The hunt for geo-oddities in northern Utah is well underway. The family will want to visit more recognizable sights so I’ll have to mix in a few “normal” tourist activities along the way. I have to maintain a careful balance. Thus I need just enough to keep them entertained while giving me an opportunity to diverge to features a bit more obscure. As usual, I’ll use Twelve Mile Circle to provide an overview. Later I will elaborate on these topics on my permanent travel page.
Great Salt Lake Base and Meridian
This little stone may not mean much on a conscious level to the thousands of people who walk past it every day. Nonetheless it impacts them continuously in subtle ways. It is the exact spot where Brigham Young proclaimed, “Here we will build a temple to our God” in 1847. Then Wilford Woodruff then drove a stake into the ground to mark it permanently (map).
UPDATE: More information now available on the permanent site.
Current Usage
Bear in mind that Church and State intertwine inextricably in Utah. Thus it serves an important secular function beyond its obvious LDS significance. Initially the site became the anchor for Temple Square, the headquarters of the LDS Church. Then it evolved into the base line and principal meridian for public land surveys for nearly all of Utah except for a small corner.
Street addresses in Salt Lake City and many surrounding towns derive their origin from this point. It can be confusing to new visitors such as myself until one figures out the scheme. One can triangulate from an address to figure out both distance and direction to the spiritually significant spot.
How Addresses Works
For example, I wanted to find the Red Rock Brewing Company‘s restaurant in Salt Lake City earlier in the week. The street address is 254 South 200 West, Salt Lake City, UT 84101. Naturally this address looks really strange to the uninitiated such as myself. Then consider it’s a Cartesian system. They are providing citizens with X-Y coordinates. The restaurant is 2.5 blocks south and 2 blocks west of the marker at Temple Square. It reminds me of a Qiblah and Mecca thing without the daily cycle of prayers.
The easiest way to decipher street addresses here is to consciously consider the two parts by themselves and then mentally place an AND between them. Thus convert it to 254 South AND 200 West. It gets confusing again as one moves further away from Temple Square. The numbers begin to climb ever higher and then start dropping zeros so they don’t look like the old Zimbabwean Dollar. Thus 2000 east might be equivalent to 20th street east.
Timpanogos Cave National Monument
We left Salt Lake City and headed into the Wasatch Range, to the American Fork Canyon on the northern flank of Mount Timpanogos. Our destination was Timpanogos Cave National Monument (map).
This was a great adventure. Tourists can’t just drive up to the Visitors Center and walk into the cave. Rather, it involves a 1.5 mile (2.4 km) hike with an elevation gain of 1,100 feet (335 m). The paved asphalt of this “trail” makes it looks easy. However, I dare you to try it on a hot summer day while convincing two children under the age of ten to continue onward.
We knew better and prepared in advance. We stopped often, rehydrated continuously and experienced no problems whatsoever while completing the climb in about an hour. The chilly cave with awesome speleothems — a fancy word for cave formations that the ranger taught us — provided its own ample rewards. Even the boys agreed once they arrived.
UPDATE: More information now available on the permanent site.
Beer in Utah
Regular readers of the 12MC may be wondering how I’m faring with Utah’s rather interesting approach to alcohol regulations given my appreciation for the brewing arts. I’m doing quite well actually.
The LDS Church holds strict views that discourage the consumption of alcohol and Mormons comprise something like 60% of the population in Utah. However that percentage has declined in recent years. Utah has responded in kind by relaxing its liquor laws to a degree. The 2002 Winter Olympics helped with that as well, apparently.
Restrictions
It’s still pretty restrictive compared to many states, but I’m from Virginia so I’m used to that. They eliminated some of the more truly onerous features such as requirements for sham “private club memberships” for taverns and bars entirely.
Utah, however, remains a 3.2 state for beer. The 3.2 relates to percentage of alcohol by weight. Defenders of the system note that this equates to about 4.0 percent by volume (the more usual standard of measurement). That’s just a tick below the average light beer found elsewhere. Thus, they note, the limit isn’t that bad. It’s nearly mainstream. Plus, if someone wants anything stronger — which is generally the case with just about every craft beer in existence — one can always purchase them at state liquor stores. Which close early in the evenings, and on Sundays and on holidays.
Workarounds
Fortunately there are big, gaping loopholes. Many bars and restaurants are licensed to sell higher-strength craft beers. Also, any brewery or brewpub that bottles its own beer can get what is known as a Type 5 package license to sell it’s own (full-strength) product directly to consumers from its premise. It was simple for me to stock up at Epic Brewing Company in Salt Lake City and the Wasatch Brew Pub in Park City. Epic, in particular, developed its entire business model around this loophole.
The refrigerator is now abundantly stocked with a wide selection of beverages including Wasatch’s, Polygamy Porter. Their controversial advertising slogans include “bring some home to the wives” and “why have just one?” Darn right I got a T-shirt. And who says Utah has no sense of humor?
I’m having a wonderful time and Utah is greatly exceeding my expectations. More geo-oddities to follow in subsequent parts.
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