I went to West High School and I played for the basketball team there. Our coach, for whatever reason, decided he wanted his players to be in shape (how crazy is that?), so every Summer/Fall before the season started, we would run and run and run. In our training, we would run down 3rd West, all the way to Beck Street, then run up Beck Street until you reached the capital, then we would run all the way up the hill to get to the starting point of Ensign Peak and then up to Ensign Peak and then all the way back down to West High. Lets just say, this was a good 6-8 mile jaunt which left many of us either puking or near puking. It was such a good run, that even former Jazzman Thurl Bailey used to run this with us.
Ensign Peak is where the Mormon Prophet, Brigham Young, as well as several other leaders of the early church joined together on the hike to the top...2 days after they arrived from their trek across the United States. Brigham Young, upon reaching the top, then proclaimed "Here is the proper place to raise our ensign to all the nations." This site gives you a view of the entire valley from East to West, North to South.
If you haven't been, it is in the neighborhood above the Capital (and a neighborhood where I spent a good deal of my high school years hanging out with some families up there). Very easy to find the hiking entrance as they have added a nice little area to start the hike. Let me just say--doing this hike is pretty simple and short and much easier than having already run several miles to get to this point.
I decided to take my boys up to Ensign Peak. The boys liked it quite a bit because it has fabulous views of the entire city. Roundtrip, the hike is only about 1.5 miles or so, so not too strenuous. Carter likes to get up the hill as fast as he can, while Beckham moves just a tiny bit faster than turtle...as he scans the landscape. There is also a nice little monument at the top to read and look at while admiring the views of the Valley.
I went to West High School and I played for the basketball team there. Our coach, for whatever reason, decided he wanted his players to be in shape (how crazy is that?), so every Summer/Fall before the season started, we would run and run and run. In our training, we would run down 3rd West, all the way to Beck Street, then run up Beck Street until you reached the capital, then we would run all the way up the hill to get to the starting point of Ensign Peak and then up to Ensign Peak and then all the way back down to West High. Lets just say, this was a good 6-8 mile jaunt which left many of us either puking or near puking. It was such a good run, that even former Jazzman Thurl Bailey used to run this with us.
Ensign Peak is where the Mormon Prophet, Brigham Young, as well as several other leaders of the early church joined together on the hike to the top...2 days after they arrived from their trek across the United States. Brigham Young, upon reaching the top, then proclaimed "Here is the proper place to raise our ensign to all the nations." This site gives you a view of the entire valley from East to West, North to South.
If you haven't been, it is in the neighborhood above the Capital (and a neighborhood where I spent a good deal of my high school years hanging out with some families up there). Very easy to find the hiking entrance as they have added a nice little area to start the hike. Let me just say--doing this hike is pretty simple and short and much easier than having already run several miles to get to this point.
I decided to take my boys up to Ensign Peak. The boys liked it quite a bit because it has fabulous views of the entire city. Roundtrip, the hike is only about 1.5 miles or so, so not too strenuous. Carter likes to get up the hill as fast as he can, while Beckham moves just a tiny bit faster than turtle...as he scans the landscape. There is also a nice little monument at the top to read and look at while admiring the views of the Valley.
5 comments:
Becks is our little moseyer. Don't be modest-- you jog to work every day, don't you?
I think it's great you are helping your boys get to know Utah. You've found places I didn't know existed! Thanks for the "touring" ideas.
Bro--I jiggle to work every single day.
Catherine--I guess I should not be shocked, but there are so many places to visit in the valley...most of the time, the kids have liked it which is nice.
Okay, I got a little nostalgic reading this post! This was our "backyard" as we used to call it. Can you believe that its been YEARS since I've hiked to the top! We used to hike that Peak almost daily when we were kids and I haven't even take my girls up there yet! Shame on me and good for you for reminding me what a great hike it is! =)
c'mon Trish...get up there. I was going to stop by your parents house and take a quick swim after the hike, but decided against it.
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