I meant to have a look at the Great Salt Lake as I drove by, and how could I not? I-80 rides right on top of it for miles. But I came across in the dark in a torrential rain. When the 18 wheelers passed, I couldn't even see the road in the splash. I could smell it. Oh, what a stink. I read about the Salton Sea before I started this trip in February, how it comes and goes and when it goes, it is a ecological disaster as it becomes too salty for the fish that somehow came to it. This seems like at least a little of that stink, which is odd because I thought it was too salty for fish.
So having not seen the lake again, I got up with the first of the light and started heading west across the first stretch of desert with the sun rising in my rearview mirror. I stopped for breakfast at the rest area about ¾ of the way between ranges. (Compare and contrast wandering across most of the desert before breakfast with Mark Train's account of coming across a very similar route in a stagecoach in Roughing It, chapter 18.) It's a good spot to take in Lake Bonneville. The Great Salt Lake used to be far greater and Lake Bonneville is the name given to the most recent ancient lake that sat here. It filled the Great Basin until there was outflow at Red Rock Pass in southeastern Idaho. (Actually, that hadn't been the normal state of things and when it breached the pass, it caused a flood down the Snake River and lowered the lake by 300 feet. Presumably it continued to flow yearly until the lake lowered again.)
Very welcoming! Marking the location (approximately) of "Utah's famed measured mile—site of world land-speed record runs" and a foot wash if you to wandering through it. Only there's no water here anymore. All water was piped 10 miles from Wendover.
Still cloudy, so not much actual sunrise in the rearview of the line of headlights to the right
Enjoying the "lake" after the night's heavy rains
Everything is just flat and salt covered, until it's not
The salt forms into structures
Look to the far mountains and note the horizontal lines that are old lake levels
More delight in the watery desert
*Lake Bonneville photo album*
Little River State Beach, Trinidad State Beach, Sue-meg State Park, Humboldt Lagoons State Park Redwood National Park, Prairie Creek Redwoods State Park, Del Norte Coast Redwoods State Park Introduction The California Coastal Trail (CCT) is approximately 1200 miles of interconnected public trail following the coast from Mexico to Oregon. Or at least that's the dream. Currently, the trail is about 60% complete. In more populous areas, it often takes the form of boardwalks and multi-use paths marked by the swirl of blue wave crest. In rural areas, it may be pushed to the beach when that is usable, or to the nearest public route when that is not. The crest for the CCT marks a coastal access trail at the Lost Coast Headlands. There are thoughts of a route beside the ocean, but the primary route is substantially inland along Mattole Road for now. The beach becomes impassible in several places south of here and above the high tide mark is private property. The hiking trail rout...
Six Rivers National Forest DAY 1 | DAY 2 (map link) Bluff Creek Historic Trail gets my attention as I zoom by because it is clearly signed to be visible from the road and the trail is obviously used and in good shape. Also, why is "Historic" stuck in there? (Besides the obvious, the Forest Service simply says, "Gateway to Bigfoot Country" , which doesn't seem particularly unique along the Bigfoot Scenic Byway.) It doesn't get my attention when I'm looking at a map because it just offers about 1.5 miles of connecting the highway to Slate Creek Road, a paved road that leaves the highway a short distance northeast of the trail. However, further along in the same direction and connected by an unimproved road is "Wright Place (site)" which sits next to Bluff Creek. The trail is numbered, the road is not. While it is tempting to think that an old road is bigger and therefore more likely to be passable, it doesn't really work out that wa...
Loleta Community Park ( map link ) I've seen that this hike is detailed in a couple news articles and blog posts and YouTube videos and Hiking Humboldt volume 2 and that it even has a geocache along it. It was seeing that the last barrier to the Great Redwood Trail has fallen and the right-of-way is now property of the Great Redwood Trail Agency (GRTA) that got me thinking more about it. It was seeing trucks marked "CCC" out on the rails clearing vegetation from the Humboldt Bay Trail , which is part of the Great Redwood Trail, that got me to come out and do it. On the drive here, I even spotted a sign claiming that the Humboldt Bay Trail - South was now under construction just south of the industrial park at Bracut. The north part of the trail currently ends at a missing bridge just north of Bracut. It all served to embolden me about this other little piece of the same right-of-way. The start of the trail in Loleta. In the newspaper articles, which are only a c...
Samoa Dunes State Recreation Area Click for map. I decided I would go and visit Humboldt Bay's first lighthouse. This one was set on the North Spit and was soon deemed too low, which prompted the building of a replacement up on Table Bluff . I aimed at it once before and didn't quite make it. Then I wanted to meander over to the wreck of the Milwaukee at low tide. That was only expected to be -0.4 feet and it really needs to be -2 feet (which happens in the summer) to see everything above the sand. I figured it sticks up a bit and I would see something. It isn't exactly the hills I need, but there's some sand dunes. You get to go all over them. Be aware, you are sharing them with OHVs, but it is pretty common for people to walk them as well. I followed the signs for the staging area on Bunker Road and found plenty of parking, picnicking, and why it's called Bunker Road. On the south side of the parking area is a sign marking the Samoa Dunes Wetland Trail. It...
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