So we continued motoring down the interstate,
When I saw this in the distance...(note, this was not our destination)
Then I saw a sign that said "Great Salt Lake State Park" and realized, hey, this is the actual salt lake, so lets pull over and take a look
The first thing you notice is the smell....the dead sea is 33% salt content, hence the name "dead"...nothing lives in it, not even bacteria. The Salt Lake is 5-27% salt, which isn't toxic enough, so there are living organisms in it, like brine shrimp, so the smell is quite potent. We also wanted to dip our feet in, you know, just to say we did it, but as we neared the shore, we noticed BILLIONS upon BILLIONS of tiny little flies, it was like walking through a walking cloud. The ranger at the visitor center said they are a few weeks away from dying off, but they were certainly in full force when we were there
So we dipped our feet, took a few pics, and were promptly on our way. I will say, that if you are passing by, it's worth a stop, but just like the 4 corners monument, it most definitely is NOT worth a detour.
So motoring down the interstate,
Much to the dismay of my wife, went off on another detour, again, into what looks like the back closet of Narnia...
and followed the track for a little while...
It was very loose and sandy, and was getting extremely steep, and even worse, it was steep AND off camber, something I wasn't super comfortable with being alone, but, I took is slow, and went up as high as I thought was safe....
At this point my wife is wondering where the hell I am going and where it's going to lead...she's also constantly comments on "oh my god, it's leaning over it's leaning over"....the off camber situation was getting pretty severe, to the point where I decided to make a safety call, and hike up to the top instead, so the last few hundred feet we walked.
Once again, this detour was for the little treasure hunt I've become addicted to, like Pokemon, trying to catch them all...
After this, we headed back to the interstate and continued to our destination....and came upon some weird things...
Anyone have any clue what the heck this thing is? I couldn't tell if it was art or some sort of a monitoring receiver, or a beacon for the clingons...
Down this road, you notice a TON of tire tracks going onto the surface, then immediately turning back. People try to save the 100 mile drive by trying to get on early, only to find out that it's just a massive layer of mud and if they are lucky, they can get out, but from what I hear, most of the time they need a tow truck and the bill is almost $2000.
Finally, after a LONG drive, I arrived at a place I've wanted to visit since I was a kid...
This place is like being on another planet, even my wife found it extremely cool and took more selfies than a teen night at a club. We also came to find out that the next day, there were races being held there, and the flats would be closed to the public....so you can imagine our relief that we were actually going to make it ONTO the salt!
This place is absolutely stunning
So after we took a lot of photos for my portfolio (I planned on doing it at glacier national park, so I had my wife pack a dress specifically for a shoot) as well as some personal ones, and enjoyed standing barefoot on the salt for a little while, we packed up, and started heading back towards the interstate....