First I just want to say that Utah is awesome. By the time I reached college and decided that the predominant religion was not for me, I just wanted to get out of the state. I moved to Seattle for a year and it was fantastic, but when I came back I had a renewed appreciation for my home state. And that appreciation continues to grow. It helps a lot that I like the outdoors.
Last weekend I took a visit to the Spiral Jetty which was created by Robert Smithson in 1970. The 1500 ft long structure is made of basalt boulders formed by ancient volcanic eruptions. The jetty was submerged for 30 years, from 1972 – 2002 and again from 2005 – 2006.
The road to the jetty is pretty rough and eventually I had to ditch my car and walk the rest of the way. Looking past the jetty, the Great Salt Lake spills out, touching snow-capped mountains at every edge. Smithson picked this spot, in part, because the water is blood-red (which my camera didn’t do justice), due to salt-tolerant bacteria and algae which thrive in the 27% salinity (oceans are typically 3%-5%).
Salt covers anything that will stand still long enough, creating the illusion of ice and snow. Crystals clump together forming mounds and transforming rocks into crystalline bumps. Airy foam lines the waters-edge, periodically breaking away and rolling across the dirt. The water is surprisingly warm this time of year and remains calf-deep for as far out as I cared to walk. If Mars and Antarctica had a baby, it would look like this.
Below are my pics from the Spiral Jetty and the Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge. By the way, I met with the volunteer coordinator from the refuge this weekend and it looks like I’ll be able to help them out one way or another in the near future. I’m pretty excited!
