Desert Picture Mega Post

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So happy to find a campsite! 

So happy to find a campsite! 

Bunches of shots from our desert crossing!

Wendover, NV and Salt Flats

For a city guy, all deserts are inherently bizarre. Imagine vast tracks of nearly useless space blanketed in a deeply oppressive heat. The familiarity of the road provides a feeling of safety, but it's hard to believe that this is a safe place. I didn't take a whole lot of pictures in Nevada, because most of the terrain looks pretty similar. 

Wendover we've already discussed...  

The Bonneville Salt Flats are unique. I wish I could convey how silent and vast the space is, how it feels like you are standing still while driving at high speeds. It's so bright there that you can't take your sunglasses off, and the wind is hot, though we got there in the morning. There is no life.

The salt flats are over 50 miles wide at the crossing. 

Salt Lake City

There aren't a whole lot of pictures of SLC, but we did walk around the Temple grounds of the Mormon church, as well as go through their pioneer museum. Crazy stuff. 

Thoughts: 

  • The Temple isn't opulent in the style of other religion's holy sites, but we were blown away by the size and lushness of the gardens in the middle of desert.
  • I had NO idea how much the Mormon church sought to build a colony out in Utah, and what steps they took to ensure their collective success. Brigham Young set up church based corporations and really stressed the pioneer ideology of building a paradise out in the waste. I guess that explains the gardens.
  • Mormons are REALLY into America.
  • There are Mormon settlements all up and down the Western slope of the Rockies.

 

Southern Utah, Moab, Arches National Park

The thing about the desert is that it is an inherently dangerous place. Take away the roads and small towns and ranger stations in Moab, and you have a terrain that will kill the unwary through heat and dehydration. 

I'm almost  sad that this area has become so tame, because it seems to detract from its majesty. Still, it doesn't take much to stand in the heat, sweating, and looking over the great distances to realize that this place doesn't need you, it doesn't want you, and it will be perfectly fine without you.

Seeing the mesas and the arches gives you a real sense of geological time. These rocks are fluid and changing, albeit at a rate nearly incomprehensible to us. Likewise, we are so short-lived that this place seems eternal.

Surprises in the Desert

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By Judy

Between the two of us, I am the trip planner. I keep whole spreadsheets on things to do at our potential destinations around the world. I find the best travel deals, and sign us up for websites. It's a great mix, actually, because Jason is the one who wants to wander down streets and find surprises.  

When I left the desert-crossing in his hands, boy, did we ever find a surprise. "That's it, I should never plan anything!" he said when we rolled into Wendover, Utah, our stop on Wednesday night. On the map, it looked like this: 

To us, that green patch marked "West Wendover Recreation District" meant a state park of some sort. We made reservations to stay at a KOA campground nearby, assuming that while we may share the space with large RVs and loud families, we would be able to go for a little hike in the morning before seeing the Salt Flats down the road.

In reality, "West Wendover Recreation District" is a town chock full of casinos. We arrived after dark to a blaze of neon signs lighting our way to the campground. Our site boarded someone's backyard and we ate dinner by the bluish glow of the Red Garter Casino.  

I will say that pitching a tent in the dark has never been so easy. And the Red Garter did turn out to have a $2.99 breakfast special.  

 

Photo courtesy of sangres.com. 

Photo courtesy of sangres.com. 

How could we have saved ourselves from this farce? Perhaps we should have looked up reviews of the campground. Or maybe we should have researched things to do in "West Wendover Recreational District." Or we should have looked at satellite photos of the area. 

But in the end, we were only really looking for a spot to sleep for cheap, and we did, spending only $29. While there was no morning hiking, we were close to the salt flats, which were blindingly bright even at 9 AM. 

The Salt Flats are a strange thing. Eons ago the Great Salt Lake stretched hundreds of miles more than it does now. When it dried, salt deposits were left behind. The salt sits in a thin crust atop the earth. The sun bounced off the crystals of salt like it does off of snow, but with greater intensity. How people crossed these flats in the days before UV protection I don't know.

Jason on the Salt Flats.

Jason on the Salt Flats.

After leaving the Salt Flats, we stopped in Salt Lake City, where we parked and walked around for an hour. Then it was on to the Moab Desert and Arches National Park.

All of the campsites at Arches were full, as we suspected they would be. We asked at the visitors' center which nearby campsites they would suggest. They gave us a map and pointed out two areas, one along a river with several small campsites and one southwest of the park. They advised we try the latter site, because it was crowded that day and getting late so we would be more likely to find a spot there. That was a valid point and we weighed our options, but we really wanted a spot by the river. It was hot and capping off our day with a swim in the river sounded awesome. So though it would potentially mean an extra hour until we pitched our tent if we struck out and had to seek out a site in the other area. The worst-case scenario would have been that we had to stay at a motel in town, paying more money and not experiencing a night in the desert. 

We were glad we took the risk. We found a great campsite by the river: 

 

Our home for the night.

Our home for the night.

We did indeed swim in the river and slept under the star-filled sky, where we could faintly make out the milky way. 

In the morning we drove through Arches National Park and did a little hiking, which was hot and tiring but well worth it.  After that, it was on to Denver. 

One of the eponymous arches.

One of the eponymous arches.

So here you can see the difference in planning versus not planning. We planned the first night carefully, making a reservation in advance and it turned out to not be the kind of place we wanted to stay. The second night we took a risk and found just what we wanted.  

Day 15 - Desert crossing plans

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Bonneville Salt Flats, AKA the largest Margarita glass rimmer on earth.

After a day in San Francisco with our friends JP, Aaron, and Matteo, we're headed on a three day trek to Denver. 

I want to keep you up to date with our plans, so please see below.

 

 

 

Highlights from the trip to come:

  • Long first day drive to Wendover, UT, but we'll wake up Thursday morning and get to see the Bonneville Salt Flats, a piece of terrain I doubt we'll see the like of again.
  • 5 hours drive away will put us at Moab, UT, where we will explore the Arches National Park.  Apparently there are a ton of first-come, first-served campsites that we can use there, with apparently beautiful views. We will camp there Thursday night.
  • After that, our drive takes us right through the mountains and on to Denver.  

Any suggestions for must-sees along the way?