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Melissa Fields

Melissa (O' Brien) Fields is a contributing writer for Salt Lake magazine. She is an accomplished freelance writer and editor with more than 20 years of experience.

Sep 22
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‘Wild Wasatch Front’ Opens our Eyes to the Nature Right Under our Noses

By Outdoors

Each morning as my dog and I stroll around my south valley neighborhood, I notice little Gambel oak (Quercus gambelii) shoots in my neighbors’ yards. These persistent plants’ shiny, fluttering leaves peek out from between sidewalk cracks or the corners of otherwise pristine garden beds. I’ve removed countless seedlings from my own yard and they don’t give up easily; it typically takes a week for a new seedling to pop back up.

Recently, however, I’ve come to admire the defiant Gambel oak, along with many other insects, plants and animals that live just outside my suburban home. Species like the sky-blue-flowered chicory (Cichorium intybus), fast-growing prickly lettuce (Lactuca serriola), harmless gopher snakes (Pituophis catenifer) and skittery California quail (Callipepla californica)that I flush from neighborhood shrubbery as my dog and I make our rounds. My newfound appreciation of these ordinary flora and fauna is due to Wild Wasatch Front, a beautifully written and compiled field guide to the diverse natural world we are immersed in from the moment we walk out our front doors.

The Rise of the Citizen Scientist

The seeds for Wild Wasatch Front were planted back in 2013 when Lisa Thompson, exhibit developer at the Utah Museum of Natural History (UMNH), launched the museum’s citizen science program. “Citizen science,” she explains, “is the practice of people, with no scientific training, participating in the scientific process through things like reporting observations and collecting data.”

UNMH’s first citizen science effort was a collaboration with Salt Lake City Public Lands and Heartland Community 4 Youth and Families. The group was tasked with gathering ecological baseline data from three sites targeted for ecological restoration: two along the Jordan River and a third on Red Butte Creek. Once the data collection began, the UNMH citizen scientists found that the Wasatch Front’s urban areas teemed with nature. That got Thompson thinking. “I began wondering if the nature right under our noses could be the basis for an exhibit.”

The result was “Nature All Around Us,” a multilayered, interactive exhibit displayed at UNMH from October 2019 to September 2020. 

Shifting Your Perspective

Soon after the “Nature All Around Us” concluded at UNMH, Thompson was encouraged by her colleagues to translate the exhibit into an urban nature guide, something that both residents and visitors could take with them as they explore the thriving ecosystems in their backyards, neighborhoods and local parks. Thus was born Wild Wasatch Front.

Getting Out There

“You can find lots of nature in your own neighborhood,” Thompson writes, “but it’s also exciting to explore different areas and expand the circle of plants and animals you know.” The section outlines 20 explorations in the Wasatch Front foothills and lowlands from Ogden to Provo. 

Thompson’s book led me to visit the Galena Soo’nkahni Preserve, the largest open space on the Jordan River. I took my bike and made the easy pedal north along the Jordan River Parkway, stopping to sit on rocks along the river. I came to Galena Sundial, a beautiful eight-pillar monument that pays homage to Utah’s indigenous tribes. Sweeping grasses flank the memorial to the east, while the river lazily passes by to the west. I stood in wonder at such a sweeping expanse of undeveloped public land amid Utah’s most developed county. 

We Are the Visitors

Though I still tug at Gambel oak shoots when they appear in my lawn, I do so with a touch of reverence. Dense thickets of this shrub-like tree grow in the foothills a mile east of my neighborhood, providing critical habitat for birds and deer and countless other species. 

Earlier this year, I received a photo message from my neighbor. As soon as I tapped on it, I realized I was looking at a mountain lion—a big, muscly one— strolling across her lawn. “2:30 a.m. visitor,” the message read. I forwarded the photo to other neighbors, warning them to keep their animals indoors at night as another mountain lion had moved into our ’hood. “No,” one of my friends replied, “we’ve moved into theirs.” 

Wild Wasatch Front can be found at the Utah Museum of Natural History, The King’s English Bookshop, Weller Book Works, all Barnes & Noble locations in Utah and on amazon.com.

Bobcat
Lynx rufus

If you want a poster child for environmental regulation, it’s the bobcat. Bans on hunting and killing them were enacted when their population was collapsing in the 1970s. Now they are back to healthy growth and making many more appearances in urban green spaces. Shy animals, you’re most likely to see these big cats, weighing in at 120-30 pounds, during dawn or dusk. Their favorite meals are rabbits, rats, mice and squirrels. They are sometimes mistaken for mountain lions, but bobcats are much smaller and recognizable by the stubby tail that gives them their name, along with whiskers that resemble a Civil War general.

Photo by Jack Bell Photography /Shutterstock

Mountain Lion
Puma Concolor

The Wasatch and Oquirrh mountains have a high concentration of mountain lions, which hunt deer but require large ranges of 20 square miles to survive. Habitat loss from development and hunting are leading to declines in the mountain lion population.

Photo by Sean Hoover/Shutterstock

Great Blue Heron
Ardea herodias

If you ever want to see the dinosaur ancestry of birds on display, a great blue heron, with its 7-foot wingspan, is a remarkable example. There’s something ancient about these large, long-necked creatures that will stand perfectly still until their prey appears, then strike like lightning. In addition to fish, these herons also eat rodents, snakes and lizards. You’ll usually find them at the edge of open water, but they also stalk in fields on occasion. The Eccles Wildlife Education Center at Farmington Bay has built artificial structures where you can often see them nest. 

Photo by VDV/Shutterstock

Birds-Eye Speedwell
Veronica hederifolia

Speedwells are one of the sure signs that winter is almost at an end, popping up with a warm burst of blue on the sunny days of late winter. Along with their shaggier cousin, the ivy-leaved speedwell, these plants are hardy survivors that can easily thrive in a sidewalk crack. Though not native to Utah, they have found their ecological niche here and are thriving among us.

Photo by Raksan36studio/Shutterstock

American Bullfrog
Lithobates catesbeianus

Ever hear a hum out in nature that sounds like a lightsaber from Star Wars? That may be the mating call of the American bullfrog, one of the most successful invasive species in Utah. These amphibian big boys have spread through our state since the 1970s, presenting a management challenge for wildlife professionals. Not that you can blame the bullfrog for what a bullfrog is supposed to do, which goes far beyond chilling on lily pads and dodging speeding cars in video games. (Although with the ability to leap 10 times their length, they are pretty good at that too.)

Photo by Llias Strachinis /Shutterstock

Red Fox
Vulpes vulpes

The red fox is the most widely found carnivore in the world—you can see them from Siberia to Florida. Suburbs are cozy environments for them, with their wide lawns, trees and shrubs for easy escape, and plenty of places to den, including under your porch. Foxes are curious animals, ready to check out new things, which is why you might find them gingerly exploring your freshly filled trash can. They are also very family-oriented, with both parents involved in raising the kits, whom you might see out frolicking on a summer morning. And while they all aren’t red, you can usually identify them by the white tips of their tails. That’s what the fox says.

Photo by Ondrej Prosicky /Shutterstock

American White Pelican
Pelecanus erythrorhynchos

Three hundred and thirty-eight species call the Great Salt Lake home during their migrations. Among them you might see the American white pelican, which breeds here before heading south as far as Costa Rica for the winter. You can tell they are breeding from the pronounced bump they develop on their upper beak during the season. Gunnison Island, in the GSL, is one of the most important pelican rookeries in the world, which is why it’s restricted to visitors. But you are still likely to catch a glimpse of pelicans at the Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge and other locations.

Photo by Ondrej Prosicky /Shutterstock

Go Wild with ‘Wild Wasatch Front’

Experts from the Natural History Museum of Utah have drawn upon their collective knowledge to contribute to the pages of Wild Wasatch Front. The book was born out of the museum’s “Nature All Around Us” exhibit, which explores the interaction of wildlife and the urban environment in which most of us live. It’s both a compelling primer on the species you’re likely to find while roaming the neighborhood and a field guide to places where you can actively search for a sight of the wild flora and fauna of our state. With thoughtful essays, biographies of 127 local species, and detailed field trips you can take near the population center of Salt Lake City, Wild Wasatch Front is an indispensable field guide to the crawling, hopping, growling and blooming life with which we share our beautiful home. 

You can find Wild Wasatch Front at the Natural History Museum of Utah gift store and local bookstores around Utah.


Discover more Outdoor inspiration and find all our Adventure coverage. And while you’re here, why not subscribe and get six annual issues of Salt Lake magazine’s curated guide to the best of life in Utah?

Sep 16
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Follow the ‘Utah Wine Trail’ this Fall

By Eat & Drink

Exploring the surprisingly sophisticated and accessible sips along the ‘Utah Wine Trail’

It’s early November and there’s a pleasant crispness in the air as I chat with Mark Bold and John Delaney across the bar. We’re inside the small and cozy tasting room at the business partners’ namesake Bold & Delaney Winery, located just north of St. George along Highway 18. I sip a lovely pinot noir while Delaney talks, occasionally gesturing to the vines just outside the tasting room’s door. “Pinot is a thin-skinned, finicky grape that many of the region’s other wineries do not grow,” he says, “but it does very well for us.”

Photo courtesy of Bold & Delaney Winery / Facebook

Now, if you’re wondering how any grape, much less the somewhat delicate pinot grapes, could flourish in Southern Utah’s red rock desert, you’re probably not alone. But Bold & Delaney Winery is also not alone. It is, in fact, one of six boutique wineries, from Cedar City to Hildale, making up the Utah Wine Trail (utahwinetrail.com).  

“Southern Utah is at the 37th parallel, the same latitude as Spain, Italy and Greece,” explains Michael Jackson, owner of Zion Vineyards in Leeds. And like those famous European winemaking regions, the volcanic soils in Utah’s southwestern quadrant (more than 150 dormant cinder cone volcanoes dot the landscape there) and sizable diurnal shift, or daily temperature swings (often as much as 30 degrees), coalesce to create a surprisingly apt environment for wine-making grapes to achieve an optimal sugar and acid balance as they grow.

Photo courtesy of Bold & Delaney Winery / Instagram; I/G Winery

But enough wine-nerd talk. From north to south, the Utah Wine Trail begins at I/G Winery’s (59 W. Center Street) charming downtown Cedar City tasting room, a hip and inviting space furnished with velvet-covered sofas and local art. Some of I/G’s more notable varietals include its Barrel Aged Seduction, a red blend that tastes like Christmas in a bottle; Exhilerate, a refreshing and light sauvignon blanc; and 9 Barrels Red blend, a flavorful but not overt merlot made from grapes grown just northwest of St. George on Pine Valley Mountain. I/G makes 20 wines in all, available to taste at the winery by the flight, the glass (I/G Winery has a bar license) or the bottle.

The tiny town of Leeds, just north of St. George, boasts two wineries, including The Vine Yard (1282 N. Shadow Lane), owned and operated by Roberto Alvarez. There, Alvarez sits with visitors around his dining table offering tastes and tales of the 10 varietals grown in the fields behind his tasting room/home. When I visited, Alvarez and I tasted a deliciously fruity yet dry garnacha. Other wines offered there include cariñena, petite syrah, tempranillo, syrah, zinfandel, albariño, sauvignon blanc, semillon slanc and viognier. But when asked to name his favorite, Alvarez replied, “It’s like asking me, ‘which is your favorite child?’” When you go, be sure to go hungry. Tastings at The Vine Yard come with Instagram-worthy charcuterie plates.


There’s a history at Leeds’ other winery, Zion Vineyards (5 Hidden Valley Road). “Grapes were grown on this very spot in the 1880s,” says owner Michael Jackson as he looks out over his 4.5 acres of vines. Zion Vineyards’ offerings include a lovely grenache blanc, a refreshing albariño, a sweet moscato and a delicious selection of reds including tempranillo, petite syrah and zinfandel. “All of our white wines are aged in stainless steel tanks and all the reds in oak barrels,” Jackson says. Zion Vineyards’ existing tidy white clapboard tasting room will be dedicated to production when construction of a larger building, customizable for both small, intimate tastings and larger parties, like weddings, is completed later this year.

Photo courtesy of Water Canyon Winery / Facebook

Standouts among the 14 varietals grown on Bold & Delaney Winery’s gorgeous Dammeron Valley acreage (1315 N. Horsemans Park Drive) include sauvignon blanc, the grapes of which winemaker John Delaney says are picked early, so its “light, bright and crisp” and malvasia bianca, first introduced to the Desert Southwest by Maynard James Keenan, winemaker and lead singer of the band, Tool. What all Bold & Delaney varietals have in common is that they are unfiltered. “As soon as you filter a wine,” Delaney says, “you immediately take away some of its character.”

Chances are you’ll get to meet at least one member of the Tooke family, owners and operators of the Utah Wine Trail’s southernmost stop, Water Canyon Winery, which spans two locations: the Hildale vineyard (1050 West Field Avenue) and a tasting room in Springdale (1066 Zion Park Boulevard). At both locations, visitors can partake in an experience unlike anywhere else: sipping Water Canyon’s all-natural wines. 

“There are no additives in our wines, whatsoever,” Emma Tooke says, “which means that once you open one of our bottles, it needs to be consumed within 24 hours.”

Varietals grown at the Tooke family’s winery include sangiovese, cabernet franc, cabernet sauvignon and barbera, among others. A large outdoor pavilion flanked by vines and the Winery Café, operated by Emma’s twin brother, Indy, are the centerpieces of the Water Canyon’s vineyard and tasting room in Hildale; the winery’s Springdale tasting room takes on a more moody, urban-Bohemian vibe, offering the perfect respite after day spent exploring Zion National Park. 

See more stories like this and all of our Food and Drink coverage. And while you’re here, why not subscribe and get six annual issues of Salt Lake magazine’s curated guide to the best life in Utah? 

Jul 17
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Bluff Awarded International Dark Sky Designation

By City Watch

The small town of Bluff in southeastern Utah—near several national monuments including Bears Ears—has been granted a new international dark sky designation. 

Obtaining a designation from the global group DarkSky International is no easy task, according to state tourism officials. It was a rigorous, yearslong process that, for Bluff, involved not just the adoption of an exterior lighting ordinance years ago to require homes and businesses use night-sky-friendly lighting, but also volunteer sky brightness monitors and community stargazing events. 

“We’re so proud to receive this designation,” Bluff Mayor Ann Leppanen said in a prepared statement included in a news release issued by DarkSky International, a global nonprofit devoted to reducing light pollution and protecting natural night skies. 

The mayor added that designating Bluff — home to a population of about 300 people — was “one of the first things our community wanted to do” after they voted to incorporate Bluff as a town in 2018. 

“The dark skies over Bluff are more than beautiful — they’re part of who we are,” Leppanen said. “Earning this designation reflects years of dedication from our residents and a deep respect for the natural world.”

To achieve the designation, the Bears Ears Partnership, a nonprofit organization dedicated to protecting the natural and cultural landscapes of Bears Ears National Monument, agreed to provide at least two dark-sky educational programs per year, as well as conduct sky quality monitoring on a seasonal basis. 

“Since 2016, community-led star parties have helped inspire reverence and respect for the night sky,” DarkSky International said in its announcement. “In 2024, the Town of Bluff solidified a formal partnership with Bears Ears Partnership (BEP) that helped push the town over the finish line. BEP now leads ongoing education and seasonal sky monitoring, ensuring Bluff meets DarkSky’s requirements for years to come.”

Bluff was officially awarded the designation on June 24. DarkSky International described it as a “prestigious certification” that “recognizes the dedicated efforts of Bears Ears Partnership, Town of Bluff, and community advocates committed to protecting the natural night environment.” 

“Bluff now joins a select group of communities around the world working to preserve the natural night environment,” the DarkSky International announcement said. “This achievement reflects Bluff’s deep respect for the land, its wildlife, and its people — now and for generations to come.”

Bluff is now one of 57 certified dark sky communities, according to DarkSky’s website. It joins five other Utah communities on that list, including Springdale near Zion National Park, Torrey near Capitol Reef National Park, Moab and Castle Valley near Arches National Park, and Helper in Carbon County. 

Utah, with its five national parks and 46 state parks, is also home to dozens of other dark sky designation types, including 27 accredited international dark sky places and 18 dark sky parks. Timpanogous Cave National Monument has been designated one of 13 urban night sky places, and Rainbow Bridge National Monument is one of 23 certified dark sky sanctuaries. 

The perks of a dark sky designation? The certification raises awareness of light pollution while helping agencies achieve “long-term conservation targets and connecting people to nature, according to DarkSky International’s website. The bragging rights also help serve “as an economic driver by fostering tourism and local economic activity.” 

To celebrate Bluff’s designation, the town — in partnership with groups including Business Owners of Bluff, Bears Ears Partnership and the Bluff Community Foundation — will be holding a Dark Sky Festival this fall, on Nov. 14-15. 

For more information about Bluff’s designation and the upcoming festival, visit Bluff’s website.

This story was originally published by Utah News Dispatch, read the full article here.

About the Author

Katie McKellar covers Utah government as a senior reporter for Utah News Dispatch. She specializes in political reporting, covering the governor and the Utah Legislature, with expertise in beats including growth, housing and homelessness.

Jul 17
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Why Disc Golf Should be a Part of Your Summertime Fitness Repertoire

By Outdoors

Admittedly, until working on this story I considered disc golf in the same fringy, hippie-ish category as kicking around a hacky sack or slacklining, i.e. something to do after a mountain bike ride, hike or river run, usually with a frosty recovery beverage in hand. It turns out that not only is disc golf a legitimate sport, with its own pro league called the PDGA (Professional Disc Golf Association), but it’s also a fantastic form of exercise for both your body and your brain. 

“I lost 30 pounds when I started playing disc golf,” says Scott Belchak, founder and executive director of ElevateUT, a nonprofit dedicated to growing disc golf in Utah.


Courses around the Wasatch run the gamut of terrain from wooded parks to high-alpine scenery. Photo by Joseph Guong.

How to Play

Before I get into why disc golf is good for you, let’s discuss what it is. The rules for disc golf are like traditional golf, but rather than hitting a ball with a club toward an actual hole in the ground, disc golfers throw plastic discs, or Frisbees, toward elevated metal-chain baskets. (Fun fact: the Frisbee was invented in 1957 by Richfield, Utah native Walter Fredrick Morrison.) Most disc golf ourses have nine or 18 holes. (Yes, disc golfers still call them “holes” despite there being no holes.) Each disc golf hole has a designated par, and the player that logs the least number of throws for the round is the winner. The biggest divergence between traditional golf and disc golf is the course itself: rather than being situated on flat, somewhat one-dimensional fairways, bunkers and greens, disc golf courses utilize the land’s natural undulations and vegetation.

Because disc golf courses alter the land only minimally, carts are usually not typically used in play. As such, players are required to walk the entire course, usually around three to five miles. And walking, as you likely already know, is an excellent form of exercise. What’s more, walking in nature can provide a necessary mental reset. Last year University of Utah researchers Amy McDonnell and David Strayer published results from a study where subjects walked around Red Butte Garden wearing electroencephalography (EEG) sensors. They found that after walking the garden, study participants experienced improved executive control (the ability to solve problems, make decisions and coordinate disparate tasks). And then all that aiming and tossing of a plastic disc into metal baskets enhances your hand-eye coordination, too.

“Because you’re using your hand and arm to propel the disc, versus a club to hit a ball, and because disc golf baskets are raised rather than sunken into the ground, players have a more intimate relationship with the action itself as well as the environment disc golf courses are set within,” Belchak says.  


The disc golf course at Solitude resort combines a great hike with a challenging arrangement of “holes.” Photo courtesy of Ski Utah

Unlike traditional golf, disc golf has a relatively low cost of entry and a much more casual vibe. Photo by Joseph Guong.

Cost to Play

What’s more, disc golf has one of the lowest costs of entry for a summer sport you’ll find, by far. It’s free to play 95 percent of disc golf courses across the U.S., including the dozens here in Utah (with many more on the way). And a beginner-level disc set, which Ben Marolf, owner of Utah’s only disc golf shop, Another Round (6092 S. 900 East, Murray), says should include a driver, a putter and a mid-range disc, will set you back only about $30. (In addition to carrying both new and used discs, Marolf’s store is a great resource for disc golf league info and, after the store’s liquor license comes through this summer, enjoying a post-round cold beer.) 

Where to Play

Wasatch Front beginner-friendly disc golf spots include park-style courses like:

1. Disc on 6th, a 9-holer at Midvale City Park (425 6th Ave., Midvale) 

2. Tetons, a family-friendly 9-holer within West Jordan’s Teton Estates Park (9380 Targhee Dr.) 

3. River Bottoms, a newer disc-golf track offering 9 holes for novices alongside a more advanced 18-hole course, designed in part by Belchak at Rotary Park (958 W. 12300 South)  

Discover more outdoor inspiration, and find all our Adventure coverage. And while you’re here, why not subscribe and get six annual issues of Salt Lake magazine’s curated guide to the best of life in Utah?

May 12
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Join an Adult Rec League in Utah This Summer

By Outdoors

If you grew up in the United States, chances are you participated in organized sports sometime during your childhood. In fact, according to the Centers for Disease Control, just over 60 percent of all American kids aged 7 to 18 suit up to play or perform as part of a team at least once a week. As we get older, however, life—work, kids, etc.—tends to get in the way, leading most adults to abandon their passion for team play in favor of hitting the gym. And since we all know how uninspiring that can be, it’s no wonder that, also according to the CDC, only about 28% of Americans get the weekly recommended 150 minutes of aerobic exercise and two muscle-strengthening sessions per week. What’s more, many Americans suffer from loneliness, including a whopping 79 percent of 18 to 24-year-olds, a condition estimated to have the same negative impacts on life span as smoking 15 cigarettes per day.

Now the good news: an antidote to a sedentary, lonely life may be as simple as signing up for a weekly kickball league. The physical benefits of team sports are obvious: the sprints, bursts of intense action, changes in direction and acceleration and muscle loading provide an efficient combo of aerobic, endurance, and resistance training. But as Dave “Beehive Dave” Marquardt, owner and founder of Beehive Sports & Social Club, has observed, the mental health benefits offered by team play may be even greater. “I can’t tell you how many times someone in one of our leagues told me that they had recently moved to Utah, couldn’t make friends and were considering moving away until they joined one of our leagues,” he says. “Playing an adult sport is a great way to get outside and get some exercise, but the people who play in our leagues love it for what it does for their mental health.”

The focus of Beehive Sports is social activity with less focus on competition. Photos Courtesy of Adult Sports Leagues

For Ben Smith, a Salt Lake City high school teacher and longtime rec league hockey player, the physical benefits he’s reaped from getting on the ice regularly are certainly a plus, but it’s the community he’s built through his rec league that’s kept him at it for the past 25 years. “I think the way team sports are different from exercising on your own is that you are focused on doing your best for the whole group, not just yourself,” Smith says. “My hockey community has been a huge support for me as I have navigated changes in my life. It’s also brought me closer to people whose lives are vastly different than mine in a way that few other community connections can.”

Marquardt, a Utah native, launched what would become Beehive Sports soon after moving back to Salt Lake City 15 years ago. “I wanted to reconnect with my high school friends and so that summer I started a kickball league,” he says. “We had so much fun that we decided to start a flag football league in the fall.” Now, Beehive Sports & Social Club’s spring, summer and fall leagues include basketball, softball, soccer, sand volleyball, cornhole and pickleball, as well as kickball (“Our most popular league, by a wide margin,” Marquardt says) and flag football. In the winter, Beehive Sports’ leagues go inside with volleyball, basketball, dodgeball, futsal (indoor soccer), darts and billiards.

Beehive Sports welcomes whole teams and single players alike and runs play on pitches from Murray to North Salt Lake. Because the teams often meet up at local bars after games, the minimum age to join a team is 21. There’s no age cap, but most players range in age from mid-20s to mid-40s. Last year, 15,000 people played in Beehive Sports’ leagues, all of which are made up of co-ed or women-only teams. “All-male teams tend to bring out the worst parts of sports,” Marquardt says. “The women temper the men on co-ed teams, and everyone has a good time.”

Sand volleyball in Liberty Park. Photos Courtesy of Adult Sports Leagues

Adult Rec Leagues

Beehive Sports is far from the only adult rec league in Utah. Other resources include:

Alt sports

Maybe you never took to “sportsball” and the idea of kicking, bumping, throwing or hitting one around with a bunch of strangers seems terrifying. Rest assured that no experience is required to join a rec league (versus a competitive league). But to give you a little background before you hit the field, the following is a brief rule rundown of the most common rec league sports.

  • Kickball: Rules almost exactly mimic baseball or softball, except players kick a big, friendly rubber ball rolling on the ground to them by the pitcher versus hitting one that’s airborne with a bat.

  • Cornhole: Two teams, each with one or two players, take turns throwing bags at a board. The goal is to score points by getting bags through the hole or onto the board.

  • Flag football: Same rules as football, but no contact is allowed. Instead, players wear flags that hang along their sides by a belt. To “tackle” a player in possession of the ball, the opposing team needs to pull one or both of their flags off.

  • Ultimate Frisbee: The object of this fun, non-contact sport is to pass the frisbee to your teammates to score goals. The person with the frisbee is not allowed to run, just pass.

Discover more outdoor inspiration, and find all our Adventure coverage. And while you’re here, why not subscribe and get six annual issues of Salt Lake magazine’s curated guide to the best of life in Utah?

May 08
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Tales from the Salt Lake County Search and Rescue Team

By Outdoors

SLCSAR was established in 1957 and, under the direction of the Salt Lake County Sheriff, is responsible for all search and rescue missions in Salt Lake County. The team’s service area covers the county’s entire 807-square-mile area—spanning roughly from Farmington Bay south to the Point of the Mountain, east to the town of Brighton and west to the Great Salt Lake—but most of the rescues (about 65 a year) occur in the mountains directly east of the Wasatch Front.

These missions include coming to the aid of injured hikers, climbers and skiers; performing swift and deep-water rescues; and, while it’s a function they do not necessarily advertise, transporting dehydrated or injured dogs off trails. (SLCSAR made international news—as well as received kudos and donations from around the world—when they rescued Floyd, a 190-pound injured mastiff, on the Grandeur Peak Trail in 2019.) Here, five SLCSAR team members share tales of their heroism, and what keeps them on as part of the volunteer crew.

Salt Lake Search and Rescue

Darby DeHart, SLCSAR team member since 2019

Why she joined: “I love to bring together the skills I was taught in SAR training and that I use in my day jobs and work with my fellow team members to do hard things for the greater good.”

What keeps her on the team: “Sometimes it’s hard to drop what I’m doing and go. But then on my way to a mission is when I get pumped. I love how I don’t know where rescues will take me—I can start the day in Little Cottonwood and then end up on Mt. Olympus.”

Day jobs: paramedic, ski patroller and associate university instructor

Salt Lake Search and Rescue

Francine Mullen, SLCSAR board member since 2023

Why she joined the SLCSAR board: “I have friends and family members on SAR teams and thought that this would be a way I could contribute to [SAR’s] efforts.”

What keeps her on the board: “Every time I am around the team, I’m so impressed by what expectational people they are. And it just blows me away that they are all volunteers.”

Day job: nonprofit development coordinator 

Salt Lake Search and Rescue

Kevin Nyguyen, SLCSAR team member since 2016

Most memorable mission: “When we had to recover a man who had fallen into the Bells Canyon waterfall. It took three days to pull him out and afterward, the man’s family gathered to perform a traditional celebration for the first responders who had recovered their family member’s body. Watching them celebrate us, especially considering their loss, was very emotional and very beautiful.”

What keeps him on the team: “The adrenaline rush of getting called. You never know what to expect. Also, the camaraderie on the team. I’ve learned a lot about rock climbing and rock rescue from other team members and being in the situations we’re in builds a rare trust. When I’m on the end of the rope I know that person on the other end has me no matter what.”

Day job: Public health entrepreneur

 

Salt Lake Search and Rescue

Liz Butler, SLCSAR team member since 2024

Why she joined: “Before going to law school, I worked in Wilderness Therapy and had wanted to be a part of a SAR team for a long time. Things can go wrong in the wilderness for a variety of reasons.
I have the skills to help, and I wanted to give back.”

What keeps her on the team:
“I love the interesting variety of calls we get, from dehydration to having to perform a rope rescue. Getting called up is the best part of my day.”

Day job: lawyer

Salt Lake Search and Rescue

Rick Vollmer, SLCSAR team member since 2018

Most memorable mission: “In October 2022, when weather pinned three teenage boys on the West Slabs of Mount Olympus. Each had on just a light rain jacket, and it had started raining and then the rain turned to snow. We knew that they were not going to make it if we weren’t able to get to them. A team was sent ahead of us and started up the Slabs. But after one of the team members took a fall, they decided to stand down. And then at 10:15 p.m., the sky opened up just long enough to get a helicopter up there and pick them off the mountain.”

Day job: ski patroller and
aerospace engineer

How to Help Yourself: 10 Outdoor Essentials

The 10 Essentials is a well-known list of items to carry into the backcountry, regardless of how long or nearby you plan to venture out. If having all 10 seems like overkill for, say, a quick after-work jaunt into Neff’s Canyon, SLCSAR Commander John Patterson recommends taking at least the following: something to keep warm, extra water and a communication device. “Those three will help people avoid a lot of sticky situations,” he says.

ILLUMINATION: Flashlight, lanterns and headlamp; Petzl – ARIA® 1 RGB Headlamp, $40, petzl.com

INSULATIoN: Jacket, hat, gloves, rain shell and thermal underwear. Rei-Rainier Rain Jacket, Orange Burst/Orange Vista, $100, rei.com

REPAIR KIT AND TOOLS: Duct tape, knife, screwdriver and scissors. Benchmade-15534 Mini Taggedout Knife-Burn Copper, $290, rei.com

FIRE: Matches, lighter and fire starters.
Zippo-Windproof Lighter, $25, rei.com 

NAVIGATION: Map, compass, and GPS.
Suunto-MCB NH Mirror Compass, $40, rei.com 

FIRST-AID SUPPLIES: First Aid Kit. HART
Outdoor-Extended First-Aid Kit, $65.95, rei.com 

EMERGENCY SHELTER: Tent, space blanket, tarp and bivy. REI Co-op – Wonderland 6 Footprint, $50, rei.com

HYDRATION: Water and water treatment supplies. Teton_Oasis Hydration Packs Olive, $50, tetongear.com

NUTRITION: Food. Ritual Trail Mix, $17, ritualchocolate.com

SUN PROTECTION:Sunscreen, Hat and Sunglasses Knockaround-Paso Robles Polarized Sunglasses $35, rei.com 

Learn more about the Salt Lake County Search and Rescue team, here.

Discover more outdoor inspiration, and find all our Adventure coverage. And while you’re here, why not subscribe and get six annual issues of Salt Lake magazine’s curated guide to the best of life in Utah? 

Apr 02
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Rising Above: Dean Cardinale and the Human Outreach Project

By Community

Bottomless family fortune does not back Dean Cardinale, nor did he strike it rich on Wall Street or in Silicon Valley. Yet, despite his lack of personal wealth, he has found a way to positively impact thousands of lives while building a business centered on his passion for adventure. His strategy boils down to this very simple, but effective premise: “I found that the easiest and best way to impact a community is by investing in its children,” he says. 

As such children are at the heart of every decision Cardinale makes on behalf of Human Outreach Project (HOP), a now 18-year-old nonprofit with reach in three countries, as well as here in Utah, that he founded at the same time he launched his adventure travel guiding company, World Wide Trekking (WWT).

Cardinale’s affinity for mountain adventure was seeded on the mom-and-pop ski resorts’ slopes near his childhood home in Catskill, NY Ski racing led him to New Hampshire’s Keene State College. He then moved to Albany, N.Y., where he intended to put his business degree to use. “I lasted six months,” Cardinale says. “And then I got in my car and drove to Snowbird.” There he worked his way from restaurant prep cook to the Snowbird Ski Patrol and eventually avalanche forecasting. Building his mountaineering skills along the way, Cardinale began his guiding career in the early 2000s, first in his adopted Wasatch Mountains’ backyard, then elsewhere in North America, and finally, among the world’s highest peaks.

In 2005, Cardinale first trekked to the top of Mt. Everest, which unknowingly set him on the path to founding HOP. 

“I was working as a guide for Mountain Madness and my friend, Ang Pasang Sherpa, was critical in helping me and my clients get to the top,” Cardinale says. “Unfortunately, just a few days after we summited, Ang was killed in an avalanche.” Cardinale returned to Nepal for the climbing season the following year, but before he headed to the mountain, he paid a visit to the orphanage in Kathmandu where Pasang Sherpa’s three children lived.  “I took them to lunch and bought them a few things they needed. When we returned, all the other kids there were waiting for me to take them out, too,” he says. “I knew I needed to do something.”

Human Outreach Project
A WWT group on the accent to the summit of Mt. Kilimanjaro. Photo courtesy of WWT.

So, with the mission that “trekkers could—and should—give back to the communities in which they travel,” Cardinale established Human Outreach Project. In the beginning, it was just him getting sporting goods and medical supplies donated through his connections at Snowbird to orphanages in both Katmandu and communities near the other highest peak he guided, Tanzania’s Mount Kilimanjaro. It was also at that time that Cardinale learned a hard lesson about volunteerism in parts of the developing world. “There’s lots of corruption,” he says. “I realized we had to do it ourselves and do it from the top on down.”

Cardinale purchased four acres in Tanzania to build the Kilimanjaro Kids’ Community (KKC). On what was once a barren patch of ground, is now a leafy campus where 35 orphaned children, aged 1-18 years old, live, learn and recreate.

The KKC, however, is just the beginning of the impactful projects Cardinale has spearheaded and continues to nurture through HOP. At two primary schools near the KKC, HOP has built kitchens, employs staff and covers food costs to provide lunch for more than 1,000 students every day. “The [school lunch programs] have brought attendance, and therefore grades, way up at both schools,” Cardinale says.

In Nepal, following the devastating 2015 Gorkha earthquake, HOP rebuilt two medical clinics within the country’s mountainous Khumbu Region: the Pheriche Medical Clinic, located along the route to Everest Base Camp, and the Manang Medical Clinic, which serves more than 2,500 people during the three month climbing season, most are support workers. “Many of our programs focus on reaching people off the beaten path where people are struggling,” Cardinale says.

Human Outreach Project
A World Wide Trekking expedition on the Summit of Mt. Kilimanjaro. Photo courtesy of WWT.

Here in Utah, Human Outreach Project Outdoors introduces local at-risk adolescents to hiking in the Wasatch Mountains, and HOP’s Veterans Outreach Project provides support to local retired servicemen and women during the holidays.

Last year, Cardinale launched HOP’s latest endeavor, Keep Mount Kilimanjaro Clean. “When I started climbing Kili 20 years ago, 20,000 people per year climbed the mountain,” he says. “Now more than 55,000 do so every year.” During one of WWT’s last trips there in 2024, Cardinale noticed much more trash along the trail to the summit than he had observed on previous visits. Rather than ignoring the problem, or just reminding his clients to clean up after themselves, he organized four cleaning missions, each made up of 25 to 50 workers, who removed more than 6,000 pounds of trash. “When they see trash on the ground they are more likely to leave trash themselves,” Cardinale says. 

Like HOP’s other efforts, Keep Mount Kilimanjaro Clean is not a one-and-done proposition. Following last fall’s cleanup missions, Cardinale is aiming to get Kilimanjaro’s visitors to help keep the mountain clean through HOP’s “1Kg Challenge.” At the trailhead, Cardinale has installed bins for climbers to deposit filled provided biodegradable bags as they leave the mountain. Cardinale also had signage placed reminding visitors to pack  in and pack out everything. For his efforts, the Tanzania National Park Authority named him an official ambassador of Mount Kilimanjaro National Park.

Throughout his almost two decades of philanthropic work, Cardinale remains actively involved in every Human Outreach Project undertaking by spending a day or two before or after his WWT guests arrive or leave for a trek to visit one of HOP’s schools or clinics in Nepal, Tanzania and Peru. And he always makes time to visit the now-adult children of his late friend, Ang Pasang Sherpa—Lhakpa Dhen Deh, Dawa Gylasten and Pasang Maya. “They are my family,” Cardinale says. “and I am happy to report that they are all doing great.” For more visit humanoutreachproject.org.

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Mar 26
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Doing push-ups can help prepare you physically for the trails this spring. Photo credit Adobe Stock.

Spring Strength and Endurance Training for Mountain Bikers

By Outdoors

March and April are the bona fide salad days of living along the Wasatch Front when mountain snow conditions are still stellar and the valley’s foothill singletrack is all smooth, tacky fun. But before you dust off your knobby wheels and hit the dirt, investing in a little mountain-bike specific spring strength training can help ease the transition from sliding down mountains to peddling up them. So says two former professional mountain bike racers and now coaches, WUKAR Fit’s Art O’Connor, who focuses on gym-specific strength training for cyclists, and K Cycling Coaching’s Sarah Kaufmann, a specialist in helping elite mountain bikers build both endurance and speed. 

Getting Strong

Coming out of ski season most mountain bikers’ leg strength is pretty much up to snuff, O’Connor explained. “Where most people, alpine skiers especially, lack strength in the spring,” he says, “is in the upper body.” To prepare your arms, shoulders, upper back and core for the demands of climbing and descending on a mountain bike, O’Connor recommends adding push-pull exercises to your fitness routine.

Push-ups:Not surprisingly, the good ole push-up remains the standard-bearer of developing upper-body pushing strength. To achieve the perfect-form push-up, begin in a plank position with your hands slightly wider than shoulder-width and your feet at hip-width. Tighten your core and then lower your body until your elbows are at a 45-degree angle. Pause for a beat and then push back up the starting position. Your body should remain in a straight line from head to heels the entire time, no sagging or rising hips allowed. “And you don’t get better at push-ups by doing them on your knees, but rather doing them with your hands elevated, ideally in a stairwell,” O’Connor says. “Start on the highest stair you can reach,” he says. “When you can do three sets of 10 in perfect form, then you’re ready to move down to the next step.” 

Plank Pulls:To increase pull strength, used by mountain bikers as they pull on the handlebars to apply pressure to their back wheel as they ascend hills, O’Connor recommends plank pulls, or pulling your upper body up while in an inverted or upward-facing plank position. The farther you place your feet out in front of you, decreasing the angle of your body in relation to the floor, the more difficult the plank pull will be. This exercise can be done in the gym by pulling yourself up on a pair of TRX bands suspended from a ceiling or by pulling yourself up to a barbell placed on a squat rack. A plank pull can also be performed at home by crawling under a dining room table and pulling yourself up by holding onto the edge of the table.

Greasing the Groove:For athletes looking to get strong without bulking up, O’Connor recommends “greasing the groove,” a training technique that increases neuromuscular efficiency through minimal repetitions and plenty of rest time in between sets. An example of this training technique would be doing three sets of three to five push-ups spread throughout the day: one set after getting up in the morning, another at midday, and a final set in the evening. “It’s not necessary to follow that exact schedule,” he says, “the key is keeping the reps low and making sure the time in between sets is at least an hour.”

Spring Strength Training
Mountain bikers take on the Wasatch Crest Trail. Photo credit Louis Arevalo, Visit Utah.

How to Last All Day 

The best way to maintain endurance-related fitness, says Kaufmann, is by regularly engaging in an activity that challenges your cardiovascular system. “For athletes who put away their bike for the winter, that can look like ski touring, snowshoeing, hiking or running—anything that gets your heart rate up and keeps it up for a while,” she says. “The more you do over the winter, the more you can absorb when you get back on the bike in the spring.” Of those activities, Kaufmann says that ski touring translates particularly well to mountain biking. “The motion of dragging your ski uphill uses many of the same muscles used in a pedal stroke, and then skiing downhill is very similar to the skills of spatial perception and maintaining your body at a speed that is required in mountain biking.”

For those of us, like me, who tend to let the chairlifts do most of the work during the winter, Kaufmann says that cadence workouts are a great way to kick-start your cycling endurance in the spring. A simple example that can be done on a gym bike, trainer or on the road is performing three to five sets of pedaling at a high cadence for one minute and then backing it down to a normal cadence for five minutes. “You don’t need a computer to tell you what your cadence is,” she says. “A high cadence is when you’re pedaling at an uncomfortably fast pace but below the point that you’re bouncing out of the saddle.” 

Another workout, more focused on neuromuscular power, can be done by repeating a gradual climb that takes about three to five minutes to complete one time. Ride the climb once in a moderate gear and then repeat, shifting the gears up one cog harder each time, until you fail. Whenever you do get back on the bike, Kaufmann warns, resist the urge to ramp up too quickly. “Even if you feel good, always take it easy when restarting an activity you haven’t done for a while, even one you’ve done for years,” she says. “Doing too much too soon is a sure-fire recipe for starting the season with an injury.”

Spring Strength Training

More from the Pros

WUKAR Fit  |  wukar.com
K Cycling Coaching  | kcyclingcoaching.com

Feb 18
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Winter’s Best Workout: Skate Skiing

By Outdoors

Tired of sweating it out in the gym? Time to learn to skate ski. After relocating to Utah from the Upper Midwest flatlands to Utah in my mid-20s, I let my classic-style cross-country skis gather dust for about a decade while I rode chairlifts and searched for face shots. But then one February, during an unusually extended period of high pressure, I got an invite to attend the Bryce Canyon Winter Festival, a weekend of mostly free activities held on the edge of Bryce Canyon National Park. There I took my first skate-skiing lesson and was hooked. While classic cross-country skiing is similar to going for a stroll along a flat sidewalk, skate skiing is as exhilarating as going for a trail run. Skate-skiing’s simultaneous upper-and lower-body workout checks both the cardiovascular- and muscle-building boxes while torching a whopping 600 to 800 calories per hour. And because most of Utah’s state-skiing tracks are in super-scenic wooded or rolling hills locations, the experience is much more mentally rejuvenating than spending an hour indoors in the stuffy gym.  

The only downside: learning proper skate skiing techniques takes time and practice. I had, misguidedly, tried to figure it out on my own before my first lesson at Bryce Canyon. But each time I went, I’d shuffle along awkwardly, bathed in sweat, trying to move my arms and legs in the effortless rhythm I’d see other skiers on the track demonstrate seemingly effortlessly while they passed me on the track, greeting me with an always cheerful, “good morning!”

Taking a lesson, especially for beginners, affirmed Don DeBlieux, a PSIA Level 3 Nordic instructor with 30-plus years of experience and who teaches at White Pine Touring Nordic Center in Park City, will “save you a lot of frustration and you won’t develop movement patterns that are inefficient and hard to break,” he says. “And I’m not just saying this to get more business. I’d much rather have a blank canvas than someone who tried to figure it out on their own.”

Learn to master the skate-skiing’s V-shaped stance. Photo by Sports Photos/Adobe stock
 Learning proper skate-skiing techniques takes time and practice. Lessons can help lower the learning curve. Photo by Sports Photos/Adobe stock

Learn the Proper Skate-Skiing Techniques

Start in a basic athletic body position: Feet shoulder width apart, slight bend in your knees, hips are directly over your feet. 

Illustrations by Kimmy Hammons

Next, lift your left leg and center your body weight over your right leg. Focus on maintaining a straight line from your armpit down to your toes. Now return back to your basic athletic position. Repeat by raising your right leg and balancing on your left, maintaining that straight line.

While there are several factors in mastering a skate-skiing’s V-shaped stance, solid technique boils down to getting comfortable with balancing on one leg. “Make sure you commit completely to one ski before pushing off onto the other ski,” DeBlieux says. “And keep that head up and eyes down the trail, you don’t have to keep an eye on your skis, if they fall off you will know.”

There are boatloads of drills new skate skiers can do to get accustomed to balancing on one ski, but one of the simplest, DeBlieux says, is this: when on a slight downhill, attempt to hold a glide on one ski a bit farther with each stride. “When we coach kids, we do contests to see who can go the farthest on one ski,” he says. “Hopping on one ski is also a good one. Some skiers practice by always standing on one leg when they brush their teeth.”

For what it’s worth, mastering one-leg balance is beneficial to classic skiing techniques, too. “[In classic skiing] the ski is moving down the track and we want to be over it and moving with it,” she says. “The most efficient classic skiers are moving from leg to leg just like we do when we walk and run.”

Where the pros are

Avoid the inevitable frustration of trying to learn how to skate-ski on your own by taking a lesson or clinic from one of the following Nordic schools or learn-to organizations.

Utah Nordic Alliance (TUNA)

Learn-to-ski programs for kids, juniors and adults are held at TUNA’s Parleys Canyon home base at the Mountain Dell Golf Course.

White Pine Touring Nordic Center

Located at the Park City Golf Course, they offer separate men’s and ladies’ learn-to-skate-ski-lesson series, weekly in January and February.

Park City Nordic Betties 

This group offers an eight-week skate-skiing series for beginners/never-evers starting January 8. Each lesson in the series is held at a different location around Park City, based on weather and conditions.

Ogden Nordic (ON) 

ON offers skate and classic ski lessons at North Fork Park in Ogden. Classic and skate-skiing group lessons for beginners are offered on Saturdays; private lessons are available with reservations seven days a week.

Solitude Nordic Center

Skate and classic group and private lessons, equipment rentals and track passes are taught on 20K of groomed trails adjacent to Solitude Mountain Resort. The Center also hosts a four-session women’s beginner skate-skiing clinic that includes equipment rental and a track pass.

Soldier Hollow Nordic Center 

Offering skate-skiing newbies a one-hour classic ski lesson that includes a Nordic track pass and equipment rental.

Sundance Resort’s Nordic Center

Offering weekly Ladies’ Day classic and skate-skiing clinics in January that include equipment rentals and a pass to the resort’s gorgeous 15K track.

Jan 01
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Hut-to-Hut Skiing is Coming to the Uintas

By Outdoors

Though I’ve never had the pleasure of going on a hut-to-hut ski vacation, I am wistful about doing so all the same. I imagine days filled with skiing run after run of pristine powder snow followed by nights in a snug yurt, sitting next to a glowing wood stove while sipping a hot buttered rum and recounting the day’s adventures with my ski buddies. Hut systems are prolific in Europe, where they are known as “refugees,” and in Colorado, Montana, Idaho and Washington State. A few backcountry huts exist here in Utah, but most are not meant to be used for a consecutive multiday hut trip. However, thanks to Shaun Raskin Deutschlander, founder and lead guide for the Park City-based, Inspired Summit Adventures, the same dreamy guided backcountry skiing experience you can get in Europe or other Western states is now available in Utah.

In December 2024 Deutschlander announced the opening of guided tours between the first two yurts of a planned five-yurt network, dubbed the Western Uinta Hut System, offering unprecedented recreational access to 100,000 acres of rugged backcountry terrain in the Uinta Mountains. When all five huts of the system are in place, connecting routes will span 96.17 miles of developed trails, ideal for travel by backcountry skiers, snowmobilers, hikers, mountain bikers and UTV enthusiasts. For the 2024-25 winter season, Inspired Summit is offering guided, multiday backcountry skiing trips using the hut system’s two existing yurts—trips that, as of mid-December, were already booked out into March 2025 (despite the less-than-stellar start of the winter season). In early December 2024, I got to go with Deutschlander to preview Inspired Summit’s cozy Smith and Morehouse yurt. Here’s what I learned.

“When I started Inspired Summit over a decade ago, I only dreamed that one day I would be in a position to work with the Forest Service and the outdoor community in such a profound way,” Deutschlander says. “Most people who visit the Uintas don’t go beyond the overcrowded roadside destinations like Trial Lake and Lilly Lake. This [hut system] is an opportunity for outdoors lovers to get away from the crowds, and for me, to create a legacy focused on my values of sustainability and leave no trace.”

Deutschlander set the first phase of that dream into motion when she purchased the Castle Peak Yurt from Park City’s White Pine Touring in 2021. “It had been well-loved over its many years and so we replaced it with a new yurt and also added a guide hut and wood-burning sauna,” she says. In Fall 2024, the system’s second hut, the Smith and Morehouse yurt, was constructed near the banks of the Smith and Morehouse Reservoir, 11 miles and 2,000 feet of elevation away from the Castle Peak yurt.

Inspired Summit’s winter 2024-25 hut-to-hut trips begin at the Castle Peak Yurt where skiers get to spend their first couple of days venturing out on guided, high-elevation tours and taking advantage of the sauna. The second half of the experience follows the long descent to the Smith and Morehouse yurt (gear is moved via porter service) and another day (or more) of exploring that corner of the Uintas. Each yurt sleeps between six and 10 adults, which made me wonder if separate groups are booked in the yurts at the same time. “Nope,” said Cindi Grant, Inspired Summit’s director of operations.” Every trip we book is private and customized to each group.”

On the day I got to tour the Smith and Morehouse yurt with Deutschlander, we met in Weber Canyon just outside of Oakley. The road to the Smith and Morehouse reservoir is not maintained in the winter, and so she had brought along snowmobiles for us to ride into the yurt. As we rounded a corner and approached the north end of the reservoir, Deutschlander stopped so we could take in the magical view. A series of rounded mountain peaks, typical of the Uintas, stood like quiet sentinels over the frozen lake where a group of skaters played hockey on the icy surface. “The Uintas are one of the oldest mountain ranges in North America, and were sculpted by glaciers that carved out all the lakes people are aware of,” Deutschlander explained, “and created really fun and nuanced skiing terrain.”      

We hopped back on the snowmobiles and continued along the lake to the yurt. Fun fact: yurts originated thousands of years ago in the Central Asian Steppes where nomadic cultures, like the Mongols and Turks, used them as portable homes. Original yurts were covered with animal skins; a durable canvas/plastic hybrid covers most modern yurts, that functions in the same way as the traditional ones: to keep heat in and wind and snow out. The Smith and Morehouse yurt sits atop a large deck that extends well beyond the shelter’s footprint, offering an ideal outdoor space for catching some rays on a sunny day. A breezeway is also attached to the yurt, a smart addition, I thought, to both avoid snow blowing in the door and give visitors a protected place to stash their skis or bikes outside the yurt. An ADA-compliant ramp, wide door opening and adjustable tables provide wheelchair access in the summer when it’s possible to drive to the yurt.

A table set with soup bowls, stainless steel wine glasses and a huge charcuterie board greeted us as we entered the yurt. Grant gave us a warm “hello” from the kitchen area where she was kneading dough for pizzas to bake inside a pizza oven affixed on top of the wood-burning stove. Inspired Summit’s yurt catering menus include items like burritos, French toast or oatmeal for breakfast; a sandwich bar and snacks for in-the-field lunches; and pizzas and soup, Mexican night, curry or pasta for dinners. Every menu is adjustable with respect to food allergies or dietary choices, too. “Shaun went to culinary school, and so food is a big deal for us,” Grant says. “Much of the food we serve is organic and sourced from high-end grocers like Whole Foods.”  

And, of course, what would a ski trip be without après? In addition to the fabulous charcuterie spread we enjoyed during my visit, the post-tour snack menu Inspired Summit offers guests includes a chips and salsa bar, Mediterranean-style nuts and olives and two beers per person. 

“The two beers are included, but we have a big a la carte menu with wine and cocktails, too, and people are welcome to bring their own alcohol that we can transport up to either of the yurts,” Grant says.

Deutschlander’s goal is to complete the remaining three Western Uinta Hut System yurts by 2027. Locations she’s eyeing for the additional yurts include just outside of Samak near the Slate Creek mountain biking trail system, and at Big Elk Lake and Ramona Lake. When completed, each yurt in the system will be situated within six to eight miles along established trails from the next one, providing a way for everyone from seasoned outdoor recreationists to families with small children to have a truly adventurous and nature-immersive experience.  

“My goal is to get the yurts as close to trails as possible but still far enough away so as not to interfere with other people’s exploration of these incredible mountains,” Deutschlander says.