Hiking the U (Almost)

Isa and I were missing Broadway and we really wanted to go see a show, so we found a high school in West Jordan (that’s the “other side of the tracks” for those of you not from around here) that was putting on Seussical the Musical. We had never seen it, and it was only $10. So we drove down (we rented a car for the weekend) to see it.

They actually did a pretty good job. We found out that although it was held at the high school, it was put on by a community theater. So it wasn’t just high school kids. The Cat in the Hat was fun – very talented and charismatic (although I would have loved to see this on Broadway, because I think he would have been really great). Our favorite character was actually Myrtle McGirdle. She was such an expressive and fun actress. We smiled every time she came on the stage. We also liked Horton.

It finished and we drove back to Salt Lake City around 10pm. Since we had a car and it was still so nice out (about 90 degrees still, with a breeze and no humidity) we decided to drive up to the U. (Here in Utah, many of the cities put a giant letter up on the mountain that you can see for miles around. Like this:

BYU has a Y. The U (University of Utah, here in Salt Lake) has a U. There’s a B for Bountiful, a G for Pleasant Grove, and all sorts of other letters depending on where you go.

Isa and I hiked the Y when we drove through here two years ago, and it was hot and miserable and long and really just not a very good experience. But I had heard that hiking the U was much easier (for the pansies that go to the U, that makes sense). So we decided to try it. And easier it was.

You can drive pretty much right up to it. Then you take a sidewalk straight across to a road, walk for about 30 seconds, and you’re right below it. Then you need to hike up the mountain for about 100 feet. Not bad, huh?

Well we didn’t make it. The dirt on the trail was so dry and loose that our sandals couldn’t get a grip. We got about three fourths of the way there (so I was about 20 feet away from the bottom of it) and we decided to turn back. Turning around was probably the hardest part of that hike.

So if you want to hike the U, make sure you have about 5 minutes and some good sneakers.

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