Emigration Canyon has held home and passage for many across our history. The running creek along the canyon made sanctuary tended by Indigenous Americans. Generations later, pioneers and travelers utilized Emigration’s trail as a route to find settlement and home. From Salt Lake’s center, a turn beside a mountainside leads into the canyon’s shadow. The tree lined road is speckled with cyclists, homes and sunflowers. Around a bend, Emigration Brewing Co, a mountain escape restaurant, bar, market and coffee shop peaks behind the pines. We found refreshment and pretzels with a moment to connect before carrying on the canyon road.
In just a walk, two plots of prepared land we have on the market, sit beside a neighboring home we happen to know well. We spent time imagining the structure(s) that could be – an inspired cabin tucked into the hillside, vines climbing the walls, windows for the morning sunrise, a peaceful life. Potentials arise as an easy ride takes us up past 5548 E, then, above the horizon line, the landscape radiates around us. From the top, we can see the magic. Speckled like monuments on the hillside, homes decorate a greenscape. From the variation of life that this canyon has seen, I descend to our road home, hopeful for the life our canyon has yet to welcome in. What remains is knowing that, just behind the city, remains a reserve to call home.
