This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2012, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted.
Twelve-year-old Hannah Klassen pulled her yellow rain slicker closer around her, as she set out in the pouring rain Saturday with her mother and uncle on the short climb up Salt Lake City's Ensign Peak, where in 1847 Mormon prophet Brigham Young surveyed the valley where his people would settle.
It was to be the culmination of Hannah's yearlong visit to every county, national park and national monument in Utah, and she was not deterred by the downpour. After all, her uncle said, Brigham would have dashed up that hill in 20 minutes — even as the heavens drenched him.
So up they went.
When they descended, the threesome was soaked and shivering, but Hannah, at least, was relieved to be finished with a project begun more than a year earlier — eons of time to a young teen.
Like all the state's seventh-graders, Hannah was studying Utah history this school year. Then, after the governor visited Cedar City and had his photo taken with the then-11-year-old, her mother had the idea of visiting each of the 29 counties during the year.
"I thought she was nuts," said Hannah, while sipping on hot chocolate Saturday.
Her mother, Annette Klassen, in a matching yellow rain slicker, laughed and said, "What choice did she have? I'm her mother."
And so they began.
Klassen bought a giant Utah map and hung it in their front hall. After each county visit, she posted a photo of Hannah in front of its sign. The more cluttered the map became, the more guests would ask them about the experience.
The tall, slender blonde would tell them about prehistoric history at Dinosaur National Park, ancient history at the remote Hovenweep National Monument and more recent history at Golden Spike National Historic Site and at Mountain Meadows.
After reading The Undaunted, historical fiction about Hole-in-the-Rock pioneers who settled San Juan County, Hannah realized that her trip in a side-by-side off-road vehicle during a frigid Thanksgiving weekend was nothing compared to their exhausting winter sojourn.
She loved the geology of Grand County and belted out "For Good," a song from the musical "Wicked," on the top of Dance Hole Rock.
In January, during Gov. Gary Herbert's annual State of the State address, he mentioned that during the past year he had visited 28 of Utah's 29 counties and promised that he would soon visit Daggett County.
"That's when it became a race," Klassen says. "We wondered if we could get to Daggett County before he did."
They didn't win that race but did send off a letter and email to the governor explaining their experience and his part in it. So far, no response.
No matter.
They had an amazing amount of mother-daughter time.
"Maybe," Hannah says, with a sly grin to her adoring mom, "too much."
Next year? The eighth-graders at Cedar Middle School that Hannah attends will be studying American history.
You can be sure plans to visit Boston and Philadelphia are already on the drawing board.