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Wednesday, June 13, 2007

Memory Grove Park

City Creek CanyonI decided to take a short walk through Memory Grove Park. The park is on City Creek between downtown Salt Lake City and City Creek Canyon. My favorite hike is Salt Lake City is to start at the Trax station at Cottonwood Canyon then to hike past Temple Square then to follow the sidewalk adjacent to City Creek through Memory Grove and into the canyon.

Memory Grove: Meditation ChapelThe ability to walk from downtown into the wilderness of the Wasatch is, in my opinion, the single biggest selling point of the city. This pleasant walk includes a variety of scenery with skyscrapers, church buildings, a ritzy neighborhood, public art followed by a long mountain trail that climbs into one of the most remote regions of the Wasatch Mountains. The road up City Creek Canyon is popular with hikers, joggers and cyclists. Bicycles are allowed only on odd days. Cars are allowed on even days, but I think you have to have additional permission to drive up the canyon. The lower portions of the canyon are a little bit trampled. The upper stretches are remarkably pristine.

Ottinger HallWhile adding labels to the pictures, I discovered that Ottinger Hall is being rennovated by the Salt Lake Rotary as some sort of youth center. I also learned that Salt Lake will be the host of the 2007 Rotary International Convention this upcoming week. See the sites Rocky Mountain Rendezvous or Salt Lake Rotary for more information. Rotary Clubs tend to construct really cool things.

World WarAs for Memory Grove itself, I admit to being inspired by the monuments for the people who gave their lives defending this country. Monuments are important. They are both worth building and preserving. For example the World War monument was constructed in 1932 by people who may have been hoping that they would live in an era of peace, not knowing that worst things lay ahead. I was also impressed with Gold Star Hill which recognizes the pain of the Gold Star Moms who lost a child serving this nation.

Memory Grove ParkIn my book, the efforts to build parks and memorials are quiet important as they provide a valuable perspective of the events that shape the world. Above all, the monuments of the past serve as backdrops for the photos of the present.

2 comments:

  1. Since you've recently been to City Creek Canyon, I thought I'd see if you had an answer for a question I encountered on Saturday there.

    Most of the pipes in the area are fairly easy to intuit their purpose...there's a large gauge one that comes down out of the neighborhood above to the east and appears to be storm drain runoff, for instance. But near the area where the trail becomes a bit steeper, there is a large rusted pipe that sticks up about fifteen feet into the air. It then curves back over toward the ground and is capped by what appears to be wire mesh. We could hear air rushing out of the opening. It disappears into what appeared to be regular hillside rather than a structure. Looking around, it's hard to figure what it's purpose might be.

    So, do you know the pipe I'm talking about and, if so, have any clue what it might be?

    I'd love any response you might have at crunchy_yy@yahoo.com.

    Thanks for the pictures...really enjoyed them.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Some how I missed this comment. My guess is that it is relieving gas or pressure from a storm drain or possibly a sewer.

    It is not part of my pipe dreams, so my guess is as good as yours.

    ReplyDelete