Hiking in Sundance, Utah
I know its been awhile since we talked but, seriously, sometimes a little separation makes the heart grow fonder. \240So, when we last chatted it was Monday evening, October 15. \240We had just finished a wonderful dinner at the Stone Hearth Grill in Tropic, Utah not too far from Bryce Canyon.
Remember, Bryce was the home of Ruby’s Commercial and Entertainment Tacky Extravaganza. \240We were almost resigned to eating there when, after some desperate web searching, we discovered the Stone Hearth Grill about 20 minutes from where we were staying. \240It turned out to be a great find. \240A wonderful farm to table menu and super wine list. It was great way to end our visit to the national parks.
Stone Hearth Grill, Tropic, Utah
Enjoying a great meal with Joe and Kathy
The next morning it was up early for the 4 hour trip to Park City. \240Joe fired up the SUV, I entered our destination into the GPS and off we went. After about 20 miles, however, I realized that we had lost phone service and that meant no GPS. We were on US Highway 89 at the time and heading north (the right direction) so we decided to just keep going until either we saw a sign for the interstate or service came back. Since US Highway 89 essentially follows the trail the Mormons had travelled in covered wagons to Salt Lake City, we knew we were not far off track.
Well, you know how sometimes it just seems like the hand of God intervenes in unusual ways. \240Well, that’s what happened here. \240You see, Patti is crazy for the movie Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid. \240She has watched it a thousand times and can recite every word. While her real love is the “Sundance Kid”, Robert Redford, her second love is “Butch Cassidy”, Paul Newman. In fact, while we were at Zion, Patti thought she recognized one of the canyons as a location where the movie was filmed.
Enough for the background. \240As we are driving along US Highway 89, all of a sudden Kathy shouts, “Joe stop”. All of us jumped. Turns out it wasn’t an emergency but instead, eagle eyed Kathy had seen a sign for “Butch Cassidy’s Homestead” near Beaver, Utah. \240Oh course, we had to turn around and take a look. \240And, sure enough, there it was. Patti was in her glory as she looked around.
Beautiful Countryside
Fascinated by the serendipitous stop, I decided to do some \240research on the famous Butch Cassidy. Just as stated on the plague outside his homestead, he was born Robert Leroy Parker on April 13, 1866, in Beaver, Utah. In 1900, he partnered with Harry Longabaugh, nicknamed the “Sundance Kid,” to rob banks and trains as leaders of the Wild Bunch, a group of outlaws.
By all accounts Cassidy was a charming thief, who was well-liked and who never, it's believed, killed anyone. \240Despite his criminal background, Cassidy had a reputation for keeping his word. As one story goes, on the night before he was to begin his prison sentence, Cassidy asked to be released, promising he'd return to jail the following day. Authorities took him at his word and let him go, and Cassidy returned to them the following morning.
Upon his full release in 1896, Butch Cassidy resumed his life as a criminal. With several other well-known outlaws he formed “the Wild Bunch” and embarked on what is considered the longest stretch of successful train and bank robberies in American history.
Unable to stop the Wild Bunch, the Union Pacific Railroad went so far as to propose to Butch Cassidy a pardon in exchange for the promise of ending his robberies and coming to work for the company as an express guard. Cassidy turned the offer down. In the end, the Union Pacific turned to the famed Pinkerton National Detective Agency, to stop Cassidy and the Sundance Kid.
Pinkerton $2,000 Reward Poster for Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid
As the story goes, the pair fled to South America where they continued to rob trains and banks in Bolivia. The conventional account says Cassidy and the Sundance Kid lost their lives in a shootout with soldiers in southern Bolivia on November 6, 1908.
But the truth about their end has never been fully settled. Some historical evidence suggests that Cassidy faked his death and returned to the United States with a new name: William T. Phillips. Back in his home country, Cassidy lived another three decades before passing away in Spokane, Washington, in 1937.
The man known as Phillips helped fuel speculation with a book he wrote in the 1920s called The Invincible Bandit: The Story of Butch Cassidy, which included details perhaps only Cassidy might have known. While the debate lingers over when and where Cassidy truly died, there's little argument that he's considered one of the most revered outlaws to come out of the American West.
But, I digress. \240With phone service and GPS restored, we made our way north through the Wasatch Mountains to our final destination, the St. Regis Hotel Deer Valley (“SRDV”). As we entered this beautiful hotel, the R & R portion of our vacation officially started.
The St. Regis in Deer Valley
The St. Regis is Patti and my “home away from home.” One of our good friends actually is a part owner and managing partner of the hotel and we have been visiting it since it opened in 2008. We loved the area so much that several years ago, we bought a 3 bedroom condo in the hotel. \240When we are not there, the unit is rented out by the hotel. \240However, we can use it whenever we want (which these days has been more and more). We have not been disappointed. Whether skiing in the winter, attending the Sundance Film Festival in January, sunbathing and playing golf in the summer, or hiking in the fall, we love this place. \240It was Joe and Kathy’s first visit and it didn’t take long before they fell in love as well.
Our unit - Kitchen (top left); Bedroom 2 (top right); Master Bedroom (bottom left); Living Room (bottom right); Bedroom 3 (not shown)
Pond on the way to St. Regis
View from one of our the three balconys at the SRDV. Ski slopes of Deer Valley Ski Resort in background. Elevation 7,424 above sea level.
Sunrise over the Mountains
View of one of Deer Valley’s Chair lifts from our balcony
Snow already gets me psyched for ski season
Deer Valley Ski Resort. We can ski right from the hotel onto the mountain.
Deer visiting at night
After arriving, we gave Joe and Kathy a tour of our condo and the hotel. \240We went down to the Deercrest Club, a private ski club located in the hotel and hung out with our good friend Karen Lynch who runs the club. \240It’s a beautiful skiing country club complete with lockers that have special equipment to warm your ski boots ( a must in the cushy world of SRDV). During ski season, you can grab breakfast and coffee before you ski right onto the slopes. \240During the summer, the club will arrange hiking, golf, horseback riding and get tickets for special events. It’s a great perk. \240Even though it was barely 50 degrees when we visited, the sun \240is so strong at this elevation, we were able to grab some wine and sit outside in short sleeves enjoying the mountain view. Exhausted from the travel, we had pizza that night and were all in bed and asleep by 9:00 PM.
The next day, Patti took Joe and Kathy into Park City which is a 10 minute ride away. \240Park City is a cute little town with shops, restaurants, bars and galleries.
Downtown Park City
Park City is nestled right at the base of Park City Mountain (PCM), one of the largest ski resorts in the West. \240One of the cool things is that there is actually a chair lift that runs from the PCM ski slopes directly into the center of town. \240So, if you want lunch, you can take the chair down to town, store your skis and walk to lunch. \240I have seen many a skier walk to the High West Distillery which is close to the chairlift, order a couple of whiskey cocktails with lunch and never make it back to the slopes.
Kathy taking a break from shopping
In addition to skiing, Park City is known for its great dining scene and we took full advantage of that. \240Again some background is required. \240
A couple of years ago, we invested with some friends in a restaurant in Park City called Tupelo Park City. \240We had gotten to know the chef, Matt Harris and his wife, Maggie Alverez when Matt was the executive chef at the J&G Grill at the St. Regis. \240Matt and Maggie wanted to start their own restaurant and a group of us agreed to back him. \240It thrust us directly into the foodie scene in Park City. \240The restaurant has been successful and that is a testament to the work of Matt and Maggie because you need to be really on your game to survive in this town. \240It is hard to imagine the amount of creativity and sheer energy it takes to make a restaurant successful in a location like Park City. I am in awe at the incredibly hard work and energy that Matt and Maggie put into Tupelo. We are so lucky to have bet on such a special team. In addition, Matt and Maggie are a wonderful, warm and fun couple who when they are not at the restaurant, unwind by heliskiing and climbing mountains. Wow.
Now, back to our dining adventures. \240On Wednesday night, we did something rare. We went to dinner with Matt and Maggie at Firewood, a wonderful restaurant (and competitor) in Park City. \240When we arrived at the restaurant and announced who we were dining with, you might have thought we were with royalty. \240The GM greeted us and explained that it is rare that Matt goes out to dinner and that the chef at Firewood had made special preparations for our visit. \240We were escorted to the “Chef’s Library”, a beautiful cozy room overlooking the kitchen.
Patti and Kathy at Firewood
The idea behind the restaurant is to combine fire and smoke in many dishes. \240Firewood has an exceptional fourteen-foot-long wood stove. They use several different types of wood fuel to infuse flavors into their dishes.
The chef had prepared a dinner extraordinare. Joe and I started with an Old Fashion cocktail made with smoke infused sugar. Then the caravan of food began. \240The chef, John Murcko, delivered 6 small plates for us to sample, essentially a sampling of many of his best dishes, each better than the one before: smoked trout toast, fire roasted butternut squash soup, waygu beef with barbecue sauce, and on and on. \240We then had our entrees. We had just decided to skip dessert when in comes the chef to greet us and tell us that he had several special desserts on the way in. \240As you may have guessed, we were stuffed when we finally rolled out of the restaurant.
We had a great time visiting with Matt and Maggie. \240It was obvious that the better restaurants in town (like Firewood and Tupelo) are friendly competitors and know that the more they push each other the better the entire food scene will be. \240Well, the chef at Firewood certainly set quite a high bar.
Us with Matt and Maggie at Firewood
Thursday broke clear and bright. We had a full day on tap: a visit to the Utah Olympic Park; lunch at High West Distillery and dinner at Tupelo.
The Olympic Park is about 15 minutes south of downtown Park City and was built for the 2002 Salt Lake Olympics and hosted the bobsled, luge, and skeleton competitions as well as the ski jumping. \240It should be noted that Deer valley Ski Resort hosted the mogul and aerial ski competition as well as the downhill event at the same 2002 Olympics. The Olympic Park still serves as a training center for Olympic and development level athletes, as well as a recreational highlight in the state. Other facilities in addition to the Nordic jumps and the bobsled track located at the park include a 2002 Winter Olympics Museum and Ski Museum in the Joe Quinney Winter Sports Center, summer aerial training jumps and splash pool, ziplines, and a mountain coaster. It is one of only 4 bobsled runs in North America and until recently it held the record for the fastest track in the world with a top speed achieved on a bobsled run of 94 MPH. In the winter you can take a regulation bobsled run on this same track with a driver and 3 others reaching speeds of over 70 MPH (definitely on my bucket list). The highest ski jump at the Olympic Park is 120 meters (394 feet) in the air.
Splash pool where skiers and snowboarders practice their aerial maneuvers - the grates on the bottom of the pool blow air upwards to cushion the blow of an aerialist landing from a jump that could be as high as 30 feet in the air.
A look down the ski jump run
Photo of guests enjoying the bobsled run
After touring the Olympic Park (and almost doing a zip line), we headed to High West Saloon in Park City for some whiskey and lunch.
High West Distillery was founded in 2006 by David Perkins and his wife, Jane. David, a former biochemist, was inspired to open his own distillery after seeing the parallels between the fermentation and distilling process and his own work in biochemistry during a trip to the Maker’s Mark Distillery in Loretto, Kentucky. David and his family relocated to Park City, Utah to begin their new venture, where they began distilling in 2007. They chose Park City because of David’s love of the Old West and Utah’s little-known whiskey history. \240While today, Utah is known for its Mormon heritage (and their religious objection to consuming alcohol), people don’t know that in 1933, Utah actually provided the 36th and deciding vote to end Prohibition. \240However, even with this history, there were no licensed stills in Utah until 2007 when High West became the first legal distillery since 1870.
High West began with humble roots, opening a small, 250-gallon still which is still located in the “Saloon”, a historic livery stable and garage in Park City. What was once a small operation in downtown Park City has grown to be an internationally-recognized brand with four unique locations. \240In 2017, High West sold about 70,000 cases of whiskey.
Now for a little known fact. While High West maintains its “small town” image and prides itself on its “hand-crafted whiskeys”, the company was actually acquired by Constellation Brands, the largest distributor of spirits in the world, in 2016 for roughly $160 million.
High West Saloon in Park City
Words to live by
One other funny story about High West. \240Right before I left on this vacation, I was meeting with my accountant. \240When I told him I was going to Park City, he asked if I had ever visited High West Distillery. When I told him I had been there a number of times, he proceeded to tell me that his favorite whiskey of all time is a very limited production known as a Midwinter’s Night Dram. \240It is a rye whiskey made by High West and aged in used Port Wine barrels to give it a distinctive taste. It is almost impossible to get. He told me that if I could get him a bottle, he would deeply discount the fee for doing my taxes. \240It turns out that when we visited High West, they had just the week before released Midwinter’s Night Dram and they had a limited number of bottles for sale at the Saloon so I was able to get a bottle. \240I texted a picture to my accountant and he has agreed to honor his commitment. \240This may be the best $99.00 I have ever spent.
Payment for my taxes
After High West, we headed back to the hotel for a much needed nap. \240We were up by 5:00 and on our way for drinks with our friend, Karen Lynch, the GM for the Deercrest Club. We visited her beautiful house right off of Main Street in Park City. \240One thing about this town - everyone is very friendly.
Karen’s very beautiful house
After Karen’s, it was off to Tupelo, the restaurant that we partially own. Patti and I were worried because we had bragged so much about the restaurant to Joe and Kathy, we felt there was no way that it could live up to its hype. \240Fortunately, Tupelo did not disappoint.
As you see, the restauarant’s logo includes a bumble bee. The bee is a reference to Tupelo Honey. \240It is not just a Van Morrison song but also the sweetest honey in the world. Tupelo honey is produced when honeybees collect nectar from the blossoms of the white Ogeechee “tupelo” tree. These trees are distributed along the borders of certain swamps in Georgia, not too far from where Matt Harris, our chef, grew up.
We each had a cocktail. \240I tried the Cherry in the Rye, a cocktail that had been created at Tupelo and had earlier this summer won The Best Cocktail in Park City. \240It was delicious.
Cherry in the Rye
Ingredients:
.5 oz Sugarhouse Rye Whiskey
.25 oz Domaine de Canton Ginger Liqueur
.5 oz House Made Luxardo Cherry/Port Reduction
.5 oz Lime Juice
Club Soda
Mint
Lemon Peel
For the House Made Cherry Port Reduction Combine:
One bottle of Grahams Six Grapes Port , 2 Cups Sour Cherry Purée, 1.5 Cups Luxardo Cherries with Juice in a sauce pan
Simmer on Medium heat for 20 minutes. Blend together until smooth
Prepare the Luxardo/Port reduction and combine with Rye, Canton and lime juice. Add ice and share vigorously. Strain into Old Fashioned glass using a Hawthorne strainer and add fresh ice. Top with club soda and express some lemon peel before garnishing with lemon peel and mint sprig.
Cherry in the Rye
As with Firewood the night before, the chef that night (not Matt because he and Maggie were at the premier of a movie about the famous rock climberAlex Hannold, the first person to scale the iconic 3,000-foot granite wall known as Yosemite El Capitan without using ropes or other safety gear) started sending out food. \240We feasted on Tupelo’s award winning Buttermilk Biscuits with tupelo honey butter; Rockhill Creamery (a local cheese maker) Cheese Fritters with red pepper jam (made with peppers from Tupelo’s garden); Deviled Eggs with creme fraiche and fried country ham; Heirloom Tomato Toast (tomatoes from Tupelo’s garden) with homemade goat ricotta; and Chilled Autumn Leeks with Spanish almonds, fried capers and brown butter vinaigrette.
Appetizers from Tupelo
After appetizers, we somehow made room for dinner. Patti had the steak which is uniquely prepared sous vide and paired with barley risotto. Joe had duck with lentils and a smooth sweet corn puree. Kathy had pork tenderloin with roasted sweet potato mash and crispy brussel sprouts and I had my favorite, Elk Bolognese with smoked Parmesan.
By the end of dinner, we were moaning “No Mas”. The food was awesome, the service was great and the experience was the best. \240Patti and I were very happy that Tupelo once again exceeded expectations.
Jeff’s Elk Mountain Bolognese
Joe’s Duck
This brings us to Friday, the last day of our trip. \240As we ate breakfast, we all lamented the fact that this magical trip was drawing to a close. \240But, we weren’t going to cry in our oatmeal. \240We had a big day planned. \240A trip to the Sundance Resort (owned by none other than the Sundance Kid, Robert Redford) to take a 4 mile hike to Stewart Falls; lunch at the award winning Foundry Grill at the Sundance Resort; a champagne sabering at the St. Regis and dinner at the St. Regis’ J & G Grill. \240OK - no one is ever going to accuse us of wasting our vacation time!
It is about a 45 minute ride from SRDV to Sundance Resort. \240There are two ways to go: (1) follow the highway around the mountains or (2) cut through Guardsman Pass which goes right through the mountains. I chose the cut through approach - big mistake. The road through the mountains was narrow, windy with steep elevations (and no guardrails). It was sort of like hiking in the Grand Canyon but in a car. While the scenery was beautiful, the mountain pass is not the best for people who get car sick like Patti. My feeble attempts to comfort her (just concentrate on this amazing scenery; think about Robert Redford; I am sure that the road will widen soon; I will take you shopping and you can buy anything you want, etc.) didn’t work and when she told me to shut up or she was going to push me over a cliff, I decided silence is golden. \240Anyhow, we made it over the mountain and as soon as we made it to the hallowed ground that Robert Redford owns, things got better.
About 2 or 3 miles above the Sundance Resort are a series of trails that circle Mt. Timpanogos, elevation 11,752 ft., one of the higher peaks in the Wasatch Mountain range. Our hike this day was to Stewart Falls which is one of the most scenic and photographed waterfalls in northern Utah. The hike is through a beautiful forest on the east side of Mt.Timpanogos. The weather was perfect and the 4 mile hike was glorious as the pictures below will show.
On our way to Stewart Falls
Patti and me (after she forgave me for the ride)
Overcoming all obstacles
One thing I didn’t mention earlier but our trip to Stewart Falls was not just a hike - it was also a mission. You see, when we were at the Grand Canyon, Patti and Kathy noticed a plastic bag stuffed into a crevice in a wall at Pipe Creek Overlook. \240Kathy retrieved it only to discover that it was a Hot Wheels car. \240It seems that the car was one of a number of cars that were distributed to various locations in memory of Carson Cheney, a little boy from Utah that died when he was about 5 years old. \240His parents and friends have hidden these cars and, if you find it, you are to comment on Carson’s Facebook page and then take the toy car to another location and hide it so that someone else can find it. \240We checked out the Facebook page and found that these little cars have been found all over the world since this started in 2012. \240So, we decided to keep the spirit alive and hide the car along the trail to Stewart Falls. \240I would tell you that finding the car and reading about Carson was vey sad - the death of a child is so devastating but it made me happy that his parents took some pleasure from the enthusiasm with which people all over the world responded to these little toy cars.
Patti and Kathy with car at Grand Canyon in Arizona
The car ready to be found along the Stewart Falls Trail in Utah
Kathy and Joe on the trail
Almost Finished with Mount Timpanogos in the background
Success
After the hike, we headed down to the Sundance Resort to eat lunch.
Our destination was the Foundry Grill for lunch.
The Foundry Grill
We loved our lunch. \240The best part for me was the sandwich special. It was an open faced meatloaf sandwich (my favorite) made from elk, bison and beef served on Texas toast with a layer of mashed potatoes and homemade barbecue sauce. \240It may not have been low calorie but after the strenuous hike, it was well deserved.
We left Sundance Resort to head back to SRDV - of course, we took the highway, Joe did an especially job of smooth driving and all was well.
After some relaxation, we were on the move again. \240Each night at 6:30, the St. Regis hosts a champagne sabering.
Sabering is a technique for opening a champagne bottle with a saber used for ceremonial occasions. The saber is slid along the body of the bottle to break the top of the neck away, leaving the neck of the bottle open and ready to pour.
The technique became popular in France when the army of Napoleon visited many of the aristocratic domains. It was just after the French Revolution and the saber was the weapon of choice of Napoleon's light cavalry. Napoleon's spectacular victories across all Europe gave them plenty of reason to celebrate. During these parties the cavalry would open the champagne with their sabers. During the sabering at the St. Regis, the person weilding the saber repeats the words of Napoleon, who was known to have said this about drinking Champagne: \240"Champagne! In victory one deserves it; in defeat one needs it”.
Sabering at the St. Regis
While the sabering is cool, the best part is that they serve free Champagne afterwards! Trust me, not much is free at the St. Regis.
After the sabering, we headed off to dinner at the J&G Grill at the SRDV. I won’t bore you with the detail but again, we had an incredible meal. The J&G is an elegant hideaway - signature Jean-Georges sophistication realized far from the flagship Jean-Georges Restauarnt in New York. The J&G Grill combines a selection of Jean-Georges' greatest appetizers, side dishes and accompaniments from his portfolio of domestic and international restaurants around the world with the highest quality meats and freshest local fish available in the market. Patti and I love the simply grilled preparations accompanied by bold condiments which anchor the J&G Grill dining experience.
In the lounge before dinner at the J&G Grill
The J&G Grill (we sat right in front of the fireplace)
Signature dessert - sea salt carmel ice cream with Carmel peanuts, popcorn and fresh whipped cream
Well that’s it. Our trip is over. I want to thank you for indulging me by reading this travel blog. \240I wonder sometimes whether reading someone else’s travel blog is the equivalent of my parents’ making their friends watch insufferable slides of our family vacations. \240I hope not. I have tried to give readers a sense of the places we have gone. \240I have also attempted to be descriptive enough so that others may someday use some of the information to plan their own trips to the places I have described. \240Finally, I must admit that I also write so that as age steals my memory, I will be able to read these blogs as a way to, in legal parlance, “refresh my recollection” of these great adventures. \240Well, signing off until the next big trip - I remain, your faithful chronicler.
