Bonneville Salt Flats, Utah

Ready for a continuation of highway 50/6.

The subtle beauty of this remote and desolate area of the country.

I arrived but the air quality and visability were poor.

I hung around and the sun made an appearance and changed everything.

Dazzlingly bright.

On the way back towards Salt Lake City...

Tuesday, July 19th.

Today started out as a continuation of yesterday, on the same highway. I rode out north from Delta for about an hour along the very lonely highway. I saw a golden eagle on a telephone pole, but as usual camera shy. Then I was stopped by a flag person holding a STOP sign. She told me it would be about a 7-10 minute wait for the ‘follow me’ truck to bring the traffic from the other direction past the construction. So I parked and we got talking (she was as lonely as the highway). She asked where I was from and where I was headed. I told her I was on my way home, but not sure which route to take. So, she told me about a beautiful route called the Provo Canyon Scenic Drive. I tucked that into my head and programmed the GPS for the Bonneville Salt Flats. It was about 50 miles west of Salt Lake City and as I was riding I kept asking myself why I was bothering since it was in the wrong direction, I’d have to return, it was overcast with bad air quality with a mix of dust and rain. I rode through some light showers without really getting wet. But I soldiered on along the interstate. It was about ten kilometres north of the turnoff. Because of the weather conditions it was disappointing, but I could see it was trying to clear, so I hung around until it did. Then it was very white and bright. Other people drove or raced their cars out onto the salt, but I didn’t think it was a good idea on a bike. The return trip was nicer with clearer skies, but when I programmed the GPS for Provo (a town just south of Salt Lake City) it took me there on three interstates right through the heart of the city in rush hour! Not fun after the emptiness of Nevada. Now I’m thinking that I would have to drive back north through the city tomorrow. So I did what I have found works: I stopped at the local tourist info stop: Starbuck’s! I sat inside with my devices, using their wi-fi, drinking their ice coffee and cooling off, while I sorted out my plan. I looked up the Provo Canyon drive and it looks great and has the added benefit of taking me east through the countryside and around the city. So I found a local Comfort Inn and checked in. When I got there I made good use of the excellent pool to cool off, after which I went to Appleby’s for dinner. Another 624 kilometres today.