ROAMING AROUND IN UTAH

June, 2019

We’re on our way to Glacier National Park, some 890 miles by motorhome from Moab, Utah.  Brian’s a planner and it made sense to him to split the trip up into manageable 200 mile segments with stops in North Salt Lake, Idaho Falls, ID and Butte, Montana before arriving at the gateway to Glacier NP and our campground in Kalispell.

4 years ago we spent some time in Salt Lake City with friends Neil, Gail, Tammy and Ben after a trip together to Yellowstone National Park.  We spent quite a lot of time in Temple Square taking a tour of the LDS history museum and convention center, listening to some organ music in the very same venue used by the Mormon Tabernacle Choir, researching our family’s genealogy at the Family Resource Center, and walking around the neighborhood.  We had driven over the causeway to spend time on Antelope Island, and we looked out over the Great Salt Lake.  What other attractions could there be?

Brian wanted to see the Bonneville Salt Flats.  Barbara discovered an unusual statue placed in the middle of nowhere entitled, depending on whom you ask, Metaphor, Tree of Life and/or The Tree of Utah.  We spontaneously stopped at The Great Salt Lake Park, couldn’t resist visiting Promontory Point, the Golden Spike National Historical Park, and the migrating bird preserve.  And Atlas Obscura said Spiral Jetty and Summum shouldn’t be missed.  Seemed like a fair way to spend a couple of days so off we went…

Metaphor is an abstract sculpture standing on the edge of the highway on the barren Bonneville Salt Flats west of Salt Lake City.  Swedish artist Karl Momen created the 87-foot high sculpture between 1982-1986 to bring bold color and beauty to the stark, flat, salty landscape.  At least that’s what Mr. Momen said before he beat feet back to Sweden, never to return.  Utah isn’t too happy about the placement and made it clear that there should be no parking near the statue…does stopping for a few minutes constitute parking? By the way — those canoe shaped things on the ground are supposed to be leaves that have fallen off the tree.

Managed by the Bureau of Land Management, the Bonneville Salt Flats are a 12-mile long and 5-mile wide, 30,000-acre expanse of hard, white salt crust on the western edge of the Great Salt Lake Basin.  The raceway crust is more than 5 miles deep.

Most of the Salt Flats are usually underwater until late June to early July.  Runoff from this winter’s heavy snowfall and a very rainy spring has delayed the Flats becoming the expected white expanse.  The site was beautiful nonetheless, and a real treat to see the place in person.

Since 1914 professional and amateur racing teams from around the world have come to a section of the salt flats known as the Bonneville Raceway to try to set land speed records.  More recently different vehicle classes have been added, and events such as Speedweek are held annually.

Not sure why, but the Salt Flats were the location for the completion of the first intercontinental telephone line.  And the environment is just unique enough that it has been the backdrop for filming major motion pictures, fashion layouts, and automobile commercials.

While traveling east from the Salt Flats to North Salt Lake and back to Aimee, we detoured off of the highway along the southern shore of The Great Salt Lake to see up close an out-of-place Arabian-looking structure.  Atlas Obscura claims that The Great Saltair was in its day “the finest bathing resort on the shores of The Great Salt Lake.”  It is now used as a special events and music venue, and, from our observation, it has fallen into hard times.  The pier out into the Lake was gone, the parking lot in ill repair, and it just looked tired.

Leaving the parking lot we were drawn to a sign directing us to the Great Salt Lake Park where we were treated to a wonderful overlook of The Great Salt Lake.

While at the Great Salt Lake Park we had the opportunity to meet a new feathered friend!

Promontory Point is the location at which the transcontinental railroad was completed, and the Golden Spike National Historical Park stands to commemorate the place and the occasion.

The Central Pacific Railroad began its work in early 1863 starting from Sacramento; late that year the Union Pacific started working on the rails from Omaha.  Early progress was slow since able-bodied men were fighting in the Civil War.  In 1865 and once the war was over manpower was readily available (unemployed, Civil War vets).  The base camps established along the route became known as “Hell on Wheels” Towns; lawlessness and bloodshed (particularly between different nationalities of Western Europeans) reduced the workforce daily.  Eventually Chinese immigrants became the backbone of the workforce, and the construction proceeded along in a more orderly fashion.  In all 1,776 miles of track were laid over deserts, rivers and mountains by 8,000 – 10,000 men.

There are twice-daily reenactments of driving the ‘golden spike’ into the rail tie, including period costumes, recitation of the speeches given by the owners of the Union Pacific and Central Pacific railroad companies as well as local governmental officials of the day, and a simulation of steam power by the 2 locomotives:  Central Pacific’s Jupiter and Union Pacific’s No. 119, facing each other on the track…just as if it was May 10, 1869.

Perhaps the time of year was wrong to view all that the migratory bird preserve could offer, but we did find a fairly large flock of, well we’re not sure what kind of bird it is, feeding in the fields.

Robert Smithson’s iconic earthwork Spiral Jetty (1970) is a 1,500-foot long and 15-foot wide coil of local basalt rock, mud (earth), and salt crystals that extends into the waters of the northern shore of The Great Salt Lake near Rozel Point.

The water can take on a red hue because of the presence of salt-tolerant bacteria and algae that thrive in the extreme 27 percent salinity of the Lake’s north arm that is isolated from freshwater sources.

The sculpture is best seen after an easy, but steep climb halfway or more up a hillside.  As we maneuvered ourselves up the hillside, a flock of white pelicans flew overhead.  What could possibly bring these magnificent birds here?  The only chance for something to eat swimming around in The Great Salt Lake is near the freshwater feeds – not anywhere near the north shore!

Now here’s the odd part…the sculpture can only be seen during a drought.  At all other times it is submerged in the Lake.

Summum is the pyramid shaped home to an obscure religious group that practices modern mummification.  Based out of Salt Lake City, the Summum religion has its own principles of creation and laws of learning.  To an outside observer, the Summum religion resembles a blend of science fiction (belief in encounters with aliens and that cloning has occurred) and new age mysticism  It draws upon both the Ancient Egyptian religion and the teachings of the Hebrew prophet Moses.  Yup – the Summum practice modern mummification.

Talk about finding new adventures and enjoying ourselves in a place we had been before!  So much to see and do if you just look.

Barbara and Brian