Leaving Lincoln Nebraska

Today we are leaving Lincoln Nebraska, heading (circuitously) to Minneapolis.

Here is the latest map of our travels to date.  You can click on the map if you want more details.  Be patient though, it may load slowly.

  

Delta

Delta Utah is so called because it is located at the site of an ancient river delta where the Sevier River flowed in Lake Bonneville.  

It subsequently became a mining town when silver was discovered in Nevada.  

Later it became the site of a Japanese internment camp in one of the darker eras of US history. 

Today Delta is home to the University of Utah Cosmic Ray Center.  For us it was where we joined US-50, the loneliest road in America. 

Delta Utah on the shore of Lake Bonneville

Snow caps the Wasatch Range as we leave Vineyard.

Heading away from the tall mountains back into Basin and Range territory.

The Great Basin Museum is a county museum in Delta.  It has an impressive collection of artifacts reflecting many aspects of the areas history, just like the sign says.

An outhouse that is part of a restored cabin from the 1800s

An automated threshing machine.

A machine from a shoe store where you can view an an x-ray image of your foot.

Ever wonder why you "dial" a phone number?

The Topaz Museum is an excellent exhibit telling the story of Japanese Americans who were removed from the west coast of the US after the Japanese bombed Pearl Harbor.  

Layout of the internment camp in Topaz.

A "gymnasium" building from Topaz.

Topaz has a large park right next to the civic center and library.  I cornered Mr. Twain to discuss the jumping frogs we had seen when we drove through Calaveras County on our way to Topaz Lake.

Me and Mark discussing frogs.

Me relaxing in my new, albeit temporary, backyard.

Vineyard

We spent 3 nights in Vineyard, on the shore of Lake Utah, waiting for the storm to pass.

We used the time to do some more work on the electrical system, resupply the trailer, and get the oil changed in the truck.

There was a path along the shore of the lake where we went for walks.

Bonneville Flood

Professor Shawn Willsey explains the Bonneville Flood.

https://hugefloods.com/Bonneville.html

The Bonneville Speedway is located on salt flats left over from Lake Bonneville.  Driving east on I-80 you cross the salt flats for over 40 miles starting at the Utah/Nevada border.  North to south it is even bigger.

Around the shore of Ancient Lake Bonneville there are "bathtub rings" at several distinct elevations.  These represent where the lake level was constant for extended periods of time.  The wave action on the shoreline created these ledges that are still visible today.

When Lake Bonneville reached its maximum depth of about 1000 ft a breach occurred at Red Rock Pass in southern Idaho and fantastic volumes of water, up to 5 times the current flow of the Amazon River, streamed into the Snake River valley and drained through Hell's Canyon into the Columbia River and eventually to the Pacific Ocean.  This caused Lake Bonneville to drop about 400 ft.  

The flood scoured the soil from the plains on either side of the Snake River Canyon and greatly increased the size of the canyon.  It tore up the basalt bedrock and tumbled boulders downstream, littering the landscape.  Today you can see piles of these boulders next to farm fields as they had to remove them to  plant crops.  Some are being marketed as "petrified watermelons".  

The furthest downstream we got was Walter's Ferry, where highway 84 crosses the Snake River.  Exploring Hell's Canyon and the Channeled Scablands of eastern Washington will have to wait.

North western Utah

Our trip to Utah started with a simple observation.  Rebecca said, "If we go to Salt Lake City, we get a Utah sticker."  So instead of looping back on US-50 through Nevada we went to the Great Salt Lake.

The first 50 miles of Norther Utah consist of driving across the salt flats that are the remnants of ancient Lake Bonneville

Crossing into Utah at Wendover

Bonneville Salt Flats

I-80 then crosses some mountains before descending to the Great Salt Lake

Crossing mountains to get to Salt Lake

We had traversed the basin and range province from the edge of the Sierra Nevada in Reno and were now camped at the foot of the Wasatch Range in Willard.

Wasatch Range seen from our campsite in Willard

We spent a morning in Ogden, walking along the Ogden River Parkway

Ogden River Parkway

We spent an afternoon driving the Ogden Scenic Byway

Monte Cristo Scenic Overlook

We spent a day in Salt Lake City

Utah state capital building in Salt Lake City

We saw where the railroads met at Promontory Summit

Promontory Summit

We went for a beautiful drive around the Bear River Bird Sanctuary

Our trip to Utah ended with another simple observation.  Rebecca said, "We are really close to Idaho, why don't we go and get an Idaho sticker." So we packed up and headed to Bear Lake.

Crossing the mountains on US-89 to Bear Lake

Bear Lake

Leaving Utah