Day 20 – The Great Salt Lake

We left Winnemucca, NV this morning and set the GPS for Great Salt Lake in Utah. Crossing the border offered some great views and was pretty flat, which was a welcome change over the last couple of days. Entering Utah, the first thing you see is the Great Salt Lake Desert, which is covered with salt and white as far as the eye can see. There are also huge salt mounds and mines all along the highway.

There is a state park adjacent to the lake so we pulled over and parked just outside the gate and started walking. Great Salt Lake is fed by three rivers but has no outlet so it’s always changing in size due to evaporation and drought. We walked about a half mile to reach the shore line, noticing the skeletons of several birds that probably died for lack of food. The wind was pretty fierce and whipped in violent gusts, leaving the taste of salt on our lips. We snapped several photos and made our way back to Lady T to rinse our mouths out and continue on into Salt Lake City.

It has been a long time since I have been to Salt Lake City but it looked mostly the same. They added a light rail system since I was last here but we were able to park on the street for free (after 8PM). We strolled towards downtown but quickly detoured to the Blue Iguana Mexican Restaurant. The food was delicious and with full bellies, we continued to Temple Square, which dates back to 1847 and is a focal point for the Mormon community in Utah. It also houses the world famous Tabernacle Choir. The choir was actually practicing when we arrived and we watched them through the window for a bit. The buildings are all very beautiful and the Square is well kept.

Heading back to Lady T, we walked through an outdoor mall area that was very cool with water fountains and lots of shops. There were also a couple of nice Olympic statues for skiing and figure skating. Salt Lake hosted the winter Olympics in 2002, which was around the last time I was here.