Hello from Bonneville, Utah
Sunday evening– August 8, 2022 (First post of this travelogue)
Well, I am sorta cheating a bit. I am actually in Green River, UT on my way home from my frustrating trip to Speed Week at the Bonneville Salt Flats.
I would normally have been at the Salt Flats tonight, but terrible rains threatened to cancel the weeklong event.
My trip to the Salt Flats was via I80 with an overnight stop in Green River WY. I used a hotel finder application that led me to a less than stellar hotel. Very worn-out room and the furniture was stained. At least the bed gave me a decent night’s sleep.
As I approached Wendover UT (Bonneville is considered to be located in Wendover) I ran into some rain. It turned out to be a pretty heavy rain. As I approached what is called the “bend in the road” where everybody camps, I could tell that there was a major problem. The least amount of rain causes the area to become a quagmire. All the campers were trapped in the mud and some of the tents were flooded.
Rain at Bonneville is not always a problem. The moisture percolates into the salt/soil fairly quickly and, with a little breeze and sun, the remaining moisture evaporates quickly (assuming it is not a boat load of moisture).
I went down to what is called “the end of the road” where the road ends and the salt begins. There were some volunteers there and I bought my badge for the meet. They were optimistic that the weather would let the salt dry fairly quickly.
I located a good camping spot up on a slight mountain road where tons of campers were located. The surface was level and covered in very small gravel (no mud).
I went online and found that they canceled the Sunday session but were hopeful that the rest of the week would be OK
Into the early Saturday evening, the sky was clear and the temperature was conducive to evaporating the water on the salt. However about 8:30 a storm (rated severe by the weather bureau) seemed to come out of nowhere. First it was terrible winds followed by a torrential downpour. This rain was about as severe as I have encountered and it lasted for close to an hour.
The wind blew my air mattress several yards away and, in the process, punctured a hole in it. Between the weather and the deflated mattress, I was left with no choice but to sleep in the truck – not fun.
I could tell that the event would be delayed by at least another day and that would have only given me a very short time at the track since I had to leave mid-day on Tuesday. So, reluctantly, I pulled the plug and started home. That turned out to be a good decision since they cancelled the meet as of this afternoon.
What a bummer for everyone – especially the racers who had already set up in the pits. They will be facing a terrible mess to get their stuff packed up. Some have large “compounds” with all sorts of support equipment. They, like all of us, spent significant dollars to get there. The weather forecast was not all that accurate. I checked it before I left and it looks like very minor rains on Friday and not all that bad the rest of the week.
It is especially frustrating, as the salt condition (prior to the rain) we rated as good. Over the years a local mining company has really damaged the salt and in recent years the salt condition has been anywhere from marginal to terrible. So, when you get decent salt, everyone is overjoyed to say the least.
For the past two trips to Bonneville, I have avoided I70 since they often close Glenwood Canyon. However, I really get bored with the Wyoming route. I checked and they say there are no road closures in Colorado. So, I came what used to be our normal route and stopped here in Green River UT. How about that, two Green River stops in two different states {grin}.
That is all for this travelogue