Hi Wayne, thanks for the quick reply and the explanations. When I travelled through parts of Utah, I read a biography of Brigham Young. It was not the Krakauer book, that I didn’t know and does interest me, and not one written by an LDS admirer. It was probably written by John G. Turner. It gave me a much better understanding of the epic Mormon Trail trek and the colossal pioneer years in the Promised Land. The immigrants not only came from England and Scotland, but also from Scandinavia and continental Europe. As I understood it, they were offered a package deal: free cross-Atlantic transport and a plot of land with a conversion to an ‘American’ gospel, the Book of Mormon.

I didn’t know that there are still people around who grew up in a polygamist family. I thought that practise was outlawed with Utah’s admission as a US state in 1896

Matthiew, I'm glad you found my journal interesting and informative. I am a very solitary person, and don't seek out long conversations during my tours. I agree that it would have been insightful to have more conversations with real people, instead of just reading all the signs.
The only long conversation I had was with the woman who grew up in a polygamist family. Part of what made it interesting was that she mentioned so many contradictions that I didn't know what was genuinely true.
Before the tour I was aware that the Mormon church attracted many immigrants from England and Scotland. But I didn't learn much about the foreign emigrant experience. I was aware of the handcart emigrants and the wide range of opinion about the success and wisdom of that project. I never thought about why certain architectural styles were chosen. Probably I just assumed the style simply fulfilled their visual fantasy of a Godly kingdom on Earth.
It was only after the tour, when reading the Jon Krakauer book, that I learned about the huge differences between Joseph Smith the charismatic founder, and Brigham Young the brilliant manager.
Maybe somebody who is more sociable than me should do a follow up tour with many interviews.

Hi, I found this journal a few days ago and read through most of it. I share your fascination with the Mormon culture. I cycled through parts of Utah and Idaho a few times and saw several of the Temples and landscapes that feature on your excellent pictures. I was rather disappointed by your insides in the LSD culture. Even from a ‘neutral’ viewpoint, there is a lot of amazing history and accomplishments that would be interesting to read. How did they integrate so many different European immigrants? Why are all buildings highly symmetrical? Why was their architecture so much influenced by the French Empire style, whereas the Mormons are said to be rather inward-looking? As you noticed rightly, they built huge and beautiful temples while settling in new and harsh territory. Brigham Young must have been a highly inspiring leader. Etc. Probably Covid limited your contacts, but I would have loved to read about views from local people.

Wow, that's a TALL grain elevator!

The only Book of Mormon I've seen is the blue version that is distributed for free. I have never seen fancy Books of Mormon similar to the heirloom family Bibles that are prized by many evangelical Christians. Who knows, maybe the Missionary Store sells heirloom Books of Mormon.

Probably the Book of Mormon is also sold in the Missionary Store. :)

Ack - - sounds like someone shot a paintball at a passing person on the trail, huh?

Looks like the Denver & Rio Grande Western trail is 23.5 miles long, FYI. :)

Very nice yellow bushes lining the path! :)

I got no explicit invitations when traveling through Mormon country. The missionary woman I spoke to was friendly for 5 minutes until it was obvious that I wasn't a good prospect. Then she moved on to another visitor. On the contrary, my experience in the southeast U.S. was that EVERY conversation with a friendly stranger ended with an invitation to their church.

The Mission assignment is 24/7 immersion/indoctrination/obedience. You are with your assigned partner ALL the time except in the bathroom. No vacations or weekends off.

These are nice looking houses, but built on such steep grades -- I would be concerned about landslides!

The Bonneville Shoreline Trail would be fun to come down, but I can see is very difficult to go up!

I've never heard of "Queer Food" either! Interesting...

The ugly LDS office building looks very bureaucratic - like an FBI building.