Tag Corrine

I left the Salt Lake City area pretty early expecting alot of activity for the day. My plan was to get to the Craters of the Moon National Park in Idaho before the end of the day. Beginning to end it wasn’t that far, but I had numerous stops planned and its nice to have a full day to travel. You never know what I might discover.

Riverpark Disc Golf Course

Planned to get a round of disc golf in first thing. I really enjoyed this round. It started raining after I played the first basket so ended up sitting under a tree with a local golfer waiting out the storm. It only rained a few minutes and we played the round together. Nice kid who dreams of one day getting himself a van and traveling around the United States!

Corrine, UT

Corrine, UT is an historic city on the road heading north. It’s a small railroad town that was established as the Union Pacific Railroad and the Central Pacific Railroads neared completion. Corrine is the closest city to where these two lines met and were commemorated with the Golden Spike. I stopped in town at a few memorials and dedicated historic spots.

	Travel then and travel now.

Golden Spike National Historic Park

In 1869, the Central Pacific and Union Pacific Railroads met and the first transcontinental railway was completed. A ceremonial spike was driven to commemorate the completion of this event. I enjoyed learning about the event and these two railway companies. The more they completed, the more they would earn so they built as fast as they could, racing across the country. I stopped at numerous spots along my drive that explained how it was done.

Spiral Jetty

The Spiral Jetty was such an amazing stop that it gets its own post (Spiral Jetty post). The Jetty is located in Corrine, UT, however, you have to drive down a 14 mile long gravel to get there. It was worth it. I walked out to the edge of the Great Salt Lake and watched pink water lap onto the shore.

In my opinion… this is a must for anyone making this trip.

ATK (Northrum & Grumman) Rocket Garden

I was driving on after the Spiral Jetty when I saw this Rocket Garden so I stopped. What a cool little rocket museum. The large rocket is actually a booster for the space shuttle.

Entered Idaho

What it looks like to drive through Idaho

Lava fields at Craters of the Moon National Park

I made it to Craters of the Moon National Park right around sunset. I watched the sun go down over the lava fields and noticed how I was in such an opposite kind of place from the Bonneville Salt Flats, just a few days earlier. I never knew there were lava fields in the continental United States. It was a beautiful night. I pulled into the Lava Flow Campground and stayed up late thinking about my day and looking at the stars.

A few hours north of Salt Lake City and on the north east shore of the Great Salt Lake is the Spiral Jetty.  I visited here as a recommendation from a friend and it didn’t disappoint. What a magical place.  I felt as if I were on a different planet.

The Spiral Jetty is an earthwork sculpture built in April, 1970 by Robert Smithson. The Jetty is made of mud, salt crystals, and basalt rocks, forming a 1,500-foot-long, 15-foot-wide counterclockwise coil jutting out into the lake.  I was there when the water level was low enough to walk out onto it.

To get to the Jetty, it’s necessary to get off of the main road and travel along 14 miles of gravel road.  The road was ‘ribbed’ and I found that if I traveled too slowly, the car would bounce up and down along each rib.  There were two options to deal with this.  The first was to drive very slowly, which would then take me hours to get to my destination, while the second was to travel very fast and just go over the ribs.  It was an interesting journey traveling 40+ mph along this gravel road in the middle of nowhere.  Even though it was in the middle of nowhere and a desert, I found it to be beautiful.  I stopped frequently just to enjoy the sights and to take a break from the stress of the drive.

If you enlarge, you can see the ribs.

Upon arriving at the Jetty parking lot, I opted to hike up the rocky hillside to get a view first.  It was a short 1/4 mile hike to the top.

Looking up at the parking area and the hillside hike.

Taking a moment at the pedestal looking out onto the Jetty.

I walked back down and onto the Jetty.  I walked the Spiral very slowly and meditated along with it.  Then I set out towards the lake. I had been told about the water here and wanted to see it for myself.

On the Spiral.	On the Jetty looking out towards the lake.
	Like being on a different planet.

Places like this make me realize why I love getting out on the road and exploring. There are so many unique places throughout the United States.  There are places that are magical and so different from our every day lives.  At the Jetty, the water was pink.  Amazing!

How Google saw me on my trip to the Spiral Jetty. (It even caught my meditative spiraling walk.)
Dark blue is driving.  Light blue is walking.