would end up being low 90s in the valley that day) and once down, grabbed the requisite cooler from the car and headed for some rocks along the cool and rushing Mill Creek.  We weren’t the only ones who had that idea: in addition to the oodles of picnickers enjoying the grounds, I spotted my very first in-the-wild rattlesnake when I disturbed him from his spot in the shady undergrowth.  First I saw the motion as he moved off the path; then I heard the telltale rattle; then I decided to take another path!  We soaked our feet in the frigid creek waters while “enjoying” a PBR, then headed off to Crown Burger for lunch – which, I believe, was everything R had hoped it would be.  Next was a brief respite at home, to clean up before we went to the cooler mountain air of Snowbird for their free Saturday evening concert: Guns, Girls and Glory.  The last thing we managed to squeeze in was a trip to the Cotton Bottom for more burgers – garlic this time.

Us guys at the SLC overlook on Desolation Trail

Sunday was hot-hot-hot (high 90s) and since we didn't get up at the crack of early, we decided hiking was probably not a good idea.  So after breakfast in town at The Other Place (we opted not to wait in line at Ruth's for two hours, if you can imagine), we cruised on up to Park City, hoping that it might be a little cooler up there.  It was slightly cooler, in the low 90s.  Park Silly, the every-Sunday street fair and farmers' market on Main Street, was in full swing and we wandered about, listening to the live reggae, goggling at the people, going in and out of art galleries and, of course, the No-Name Saloon. When we were done with Park City, we headed home, stopping in at the Porcupine first (since no houseguest is allowed to stay with us without a trip to the Porcupine).  The remainder of the evening was spent on our front patio, relishing the cooler air and watching the fireworks go off all around us.  (In Utah, you're allowed to buy your own fireworks and shoot them off from like July 1 through July 26.  The dog is not happy about it.)

R headed home Monday morning, after threatening to possibly come back again this summer for a camping or MTBing trip.  That's always a good sign, we think, when someone wants to come back.