hometown

There are three things in my life I keep close to my heart. One is my family. Sure, I can make fun of them and tease them but you had better not. Two is my membership in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. And three is my home state of Wyoming (see rule for number one). Nothing turns me off faster or makes me become more defensive than someone mocking my state or hometown. Especially if that someone hails from that one state to the southwest right next to us.

My town happens to sit in a valley between two small mountains. I get tired of hearing how unimpressive our mountains are. I admit, neither one tops the double digit k range. But here are some things to think about before you turn up your nose in disdain.

There are a lot of mountain snobs amongst us. The general consensus seems to be a mountain is not a “real” mountain if it is below 10,000 feet (3048 m). That seems a bit unfair. I mean, 5280 feet is one mile (1609 m) – straight up. That’s one mile closer to heaven, after all. Both of the mountains in the vicinity of my town reach higher than that.

White Mountain runs north and south on the west side of town. It does not tower over town like the Wasatch Mountains over Salt Lake City. But, the peak does reach 7,623 ft (2,323 m). Really, that is nothing to sneeze about, mockers. The highest point is a rock formation called Pilot Butte that stretches to 7,949 ft (2,423 m) in elevation. But the thing to remember is, my town is located in the Rocky Mountains. We sit at 6,759 ft (2060 m) above sea level. So, of course an extra 800 ft is not going to look too impressive.

Aspen Mountain south of us looms to 8,657 ft (2,639 m). And Wilkins Peak reaches 7,650 ft (2,332 m). For the snobs out there, I admit, all under the 10,000 benchmark. But c’mon, still far enough up to take someone’s breath away. Literally.

To compare, Salt Lake City, Utah is only at 4,327 ft (1,320 m) above sea level. The Wasatch mountains highest peak only reaches 11,928 ft (3,636 m). Just barely over the 10,000 ft snob rule. And that’s just the highest peak. The Oquirrh (pronounced Oaker) Mountains that run parallel on the other side of the valley only reaches 10,620 ft (3,240 m) at the highest peak. So yes, when the valley is so near sea level (not even a mile high) the mountains are going to look quite imposing.

I used Wikipedia for all my numbers. Saturday I spent the day on my mountain. She may not be as big as some, but she’s good enough for me. Enjoy the videos!