March 12, 2020: A year-and-a-half after the Bald Mountain and Pole Creek fires combined to burn over 120,000 acres in southern Utah County, restoration efforts are well underway, but there are still many years of environmental work ahead. In September 2018, the lightning-caused fires forced the evacuations of nearly 6,000 people in Woodland Hills, Elk Ridge, and several … [Read more...]
Reparadise: Cranking Out Off-The-Grid Rigs
For more than eight years, Brandon Zinninger and his team at Reparadise in West Valley City have been turning camper trailers — usually vintage Airstreams — into high-tech custom homes on wheels. But as the market has fluctuated — as well as the interests of Zinninger and his crew — Reparadise has found themselves spending more time in the shop crafting unique … [Read more...]
Whitewater Rafting Through Cataract Canyon
As we plunge through the roiling waters of Big Drop 3, a class IV rapid on the Colorado River’s path through Cataract Canyon in Southern Utah, I find myself repeating the same thought over and over while whiteknuckling my anchor points: “Stay in the boat. Just stay in the boat.” It’s mid-June — peak water flow season — and the river is running at roughly 38,000 cubic feet … [Read more...]
Best Pit Stops en route to Moab
As Utah begins its slow post-COVID reopening, many of you may be having the same urge to be anywhere that isn’t the roof you’ve been quarantined under for the past several months. We hear you. If a trip to Moab is in your future, don’t beeline to your destination. Instead, make the most of your journey — and newfound freedom — by checking out one of these pit stops along … [Read more...]
Spelunking in Utah – Exploring the Vast World Beneath – Cavers Take Their Sightseeing Underground
Utah is an outdoor playground on all levels, from 13,528 feet atop Kings Peak in the Uintas to 1,227 feet below ground in Main Drain Cave — the deepest cave in Utah and 11th deepest in the nation. The Beehive State’s underground world, shaped by water, minerals and time, is filled with colorful formations like helictites — hollow twiglike deposits of calcite or aragonite — and … [Read more...]
Farmers Feeding Utah: Utah Farm Bureau launches program to support farmers and feed those in-need
With the novel coronavirus disrupting food supply chains and skyrocketing unemployment, it has not been an easy few months for Utah’s farmers and ranchers, nor for residents who are already struggling with food insecurity. The Utah Farm Bureau Federation (UFBF), an independent, non-governmental organization of farm and ranch members, took note. On May 7, UFBF launched the … [Read more...]
New Faces in Salt Lake Places
When my husband found out that he got a job in Salt Lake City for a mining company, and we’d be leaving behind our beloved Lake Tahoe, I had mixed feelings. I began reading through Reddit threads about what life is really like along the Wasatch Front. I Googled, “does Utah water down its wine, too?” I was woefully behind in my understanding of what were, in my opinion, the … [Read more...]
Home Brewers Flavor Beer with Locally Grown Hops Varieties
This past summer, my husband and I planted hops for the first time in a sunny corner of our yard in Sugarhouse. After years of buying shrink-wrapped packages of the papery cones for his homebrews, we decided it was time to give it a try ourselves. After some initial research on Google, we found that Cascade hops tend to grow well in Utah’s climate and are a prominent … [Read more...]
Raise a Cheer for Sour Beer and Where To Find them in Salt Lake Valley
Before advances in refrigeration, sanitation, and fermentation in the mid-19th century, most beer was, to a certain degree, sour. The culprits? Wild bacteria and yeast that infiltrated the beer to create unwanted tartness and funk. Today, as the craft beer industry continues its meteoric rise, sours are making a comeback as modern day brewers infect their beers with the same … [Read more...]
A Tale of Two Prisons: Construction of a modernized state penitentiary is underway almost 70 years after the closure of Utah’s first state prison in Sugar House
Nearly 70 years ago, Utah’s first state prison closed its doors and was transformed into the much-loved Sugar House Park. Construction is now underway on a new penitentiary that is 15 miles away but vastly different from its predecessors. The Utah Territorial Prison opened in 1855 with 16 cells on 80 acres selected by Brigham Young. The original facility was built of brick … [Read more...]