Salt Lake City - Environment

Thursday, March 31, 2016

The week has been flying by, and we can't quite believe it's already time to leave tomorrow. We've spent the past few days volunteering with the Forest Service, as well as Save Our Canyons. Tuesday we assisted the Forest Service in designing flyers for trailhead kiosks, restocking first aid kits and sharpening trail maintenance tools, among other tasks. The weather has continued to be very uncooperative, causing us to direct our service efforts towards indoor activities instead. We were able to visit a few of the canyons on Tuesday, including Mill Creek. The views were incredible, and so distracting to Alysa that she fell into the lake

On Wednesday, we started working on our community outreach efforts for Save Our Canyons. We spent the day hiking through various canyons and surveying people on what they considered to be the most important aspects regarding preservation of the Wasatch Mountains. It was an interesting and educational day, filled with conversations with locals as well as those from out-of-state. It was fascinating to see the level of concern residents of Utah have for these mountains, and just as intriguing to learn how little some people know about the growing threats to the area.  Wednesday night we indulged in a delicious meal at a nearby downtown restaurant. The evening finished with reflection and an early bedtime in anticipation for our final day of service.

Today was bittersweet; as it was our last day working with this phenomenal non-profit we have come to care so deeply about. We spent the day continuing to survey, and completed over 200 between the two days. This information is vital to Save Our Canyons, as it allows them to gain primary data that outlines the public's major concerns and priorities when it comes to the protection of this precious mountain range. We spent the remainder of the afternoon exploring Salt Lake City, and five of us went night skiing/snowboarding after dinner.

Tomorrow we pack up and head to Moab, Utah, for our free day. We are going to visit the arches and spend the night there before heading home on Saturday. It has been a truly wonderful and inspirational week of service. In a world so consumed and driven by monetary pursuits, Save Our Canyons showed us how refreshing it can be to follow a passion for something simply because you love it.