Adventures with Luna: Day 65 -Springville - Bonneville Salt Flats, Utah

After another restless night in the brightness of the Walmart parking lot listening to vehicles zoom by on the freeway, I did not wake up for good until almost 10:30! That’s by far a record for this trip. Once ready for the day, we headed to Diamond Fork Hot Springs aka Fifth Water Hot Springs.

Arriving at the trailhead, I was disappointed to find a sign stating not to come in contact with the water due to them finding human and animal waste in the pools as well as a toxic algae. Nevertheless, I continued on with the hike, enjoying how similar the area is to Alberta. Luna was absolutely delighted to be reunited with her beloved snow when we happened across large areas with it on the trail. I had Luna off-leash almost the entire hike and she did so many zoomies all along it, having been so fit to burst with zoomies that she tried to do some as I held her leash when I took her out to pee this morning. Along the trail I saw a lot of algae blooms in the springs, so was sure to keep Luna out of them. Arriving at the hot springs, I was surprised to see a lot of people in the water despite the sign. The pools did look quite clear, with only a little algae visible in some of them. I admired the view of the waterfalls for a few minutes, then continued up the path, eventually reaching a really muddy hill, for some reason or another I continued on it, fighting to stay upright; when the steep muddy hill just continued, I admitted defeat and turned back, still scrabbling to keep my balance. A few steps from safety, my footing gave way and I went sliding down the hill to the spring, just managing to stay on my feet. The worst part about this ordeal was that a rather attractive young man was bathing in the hot springs right by me watching my whole ordeal. When I had gotten my balance back, I muttered to him “I knew that would happen.”, then, trying to regain my composure, asked if the water was okay to be in. He thought it was fine, he and his dog had been in it for a good long while and he thought it was likely just to make the national forest not liable if anything happened. As I walked back, I considered going in, jumping back and forth for awhile before deciding not to risk it; if I had a shower to go to right after it might’ve been another story, with no friends with me to enjoy the springs with and the good pools being pretty taken up, it did not seem worth the risk. I did end up talking to a nice couple for a little while before heading back. Not long after I had started back, I ran in to a group of people my age, a guy, perhaps slightly younger than me approached me “Excuse me ma’am, have you passed the hot springs”, I have become somewhat accustomed here to cashiers calling me ‘ma’am’, but it was odd to hear from someone my age on the trail! Farther along I passed another huge group of people my age and was slightly traumatized when they came upon me as I tried to film Luna doing zoomies, for some reason or another I hate it when other people catch me taking photos or videos, but they were all very friendly and when Luna came trotting down the hill they were all so happy to see her, one girl gasped loudly, as if Luna was the most adorable creature she had ever seen (and let’s be realistic, of course she is ;)). As I arrived back at the trailhead, a group of four young guys approached me to ask about the hot springs, I was able to give them directions and advise them on my take of the safety of the springs and one, who had bent down to stroke Luna as soon as we began talking started asking questions about her, they also appeared to be on the road for awhile with camping gear galore in the back of their truck, it was a busy place!

I just brought my little digital camera on this hike.

Luna hates waterfalls.

This bridge proved a terrifying obstacle due to the sound of the waterfall underneath, she has crossed all sorts of scary bridges without batting an eye.

Alberta? Is that you?

No good pictures in the snow, but Luna was ecstatic!

We next headed 3 hours North West to Bonneville Salt Flats, stopping only to admire the view of Salt Lake on our way. Seeing what I knew must be part of the flats on the side of the highway for awhile (the 80 mile/hour highway might I add!), I stopped at a rest stop to check it out. Sure enough, it was part of the famous Bonneville Salt Flats and I took a little time to walk out and admire the views. The Bonneville Salt Flats is partly or entirely BLM land, so I just had to find a side road or something with a good area to park. I first stopped to get fuel and was touched when two young boys ran ahead of me to open the doors for me, the littlest, perhaps 7 years old leading, the elder, around 9 year old, going to get the second door in to the gas station, it was very sweet, I felt like royalty in my dirty clothes and greasy hair. I saw that the gas station had showers and inquired to their price, I was far from desperate, but thought it might be worth it to perhaps extend my time camping in free areas. The cashier informed me that a shower cost $9, I couldn’t believe it!

Following directions to “The Bend in the Road” a mile off of the main highway, I easily found what I think they meant and parked for the night. I got out to walk out on the flats again and watch the sunset. A guy a little older than I was also there with his beautiful blue merle dog, some sort of Catahoula/Whippet mix and had taken her out on to the salt to take photos, exactly like me with Luna. When I glanced at his license plate, it revealed that he was from Pennsylvania, another person travelling alone with their dog! Wanting to meet him, but not wanting to march right up as he took photo after photo of his dog, I wandered around and photographed Luna. I kind of wanted to take his spot for photos, so started wandering closer, not wanting to get in the way of his shots, as he finished up he came over, “Can they say hi?” he said about the dogs, of course I agreed and we walked over to meet them. Soon Luna and Kahlua were playing and Trevor and I talked for a good long while. He has been on the road for a month and is travelling across the US and Canada “until the money runs out”. When I told him I was from Alberta, his eyes lit up and he told me how excited he is to visit there and see places such as Moraine Lake. He had a quiet enthusiasm about him that made it easy to talk, that and the fact that we are both travelling solo with our dogs. We walked back to his car and off he went, headed to a hotel he had booked in Salt Lake City as I headed back to my car for the night. Some time later, just after 9:00 pm, I vehicle drove in and parked right behind me, looking out my window I could see it appeared to be a police vehicle, but it was difficult to see with the bright headlights. I ran through whether I truly thought I was allowed to be parked here and if it turned out I wasn’t, where I should head. After a couple minutes, I heard a door open and the beam of a bright flashlight moved in the darkness, there was a knock on my window. I removed the curtain from the side of the car he was on and unlocked my doors, opening it to the police officer. He asked if I was just camping there, then took my ID back to his car. Once he returned I asked him curiously why he needed my ID, knowing the answer as soon as the question was out of my mouth. With a slight frown he explained that anytime there was a suspicious vehicle it was standard to check records, plus they checked the cars in the first place in case someone was stranded or they didn’t have needed provisions. I thanked him for checking on me and off he went, I was surprised at how calm I was with the whole ordeal.