100th Campground and Moving Day Across the Bonneville Salt Flats

Location: Salt Lake City KOA (el. 4250 ft); Salt Lake City, Utah

(click pictures to enlarge)
(all pictures taken with Nokia Lumia 929 Cell Phone)

This campground is the 100th one that I've been in since I started full-timing on April 11th, 2014. That means I'm moving, on average, every 3.85 days. You would think I would get tired of moving so often, but like I have said; I'm on a journey with some destinations along the way. I don't put much stuff out in the campgrounds, such as chairs, tables, carpet, BBQ grills, etc, so I can pack-up, hitch-up and be on my way in about an hour. We will see if I can slow down and spend more time in a place during the next 100 campgrounds. 

The moving day was about 180 miles to Salt Lake City, Utah. The trip was easy towing along I-80 with about 50 miles of it going through the Bonneville Salt Flats. The salt flats are what is left over from the ancient Lake Bonneville that covered much of north-west Utah 10's of thousands of years ago. The Great Salt Lake is also part of old Lake Bonneville. 

Seeing the salt flats was definitely a "wow" moment and a bit surprising to me. I thought I was prepared for what I would see, but the vastness of it all was a little overwhelming. I crossed it in about 1 hour. It took the pioneers in the last century 3 days to cross it, walking most of the way. Most of the time, they had to cross it during the hot summer months because it took them several months to get here from the St. Louis jump-off point. Although at times the flats are hard as a rock, there are other times when water leaches into it and creates a crust over a muddy sub-layer. It was during one of those muddy times that the Donner Party needed to cross the flats. It is believed that had they not been slowed down by the muddy Salt Flats, then they would not have been caught by the blizzard high in the mountains. (I'm not going to go into what happened to the Donner Party, too much of a downer right now.)

Salt Lake City is a very important place for Mormons, but I am not interested in anything in this area. I've kept an eye on the forecast in the Yellowstone area and it seems like another 2 to 3 weeks will be the better time to visit. So with that in mind, I will be leaving tomorrow and have plans to spend 4 or 5 days in Moab, Utah while exploring a couple National Parks around there. I think there is a Whole Foods store around here, so I'll be going there to hopefully stock up on some good fruit. I hope they have some "pluots", I like them, but they sure are hard to find. For those not familiar with them, they are a cross between a plum and an apricot. The good ones are sweet and juicy.

This is the change in landscape in the eastern half of northern Nevada

It was a good day to be driving. 

I took this out my side window. There are several isolated mountains such as this one.

Typical northern Nevada. Notice the roadway as it fades into the distance

This is the border area between Nevada and Utah. The large flat area in the background is the beginning of the flats.

The last of the hills before getting into the flats. Notice the tower on the top of the hill. The lack of cell service is becoming more rare.

Pretty sky, mountains, Bonneville Salt Flats and a west bound car.

This is from the rest area in the middle of the flats. I should send it to FedEx, they may like it.

Freedom and Liberty in the Rest Area.

Close -up. 

This is the best shot I got to represent the vastness of this area. It surly was impressive.

It is not all dry. This water was on the south side of the road.

It looks again like we are heading straight through the mountains, but nope, as you get closer to them, the road turns left and you go around them.

The only view I got of the Great Salt Lake. I will see more of it when I come back through this area on my way to Yellowstone. 

Campsite at the KOA. There aren't a lot of choices for campgrounds around here. 

Ya'll take care of each other. I'll Cya down the road.