Desert Absence

Hello!

It’s been over ten days since my last post. I’ve been mostly off grid as Farrah and I spent some time hiking in Yellowstone and Grand Teton National Parks. Then we made the long drive through the desert from Jackson,Wyoming to Lake Tahoe, Nevada via Salt Lake City. I’m sad to say that my feelings about Salt Lake didn’t change the second time around. I’m sure it’s a wonderful place but the wonder eludes me. The drive across the desert is long and hot with vast stretches of nothingness punctuated by the occasional rolling hill or random desert rock formation. One area of interest is the Bonneville Salt Flats. It’s a huge expanse of flat, salt rich, cracked, desert soil that stretches as far as you can see and it’s in the middle of nowhere. It’s the place where drivers race their souped up cars vying for the current land speed records. Picture a rocket engine strapped to a car, going really fast through the middle of the desert. Otherwise it just provides an alien landscape to gawk at as you cruise down the interstate. We also made a side trip to Lamoille Canyon outside of Elko, Nevada. Lamoille Canyon is a large, glacially carved canyon that cuts from the low desert and high into the Ruby Mountains. Deeply grooved escarpments of stone line the canyon walls as jutting crags and jagged peaks seem to appear abnormally out of the desert floor. As you reach the end of the canyon you find yourself in a beautiful cirque of towering alpine walls. The dramatic landscape was a stunning and welcome respite after so many miles of endless sage lined highway tedium. If you ever find yourself driving between Salt Lake and Reno and have a day or two to spare, I’d suggest Lamoille Canyon as a worthy place to spend your time.

Here’s a few photos of the past several weeks