Wendover, Utah, sits on the Nevada state line right next to West Wendover, Nevada. It is the closest town with hotels to the Bonnieville Salt Flats. Once we got checked into the hotel and had dinner, Bruce took off for the casinos in Nevada, and I doubled back to the speedway to see what their condition was. I had heard they were flooded and was hoping for that mirrored sheen that is so frequently advertised in Bolivia at those other salt flats (Uyuni) but that also exists in Bonnieville in the rainy season. We had been to Bonnieville a few years before while they were dry. I wanted to see them wet, though. Plus, I was hoping to meet up with a friend here and spend a couple of days. That didn't happen, so we decided to only spend the night and do sunrise pictures. The sun was setting over the mountains, not hitting the flats well at all when we drove by, but I wanted to check them out to see what conditions were.
Going to the speedway, there were multiple signs talking about how soft the ground was, warning cars to stay on the pavement. Once you got to the actual speedway, there were concrete and metal barriers put out with a big sign:
We know people don't listen, though. Often, that's me that doesn't listen, but even I have more sense than to drive out on the flooded ground!
I was wondering how they would get a tow truck out there to rescue these guys. Tracked vehicles make sense!
I talked to the guys when they came back. They said it wsan't worth the cost of the tow to drive out there. The view wasn't any better out there than off the asphalt, and the tow was expensive af.
I'll start with some of my favorite pics of the salt flats when they were dry. We drove out on the speedway when they were dry. The sun was still coming up. It was late morning on a cloudy day. A very otherwordly look.
This is the flats off the speedway, like the area where the van above got stuck. It's been churned up by people going out on the wet time and causing all these ridges.
We woke up bright and early to catch the sunrise To the west, you could see the moon along with the purple and pink hues. Vibrant yellows and oranges were to the east. The salt so close to the surface of the water works like a mirror, with many people calling these the "two skies" of Bonnieville.
Oranges started replacing the pinks to whte west as the sun rose higher and the moon continued to set.
Unfortunately, with all the rain that has fallen this year, the flats were too flooded to get the mirrored walking shots that they share of the Uyuni flats. The flats have to be wet, but the water can't be deep enough to make appreciable waves. For the sunrise shots, nobody was touching the water so it would continue to lie flat over the salt. When a guy decided to throw a pebble, though, it ruined it until the ripples stopped. We'll just have to go back to the flats another time in the wet season to get the effect I'm looking for. I've seen pictures of the same effect side by side with the Uyuni pictures, so I know it's there. Since there was no need to wait for higher sun, we headed on toward home.
It always surprises me to see these wildlife bridges in northern Nevada. I commented about having only seen them in this area. Then, there was one outside Seattle over I-90 around the Snoqualmie Pass. I don't think it's new, but I've never noticed it before.
We stopped by the Morley Nelson Snake River Birds of Prey National Conservation area just outside of Boise, Idaho. The park is way out in the middle of nowhere. We saw a few raptors coming in, possibly prairie falcons, and some really pretty magpies, crows, and other smaller birds. We stopped at the Dedication Point Overlook, where the Prairie Falcon are supposed to be nesting. They appear to be planting a lot of trees right now.
The overlook of the Snake River is beautiful, but we didn't see any signs of Prairie Falcon or anything other than crows.
We drove around (including places we didn't have any business being, given the shape of the roads, but they weren't flooded), and finally went down to the Swan Falls Picnic Area. It was cold, so we didn't even think of hiking back to the falls. We did go to the dam. The Swan Falls dam is one of the dams on the Snake River that is believed to be contributing to the decline of the sockeye salmon population. These dams function as a total barrier to the salmon returning upriver to spawn. There was apparently an attempt at this dam to build a method for the salmon to pass, but it did not work, so other dams, both up and down river, were built without even attempting to accomodate the salmon. It's a beautiful area, though, and not a bad drive from Puyallup, just a day's drive each way. We may go back and plan to spend a few days just hanging out and waiting for the raptors.
After spending the night outside Boise, we finally made it home to the Pacific Northwest for the summer.
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