An Early Morning At the Salt Flats in NorthWestern Utah

So, full disclosure, I’ve driven through the Salt Flats twice before, earlier this year, when I drove from Salt Lake City to go snowboarding in Lake Tahoe. When I made each of those drives, I didn’t think there was anything particularly magical about the Salt Flats. It just seemed like a desolate wasteland, which is true in some sense of the location. However, after driving out on them with my friend, there’s a bit more to the flats than meets the eye. But, don’t get me wrong: it’s still just endless nothingness until it meets the base of the mountains. Still, it’s cool.

We managed to get out to the salt flats before the sun rose, and drove out on them a little way to get situated. Dan flew the drone up into the air, and I got my camera ready for some early morning sunrise shots. The sun rose, slowly but surely, and spread its shining rays over the tops of the mountains, illuminating them with first light. The light slowly made its way down the mountains before blanketing the valley floor in beautiful, bright golden morning light.

Once the sun fully hit the mountains and the valley floor, the whole sky and scene became illuminated in a way I had never quite seen before. Since the ground is obviously white because of the salt, the light was reflected nicely, and brightly. It made sunrise seem like it only lasted a few minutes instead of the usual 20 minutes! I kept snapping photos as the sun rose, and I think the difference in some of these shots is astounding. They were only taken a few minutes apart!

And, that’s kinda where the day just ended. The sun was up, and within the next half hour, we would have been baking in the sun, even at the beginning of November. So, we packed up the car and headed home. A quick stop at Salt Lake State Park finished off the trip by the Great Salt Lake. Which, is pretty cool, I might add.

Cheers!

Parting shot:

Next blog: Back to California? Or shall we head somewhere else?