We drove to the Bonneville Salt Flats in Westover, Utah for Speed Week 2011. The Salt Flats are amazing - blinding white for as far as the eye can see. We were there to watch cars, motorcycles, and other interestingly designed/shaped vehicles compete for the fastest land driving speed in their class.
As visitors, we were allowed to drive on the salt flats along one side of the raceway, but at a safe quarter of a mile away from the action. Temperatures ranged from 90 to 115 degrees depending on the time of day. Tents, canopies, campers and motor homes dotted the track to watch the competition. We were low tech, but colorful and more mobile, with our beach chairs and umbrellas.
We admired the ingenuity of some.
As a writer of things, I couldn't help but record some of the amazing history and geology of the Salt Flats.
- They are five miles long and twelve miles wide, covering over 46 square miles or 30,000 acres
- They are remnants of ancient Ice Age Lake Bonneville
- Over 17,000 years ago, Lake Bonneville was 1,000 feet deep
- As it receded, evaporation left large concentrations of potash (used now for fertilizer) and halite (table salt)
- The stratified layers that form the flats are five feet deep in the center and only an inch or two at the outer edges
- The amount of salt equates to 147 million tons or 99 million cubic yards of salt
- The Salt Flats are managed by the Bureau of Land Management, on the National Register of Historic Places and designated as an "area of critical environmental concern"
- The fastest recorded speed on the Salt Flats is 622.407 mph set by Gary Gabolitch in 1970
And we'll probably be back. I've heard that if you go once, you will surely return.
Very cool! My customers are jealous, I'm sure. lol
ReplyDeleteAwesome. The movie "The Last Indian" was about a man's dream of speed, good movie. I would love all the different car/trucks/misc vehicles that show up there.
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ReplyDeleteWalk - that is one of Cris' favorite movies. You'll have to make it a goal for one of the years coming up to visit during Speed Week. It is hard to describe the setting. The cars are "cool" if they are covered with salt, and most of them are. We watched in the pits while they cleaned out the engine compartment of one of the streamliners between runs. What a job!
ReplyDeleteIt's fun to hear about the salt flats from another visitor. I've seen similar photos my brother has taken over the years.
ReplyDeleteMay I brag? My brother, Tom, holds the record at Bonneville for the world's fastest small block Camaro.
Love,
Shaddy
WOW -that's awesome! What's last name?
ReplyDeleteIt's Tom Doll. If you're interested in reading more about Tom, his success at Bonneville, etc., go to my blog archives (listed on the left side of my blog page. In October of 2009, I posted the info under the blog title "Racing at 220 MPH..."
ReplyDeleteShaddy
You'll have to click on "show older posts" once you get to the October 2009 blog list. I hope you can find the post.
ReplyDeleteShaddy
Found it and sent it on to Cris - great write up. Was fun to read articles, especially after being there.
ReplyDeleteHow sweet of you to take the time! I'm glad you enjoyed it.
ReplyDeleteShaddy
Pretty amazing. Pictures, commentary, factual nuggets, Shaddy connection - all of it!
ReplyDeleteIsn't salt corrosive and hard on the engines? Or is it so dry that that doesn't happen?
The vast array of different geology/geographical features on the planet just blows my mind...
Oh Yeah! Very corrosive. We took advantage of the "Save the Flats" group that was pressure washing the salt off your car for $5, then went to a car wash after our final day. When we got home, Cris put the car on the car rack and pressure washed the bottom again - there was still salt there. While there, we watched the cars that were competing getting cleaned after each run - a big job.
ReplyDeleteWow - what a neat experience - visiting the salt flats would be interesting enough, but then you get to add all those cool cars and the racing.. how fun.
ReplyDeleteThanks Jana - it was a blast. A lot to take in!
ReplyDeleteOh that's just way neat! I'm so glad you guys 'HAD' to go! =) It made for a good time and good memories and good STORIES huh. Lol
ReplyDeleteI admit I was fascinated with the salt flats and more so with the line up of amazing cars. It must be worthwhile to take the time to see it one day! Nice pics.
ReplyDeleteSandy A.
This is a very nice post. I came across it when I searched for pictures of the Low Boy style of hot rod. I had remembered that as a young consumer of hot rod magazines I'd seen picture essays of Low Boys being driven at the salt flats. Maybe it was during speed week.
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