There are lots of things to dislike about Utah, but the land itself isn't one of them. Utah has some of the most beautiful landscapes I've ever seen, and I only spent a week there. While not as varied as California or New Zealand, the rugged starkness of the state has a definite beauty. Far from the hospitable rainforest of the Olympic Mountains in Washington, much of Utah is a desert, where rats pee crystals and pull all the fluids they need out of the food they eat. There isn't any point in them looking for water, because there isn't any where they live.
Which is not to say that there isn't any water in Utah. After all, they have the Great Salt Lake, and more rivers than you can shake a stick at. The Colorado River flows out of Colorado, past the town of Moab, and soon after that is joined by the Green River and the Dirty Devil River and together they flow into Lake Powell.
I can't say my seven days in Utah were very well spent. A large proportion of the time was spent driving, and I felt like a water skeeter much of the time. Utah is a large state, and unless you have a lot of time, it is probably better to concentrate your visit into a pretty small area.
I could probably spend a week in Salt Lake City alone, and I'm not LDS or very fond of cities. Still there were some beautiful neighborhoods in Salt Lake City, and some funky ones as well. It seems that all the people in Utah are friendly, even the ones living in the cities. It's a far cry from San Francisco in that regard. The University sits nestled against the mountains to the North-East of the city, overlooking it. The grounds were nice, though it seemed to be going through some growing pains.
Moab is a mountain biker's paradise and nightmare at the same time. I've never seen so many mountain bikers packed so closely together, and I live in the S.F Bay area, where Mtn Biking was born! Yeah, I realize that I was one of the crowd too. I rode the Slickrock Trail, and managed to break my 3mm XT front brake cable. Luckily it wasn't until just after the ride on the road out, since it would have been a long walk back and impossible to negotiate without one. I'd like to go back and do some more riding. Some of the less crowded rides, like Porcupine Rim or the White Rim trail. I'd like to do some multi-day rides, but water quickly becomes a problem, since you have to carry about 10-12 pounds of water per person, per day. For a 3 day trip, 36 pounds of water could double your weight allowance for gear.
Right near Moab is Arches National Park: It has the largest concentration of natural arches in the world. Here are some other sites from the park just as the sun is going down.
