#6: [10-Nov-06]

#5: [30-Jun-06]

#4: [22-Aug-05]

#3: [27-Apr-03]

#2: [06-Oct-01]

04-Jul-2000 -- When I first asked the family if they wanted to take a drive into the middle of the West Desert near the western shore of the Great Salt Lake you would have thought I had just asked if they wanted to go to the Dentist! This region of Utah is one of the most desolate places you can imagine. Nearby, to the west, is the dry lakebed of Lake Bonneville, home of the Bonneville speedway where many land speed records have been set. Also to the west is the remnants of the Wendover Airbase, and the hanger that housed the Enola Gay. To the north is the western end of the Lucin Cut-Off where the S.P. Railroad built a trestle across the lake, bypassing the famous Golden Spike site on Promontory.

After finally gathering a small group together--My father-in-law (and fellow propeller-head), and two of my children--we set out on the morning of the 4th of July to find our first Confluence. We left early (6:30am) to avoid the hottest part of the day, but luckily we were favored to have a cool northerly breeze. There was some concern that the confluence may be located on the West Desert Testing Range of the Air Force, as we could not find the exact boundaries on a map. As it turned out, the confluence was situated about 5 miles south of the fence. This Military Operations Area, with its very large Restricted area, is (if I remember correctly) the largest of its type in the U.S. On any given day, there are usually F-16's occupying its airspace, operating out of Hill Air Force Base on the other side of the lake. Today (due to the holiday) it was totally quiet, and any fears of being mistaken for targets vanished.

We were able to drive to within about six tenths of a mile to the confluence, so a short hike was in order. We were able (with the help of 3 GPS's) to pinpoint it rather quickly. We were astounded to find that the confluence would turn out to be in the middle of a small valley on level ground! There are no signs of civilization visible from this location. These pictures did not turn out very well, I'll be sure to have a better camera for the next one!