Challis Hot Springs

Rainy day excursion to Challis Hot Springs. My kind of place - quaint, old fashioned, calm and uncrowded! Family owned for 5 generations, we were lucky to finally make it so far north this year, as the hot spring will soon change hands. The owners want it preserved and open to all and to that end it may become a state facility in the fall. I imagine there will be changes, so I am glad we got to visit while it is still such a quaint lovely place.

 

Evolution of a Ghost Town - Sort of

Evolution of a ghost town. OK, not really a ghost town, but Carter, Wyoming sure seems like it's well on the way to becoming one. Apparently it was once a major agricultural shipping point on on the Union Pacific Rail Line, but now has just 3 or 4 occupied homes, population of about 10, and two very friendly dogs that accompanied us on my photowalk. I sure wonder about the history of these places, and what they were like during more prosperous times.

Circumnavigating the Great Salt Lake

This weeks coronacruise took us way out around the west side of the Great Salt Lake, where we got to hit a few places that have been on my list for quite some time, the Sun Tunnels and the ghost town of Lucin. The Sun Tunnels are a 1970's art installation by Nancy Holt, the wife of Robert Smithson, the creator of the Spiral Jetty. Constellation adorned concrete tunnels that line up with the sun during solstices. Way out in the middle of nowhere (and I mean middle of nowhere!), what a crazy, interesting and beautiful (and remote!) place for an art installation. It would be really cool to go see this during the solstice...

Lucin was a bit surprising. I didn't expect to find a oasis in the deserts, but the ponds created by piping in water from the far off mountains were indeed an oasis. Lucin was a railroad stop, and back in the day they need the water to fill the steam engines. The train still runs by, but not much is left of the town, just a few root cellars and an odd concrete structure, which after doing some googling we discovered was actually a railroad company phone booth. The ponds make for a nice little wildlife sanctuary, ducks, lots of song birds ( I saw some beautiful warblers!) and a pair of red tailed hawks where living there.

Salt Study at the Spiral Jetty

Another trip to the Spiral Jetty. This time with a mission, this time to try to rescue some salt encrusted juvenile pelicans. The things you do when your friends are bird rehabilitators! The birds proves too distant and flighty to be rescued, hopefully they survived on their own.

After giving up on the birds we were able to wander and enjoy the mother nature's salty creations. Not a spectacular day for photography, but a wonderful day for salt crystals.

And why is the water pink you ask? As the lake lake level decreases due (it's very low right now!) the salt concentration increases, especially on the north end that is cordoned off from the rest of the lake by the Union Pacific Railroad dike. The halophilic bacteria in the lake make the pretty pink color. Click here for some cool drone footage of the lake