The Great Salt Lake

The big, still snow-covered mountains surrounding Provo were such a surprise to most of us when we stepped out this morning!  We probably should have expected it given our train journey yesterday, but we were pretty amazed at the views.  These mountains also trap in pollution and the whole Provo-Salt Lake City region is very hazy. At few years ago Provo apparently earned the reputation of having the nation's worst air quality.

We drove a hour north to the Great Salt Lake. It has shrunk over the years. We stopped by the  Saltair Pavilion which was built from an old air force hangar. It is the third pavilion built on the site but now the lake waters have receded so much that it is quite a walk to reach the water. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saltair_(Utah)

The former lake bottom was crunchy to walk on and could be lifted up in small flat pieces.  The water's edge was line with a two foot wide black section. One would think it was just a different colored sand like the beaches back home, bit in fact it was a mass of tiny bugs!  They didn't bite or bother us bit there were so many!!  We waded in the lake.  The water was shallow and very warm.  As soon as we stepped out, we could see salt on our legs.  We visited the nearby state park for further information. We learned that the lake is 75 miles long and 35 miles wide with an average depth of 14 feet and the deepest part at 29 feet.  It has a salinity of 17%.  And brine shrimp are the largest living organism in the lake.