The Salt Lake valley is in a bowl with the Wasatch mountains on the east, smaller hills on the north and south, and the Oquirrh mountains on the west. Because of this bowl, the Salt Lake valley frequently has winter temperature inversions that make the valley seem like it is in London fog. Today, though, the air was clean and crisp, and as I ran along the Jordan Valley Parkway, I had a beautiful view of the Wasatch mountains, all covered with snow. Going from south to north and from highest to lowest, there is Mt. Timpanogos (11,500 feet), Lone Peak, Twin Peaks, and Mt. Olympus that is in the center of the valley. The hills around Salt Lake City are lower and not particularly attractive. The four peaks I mentioned are a spectacular site, and today's view was especially nice due to the fresh snow on the mountains. I'm sure the skiers at Utah's world-famous ski resorts are having fun in the snow.
There is a joke about a visitor to Utah who saw the snow-covered mountains and asked if the mountains were covered with salt from the Great Salt Lake.
