Salt Lake City, Utah 10.20.2020

During a third grade geography lesson I recall being mesmerized by the thought of being being able to float atop of the water without swimming at all in the Great Salt Lake of Utah. I could only dream of seeing it. Just 65 years later I'm standing on its shoreline. It's far larger than I ever imagined, 75 miles by 35 miles and it sits 4200 feet above sea level. All that can be seen is silver. . . silver sands silver salt, silver water and silver skies.

No one was swimming today but I did dip my fingers in the clear water and tasted it.

A 12-mile railroad trestle was built across the Great Salt Lake in 1904 to shorten the route from Lucin to Ogden, UT. The wooden trestle was replaced in the 1950s with a rock and soil causeway for the train. This causeway divided the lake into a northern section and a southern section. Because of the land causeway water from the two sections cannot mix. Water on the north side of the causeway is much saltier than water on the south side. The high salinity supports a red variety of algae. Less salty water on the other side of the causeway supports a blue algae. The result is a distinct demarcation; water on the northern side of the causeway looks deep red and water on the southern side of the causeway looks blue.

Overall the great Salt Lake is 27% salt compared to the ocean which has only 4% salinity. This is why swimmers cannot sink in the Great Salt Lake.

We walked the beaches near the modest Visitor Center and watched a very informative movie, "Our Inland Sea," about the lake, wildlife here and the old Saltaire Resort.

We took a quick pit stop as we began to exit the park stopping at a small area where we accessed an Audobon wildlife viewing jetty extending what ordinarily might be 1/2 mile into the lake. Because a 12 year drought is still in full swing, the end of the jetty was still on shore. The water itself is probably another 1/2 mile out. We saw no birds but we did see three pronghorn deer grazing in the salt grass.

Our overall impression of Salt Lake City is very positive. The area appears to have a thriving, prosperous economy. So much of the city looks new. Homes, even in older neighborhoods appear well kept and so many are blessed with a beautiful mountain or valley view. The city is pristine clean and has plenty of good streets and highways to support their lively traffic activity. We passed the University of Utah today. A sight to see, indeed! The campus look spacious, well-funded and very modern.

Our plans for the afternoon was to visit the Red Butte Garden, Utah's grand botanical gardens. I have a brochure and it shows that it's very large and has a varied presentation. Stan and I thoroughly enjoy botanical gardens and have visited many around the world. We were looking forward to taking a look at this Northern Utah garden. However due to Covid 19 (I am becoming tired of saying this), admission tickets are limited to avoid crowds. We were unable to visit the botanical gardens today and in fact if we bought tickets today the earliest we could be admitted would be Sunday, five days ahead. Of course we were disappointed but we decided to visit Park City instead. Only a very pretty 38-mile drive out of town through the mountains, this beautiful ski resort community is quite fabulous and welcoming. Their annual snowfall of 352 inches supports a thriving winter sports recreational area. We saw ski jumps and multiple runs for downhill skiing. I can only imagine what this community might look like in winter when it is bustling with all the hotels and condos filled to capacity and tan-faced people are crossing the streets in their expensive sharp-looking ski togs, boggjns and boots with skis propped on their shoulders. I'd love to return then.

I like Salt Lake City but I could easily live in Park City!