Sunday, March 8, 2015

The Great Salt Lake isn't so Great Anymore......



Welcome to another edition of..........my blog. It is Sunday, the 8th of March and 60 degrees outside. Being such a nice day, it was time to get the hell out of Dodge, better known as Tremonton. We headed out to the west desert in search of just about anything. When we arrived at the Salt Wells Valley we noticed what everyone has been talking about. The Great Salt Lake isn't great anymore. All the white you can see is dry salt covered dirt. The lake should fill up the whole foto, but it doesn't. It is approximately 5 or more miles from the true shoreline. The officials that measure this info have said it is nearing its lowest point in recorded history and I do believe it is true.  
I bet some of you are saying " so what, its just worthless salt water". That is true. But, the more water in the lake, the more snow we get. It's called Lake Effect. A storm blows over the lake and sucks up the moisture and deposits it in other parts of the state as snow or rain. So,without the water in the lake to boost our storms, the less snow or rain we get. So, you have learned something new about Utah and its desert climate. As dry as it is, Old Yellow managed to find a nice mud hole and drove itself into it. Naughty Jeep. 
 In the foto above, you can see what looks like a road in the lower 1/3 of the frame. That is actually the leftover remains of the Central Pacific Railroad bed from 1869. It is used now as just a road to enter into the Salt Wells hunting area. 

In this foto you can see the curve as it makes its way across the flats. If you do ever go out there to see this area, stay off the mud flats. They are very deceiving and it wont take but 5 seconds to sink your vehicle into the mud. Yes, I did it once. Back in '86 in my friends mom's new F-150. It cost me $135.00 back then to have a tow truck come out from Tremonton. Dumb things we do as kids. At this rate, the mountains will be open for business by April and we can continue the ghost town visits. Jeep on my friends!