Slickrock and Shadow

Grasses are thick, making it hard to spot the water Great Salt Lake's Shoreline Preserve State Park is the perfect sunset stroll.  The distances are do-able, everything is flat and the views vary enough from place to place to keep everyone happy.  Fall and Spring are pleasant times, thought the mid-day winter might be OK too.  If you get the timing right, birds might be migrating through the area, though that was not my passion.  I enjoyed the sunset over the lowland marshes and really liked the two lookout towers.  They give new perspectives and serve as good photo subjects.  Bonus!  Make the journey.  You won't be disappointed.   Two towers at the Preserve Reflecting pond Curling Boardwalk

Rocket Tower:  ruins of some unknown structure now left standing along the train tracks on the east side of the Salton Sea. The Mojave Desert is my kind-of place:  hot, vast, unpopulated.  I explored the area around the Salton Sea for a few days.  The attractions here are the kinds of things that would be condemned in a city:  broken and rotten shacks, buildings in ruin and being overtaken by the sand. The biggest drawback is the stench of rotting fish which grows quite strong as you near the water.  I can only describe the smell this way:  imagine dumping 1,000 cans of tuna fish into 100 porta-potties and then sticking your nose into the worst-smelling part.  That's the Salton Sea smell! But if you can bear the smell, there is much to discover.  Bombay Beach community has lots of ruined buildings and some that are inhabited (by those with no sense of smell).  I found it pretty busy with people, kids, photographers and other ga...