Behind The Photo: Bonneville Salt Flats
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Balance Among the Salt
Violent storm clouds clash with gentle blue skies, setting up a salt flats sunset of a lifetime.
In photography, timing is everything. You can have the perfect scene set and ready to go, but if the lighting/conditions are off by just a couple of seconds, the whole picture is thrown off. While this may ruin what you envisioned to be the perfect picture, it may actually be a blessing in disguise. I went to the Bonneville Salt Flats hoping for a gorgeous sunset with no obstructions in sight. Instead, I was met with dark, heavy storm clouds slowly overtaking the sky… and covering the entire sunset. This unexpected weather destroyed my sunset shot but gifted me something far greater than I could have imagined.
Nature is unpredictable, entire environments shifting at a moment’s notice. Instead of trying to fight it, sometimes it’s best to roll with it and find a way to use the majestic beauty it provides.
Heading down the wide open I-80 freeway with nothing of notice in any direction, it was becoming harder and harder to believe anything interesting could be so far out in the middle of this flat nothingness. Having seen pictures of the otherworldly salt flats, my hopes for a perfect sunset picture were through the roof. However, the miles and miles of bleak terrain had me second guessing if this was really going to be worth the trip.
Maybe the Bonneville Salt Flats aren’t that great, I mean, how special can something be in this flat and unremarkable landscape? Maybe they’re just another overrated Instagram spot hyped up for no reason. Maybe I’m just wasting my time, and I should turn back while I still have some sunlight left. Right at the peak of my doubt, that’s when I saw the rest stop, and everything changed.
Just a few hours earlier, my outlook was drastically different. My expectations of this unique spot were so lofty they were beginning to become unreasonable. I wasn’t sure if I was going to get the reflective glass like sights of the flats, as inches of rainwater slowly soak into the salt, or if I was going to be greeted by rays of sunlight shimmering down on coarse geometric lines of a wasteland like no other. One thing I was sure of was that it was going to be a spectacular view.
As excited as I was, I had to try to focus. My eagerness to get the perfect shot I’d thought so long about was starting to distract me from the fantastic scenes I was already at. Antelope Island State Park.
Gorgeous still water perfectly reflecting the distant mountains and clouds above, as though someone placed a mile long mirror on the ground for everyone to enjoy. Then, add in all the exotic wildlife found throughout the park, and Antelope Island becomes both a landscape and wildlife photographer’s dream.
I managed to concentrate on the natural treasure at hand and was able to find some views I will remember for a lifetime. However, in the back of my mind, I couldn’t help but think that if Antelope Island is this incredible with relatively few people talking about it, then I can only imagine how stunning the salt flats will be, considering how wildly popular they are.
Having hiked to the peaks of scenic mountains and captured pictures far better than I had expected, I decided it was time to set off for the flats. Even though they were far out of the way from my ultimate destination exploring the unforgettable hikes and views of Zion National Park the allure of the flats was far too tempting to stay away. Countless one-of-a-kind pictures and a long history behind the home of the land speed record convinced me that I was going to get a photo I would never forget.
Now hours into my journey, with doubts and concerns swirling in my head, cursing myself for going on this wild goose chase instead of just heading straight to Zion, where I can guarantee striking sunset vistas at the Canyon Overlook. When I see it, the place where all of my questions would be answered… for better or worse.
The Westbound Salt Flats Rest Area.
Serving as the unofficial gateway to the Bonneville Salt Flats, this small offshoot from the main highway is one of the few places you can access the salt flats. Only big enough for 20ish parking spots, a tiny bathroom, and a few picnic tables, this spot looks as forgettable as the many others I passed on the way here. It wasn’t until I looked past the dull façade that I saw that this unassuming spot was hiding the hidden gem of Utah.
Over 46 square miles of open white landscape, a blank space on the colorful map that is Utah. Immediate relief washes over me knowing that the long drive was well worth it, that leaving Antelope Island early was the right move, that everything I had hoped about this landscape was true, and the best part… I was the only one here!
My excitement taking the best of me, I quickly throw my car in park and race out to the salt flats of Utah, scrambling to experience this scene before anyone else stumbles upon it. As I first walk past the concrete barricades and out onto the stark salt, I was surprised to find it not hard and dry but soft and tacky like a dense white mud. Thousands of people trouncing through the same area over and over again must have worn down the fine erratic lines of salt, leaving the area in this softened state until the crust can harden again during the dry summer heat.
As interesting as this sight is, it’s not what I’m after. I need the pure, untouched wonder I have seen so many times before. It’s time to take a walk, a long, long walk.
Now a few miles in, and things have drastically shifted. Soft salt and worn lines replaced with crisp and jagged terrain that crunches under every step. Occasional roars of passing trucks along the freeway now fall deaf to the surrounding still silence. Any sense of normalcy gave way to an eerie environment brought on by the total absence of diversity.
This place really is unlike anywhere else I have ever been.
The lack of sights and sounds for miles in every direction is a peculiar feeling, almost to the point of being unsettling. As though I’ve been placed inside an experiment or the beginnings of a creation yet to be formed. With no signs of life of any kind, this place gives the impression of somewhere not meant to be explored. No bugs or animals, no trees or tiny plant life, not even a rock poking through the ground, only flat salt as far as I can see.
Just me, at the center of a flat, bleached white landscape. Raised lines from repeated freezing and thawing of highly salted water create this mesmerizing natural mosaic spreading out in every direction. Crispy sodium crystals crunching as I move along, sounding like tiny, compact layers of glass. Every step sending subtle scents of salt into the air. Every sense giving off the feeling as though I left the picturesque state of Utah behind and entered the bleak beauty of a far off planet.
Lost in thought, I finally snap back to reality, remembering I needed to take sunset pictures before it was too late. I set down my bag, grab my camera, and look to see where the perfect spot to capture the sunset is, but the sun is nowhere to be found! The whole time I was walking around I was so focused on finding the perfect area of untouched terrain that it never occurred to me to look up and see what was ominously forming above.
Thick dark storm clouds followed by waves of torrential rain and flashes of lightning creep in seemingly undetected, overtaking the sunset and slowly the entire sky. That’s it, I missed my chance. The perfect sunset lost to the approaching storm. My one shot at a sight I’ve waited so long for, ruined by an unexpected set of storm clouds.
I can’t believe I missed it. All this time, all this excitement… all for nothing.
Clouds covering just enough of the sky to completely mask the sun. Small occasional rays of sunlight poking through as if the sky itself were teasing me with a taste of what I was missing. I start snapping off pictures thinking, I came all this way; I might as well see if I can come away with something from here. It wasn’t until I zoomed out that I saw it, my perfect Bonneville Salt Flats picture.
Open, unobstructed sky perfectly split in two. One half, a grim and unrelenting mass of power and chaos casting sheets of darkness as it swallows up everything in its path. While on the other side, peaceful clear blue skies exude a welcome calm, a warm reassurance that everything is going to be alright. And caught in the middle, perfectly separating the two halves, golden light of the sunset slowly retreating behind distant mountains, just hidden by the precipice of the storm, as though it’s on the cusp of breaking free.
While the sky is an astonishing view in itself, it’s the stark spiderweb of hexagonal lines in the foreground that truly transforms this setting. It’s the wide range of colors painted above the blank canvas of the salt flats. It’s the division in the sky battling with the division between the sky and ground. It’s the void of expression meeting an explosion of vibrance. It’s all of the contrast captured in the same setting that makes this sight one I’ll remember for the rest of my life.
I sat in that same spot for well over an hour, snapping off pictures and taking in the once in a lifetime view. As the sun finally dips below the far off mountains, I begin to brush the chalky residue off of my things and start my long, dark walk back to the rest stop. All the while, tip toeing over raised salt lines, I couldn’t help but think how lucky I was to be at the perfect spot at the perfect time.
I went to the Bonneville Salt Flats only for a serene sunset. One sole aspect of an otherworldly scene. When that scene wasn’t there, I was at a loss, out of options with no backup plan. I was looking too closely to see the bigger picture. Instead of a single sunset with a nice foreground, I was gifted with an expansive tapestry far better than I could have ever imagined. A sight showing me that this world is full of stunning, unimaginable environments, hidden corners, and grand vistas, but it isn’t until I open up to the full surroundings that I’m able to see the magic this planet is capable of.
Alone in this sea of contradiction, arriving in search of a picture and now walking away with an entirely new outlook, I begin to realize that I too have now become part of the contradiction.
I was the lone intruder, disrupting the natural order that has stood for nearly 5,000 years. I was the invader of these desolate, barren plains, there to document this anomaly just as many have before me. I was the sole spec of life in the midst of a wasteland of emptiness. Just like the sky above, I was the
Balance Among The Salt
Bonneville Salt Flats
Thank you for an unforgettable experience
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