The Spiral Jetty

In 1970 artist Robert Smithson created the Spiral Jetty on the shore of the Great Salt Lake. He used over 6,000 tons of black basalt rock to form the spiral. The Jetty is best seen when the water level is low, so I go now before the Spring run-off raises the level of the lake.

His artist wife, Nancy Holt created the Lucin Sun Tunnels that I visited back in May of 2016 RR here;
http://2mbstonestravels.blogspot.com/2016/05/the-lucin-sun-tunnels.html
Nancy donated Robert's Jetty to the Dia art foundation in 1999.

I've never been to the Spiral Jetty so today seems like a good day to remedy that. Off I go.

I first stop at the rocket display at Orbital ATK to look at some cool rockets.

Then a stop at the Golden Spike National Historic Museum..actually just the site I didn't go in.

Then I ride the 17 dirt road miles to the Jetty. There is NOTHING else there, except gnats, LOTS of gnats. A little cloud of the buggers was following me around, and I'm gnat kidding either!  

Luckily I keep bug spray in my tank bag.

Jetty seen, I reverse my route and ride home, about 300 miles total by the time I get back to West Valley.

Spring is here!

Short, wet, windy ride

I've taken an unintended hiatus from blogging. I've done a few short rides since my Turkey day mis-adventure, but have neglected to post them.

However I intend to change that today. 

I've decided to ride to Delta and visit (again) the Topaz WWII relocation site. Delta is about 140 miles away. Unfortunately, when I get up this morning it is raining....will I let a little rain ruin my day or press on? 

Press on is the correct answer! 

Off I go.

The rain stops just after Eureka, but then the wind starts....and its a big WIND... which takes some of the fun out of the day, but .....Press on!

By the time I reach Delta my gear is mostly dried out, and the wind has decreased a lot, well, a little, ok, it has decreased minutely. But you have to take what you can get.

I make it to Topaz.

After Topaz I want to see the nearby solar ruins but I'm not certain where they are. So I climb on a big pile of  boulders and with my trusty monocular that I always carry in my tank bag, I'm able to see something unusual in the distance and I ride off in that direction.

Here they are the Delta solar ruins. 

Someone built this solar farm, which seemed like a great idea, but they forgot about the strong winds that blow in this part of the world. The solar farm was trashed by mother nature...

And that's my short ride, about 300 miles of rain, wind, quiet roads, and a few miles of sunshine!

2 out of 4...