We woke up at our Wyoming campsite to be molested by mosquitoes as bad as the night before. They had gotten in the tents, vans, and event some sleeping bags. Everyone made a mad dash for the showers to prep ourselves for the long day of driving ahead and hoping the mosquitoes would be gone by the time we were out. Today was scheduled as the longest drive of the trip, from Wyoming all the way into Salt Lake, Utah. In the morning we drove along the Tieton mountain range its peaks jutting into the sky like daggers. We made a short stop in Jackson Hole, WY so that everyone could grab some breakfast and get caffeinated for the long day ahead. My group and I wondered around looking for any place that was open and we stumbled upon a small shack called D.O.G's which resembled a place you would find along the boardwalk or in a beach town. The servers were very cool and definitely brightened up everyone's morning.
 |
| D.O.G's |
Mostly everyone got a breakfast burrito, and I must say that this burrito was hands down one of the best things I have every had in my whole life. We got out food and decided to spend the bit of extra time we had checking out some of the places in town, unfortunately many of them didn't open until later.
 |
| D.O.G's Breakfast Burrito |
 |
| Jackson Hole Shenanigans |
After messing around in Jackson Hole for a bit it was time to head out again. We drove the rest of the way to Antelope Island, traveling down a long stretch of the dried up lake that was permeated with a horrible stench that definitely had some people gagging in the back of the van. Turns out this was the smell of thousands of dead birds on the beach that had died from the vegetation in the area. We had been told this night camping was going to be miserable because of the brine flies the area is known for having so our group wasnt exactly excited to set up camp. Well, to a serious of strange events we arrived at a time when the winds were blowing like crazy, so hard it was collapsing the tents and required us to tie the tents to the structure they had on the site and use the vans as a wind block to keep the tents from blowing over or blowing away. The wind seemed like a major inconvenience at first, but after a while it died down but it had been strong enough ti blow all of the flies away from us so we got to spend the night fly free.
 |
| Salt Lake |
 |
| Tying everything down during the crazy winds that night |
After getting everything set up, we had a discussion on the areas history. Thousands of years ago the area was home to an enormous lake called Bonnevio lake which over time dried up into a fraction of its former glory. As it dried it left areas of flat lake bed which became encrusted with salt sediments and the remaining portion of the lake continually became more saline. Salt Lake is the second most saline body of water in the world second to the Dead Sea which is at the maximum concentration of salt possible. Each year, salts area deposited into the lake from rivers and streams containing fertilizers, deicing salts, and dissolution from rocks. Each year the waters bring new salt in and even though the water evaporates the salt deposits are still left behind with nowhere to go. The water is so saline that the only inhabitants are microscopic organisms, primarily brine shrimp. These brine shrimp formed a stable industry in the Salt Lake area, sending boats out every few days to sift through the water and capturing thousands of these shrimp in nets, to be used in fish feed. The huge abundance in these brine shrimp also makes Antelope Island a popular rest destination for migrating birds. Over 200+ different species of birds pass through the area each year during their annual migrations and the island has become an integral part of their migration process.
The final thing we discussed is the internal weather system that occurs within the Salt Lake area. This weather cycle exists between the Rocky mountains and the Salt Lake, generating strong winds and dry air masses.
 |
| Breaking Camp on Antelope Island |
After our discussion we were left to our own devices so me and the guys went down to go see the water, which ended up being a much farther walk than it looked. When we got to the Lake's edge, Matt figured he would go in and see how far out he got until it started getting deep. He bolted into the water, running out the length of a football field and in that distance he had gone no farther than up to his shins, it was hilarious to watch. Everyone settled in for an early night, drained from the days long drive. We were unsure what was going to happen for the next day as Tait was going to be taking some of the girls into town and get the van looked at, while the rest of us stayed on the island under Hossay's supervision. We figured we would just figure it out in the morning and we all passed out for the night.
No comments:
Post a Comment