Utah - Part 1

The Mormon state was always going to be an interesting trip. Emma and I are both non-religious but are more than happy for others to practice whatever faith they like. The problem I have, or certainly used to have in my more belligerent youth, is when religion spills over into public life and dictates the way others should live. Perhaps less obvious than this but slightly more disturbing is when a long standing religion like Christianity is butchered by some fantasists and presented as absolute doctrine despite the cover story sounding like something by the Brothers Grimm. Team this with a following of the most intensely amiable people one could ever meet and you have the uncomfortably surreal experience of bearing witness to a cult in action. What I am saying is nothing new of course, but it did play on our minds whilst we were in the state and certainly left a lasting impression of Salt Lake City, home of the Latter Day Saints.

Before arriving in Salt Lake City we visited Zion and Bryce Canyon national parks. Zion was more crowded than Oxford Street on a Saturday so we quickly moved on to the quieter and less visited Bryce. The park is home to a canyon of magical multi-coloured vistas where layers of different rock have eroded at varying pace to create tall, knobbly structures known as hoodoos. The colours of these rocks vary from icing sugar white to crimson and all the tones in between. The varying stages of erosion have created windows and bridges as well as rolling dunes in terrific hues, all of which provided food for the soul as we hiked our way around the largely empty ravines and gulches. There were no churches in the canyon so I was sure I was free from dogmatic oppression, right up until the point where a six pack of beer couldn’t get me tipsy and I realised that they controlled the alcohol content of booze. This is the nectar of the gods damn it! If it comes out at 9% then let it be. Let it bloody well be!!