Great Salt Lake

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En route to Utah, well… not fast ;-)

1. In the previous update, I left you with this image of Black Rock that I leave it here again, you’re gonna understand why… 😉
 
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2. The Wake up was quite unexpected with a rainbow in the mist that lasted only a moment.
 
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3. Here is Black Rock again, all crowned with a hairs of rising sun. So you have it in the evening and in the morning! 😀
 
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After a walk the day before to see the state of the trail, I decided to cross the high desert of Black Rock which seemed to have dried well four days after rain and snow. At first all went well, about ten miles without a hitch. Then suddenly, without I could notice any change on the track, VivaLaVida lost all grip, as if he was driving on ice! Even at leass than 5 mph, difficult to maintain it on the fine line of the track. Too late to stop, I drove about 3 miles till a simple tilt of 1 ° or so “draged” VLV on the left without the steering wheel reacts. Obviously, out of the trace, the two left wheels were driven into the mud and despite the four-wheel drive and differential locks, VLV has stopped, stucked right..!
 
Well, I am alone more than 35 miles away from the first living soul, he’ll have to take out the nearly 5 tons of VLV by myself. So I pulled out the shovel and made a small fitness session to arrange “ramps” to all four wheels, not only to allow VLV out of its gangue but also to guide him back on the track, only trace capable of supporting its weight. I didn’t succeded at the first attempt,you can imagine. But after a few hours of fitness, “muddy” from head to foot, VivaLaVida had regained a semblance of presence with the wheels out of the ruts. 😀
 
All for nothing as two miles away, a river still flooded prohibited any crossing. So we turned backd and return to the Black Rock Hot Spring with the same trail – to wash Pschitt, shoes and shovel at almost nightfall… 😀
 
 
4. Here are the tracks that VLV was doing just before to get stucked, despite largely deflated tires.
 
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5. Gloups, it’s called bogged!
 
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6. Mud is good for the skin, isn’t it? 😀
 
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7. We’re out!
 
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8. No, these are not new wide tires mounted for a better look of VLV… 😉
 
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9. After all that, I had to make a detour of more than 150 miles to find the road that would lead me in Utah. However, with stunning scenery.
 
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10. In the high Black Rock Desert, mineral colors are impressive…
 
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11. … sometimes incredibly saturated.
 
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12. It almost sounds like some molten lava, isn’t it?
 
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13. Sometimes softer and pastel…
 
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14. Last sunrays over Pahute Peak.
 
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15. The sunset gratified me with very soft pink colors.
 
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16. The next day, when I joined Utah, it was full moon on the plain…
 
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17. The shadows lengthen over the southern Great Salt Lake.
 
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Upcoming episode in a few days…
 
 

Grand Lac Salé encore & Sud de l’Idaho

Après plus d’une semaine à Salt Lake City sans parvenir à vraiment résoudre les soucis de chauffe de VivaLaVida, j’ai repris la route en commençant par contourner le Grand Lac Salé par l’ouest…
 
 
1. Derniers rayons sur le Temple Mormond de Salt Lake City.
 
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2. Les feuilles fraichement sorties des trembles sont d’un vert tendre magnifique…
 
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3. Cerfs attentifs à ma présence.
 
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4. Petit matin.
 
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5. J’ai dormi à même la piste.
 
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6. J’arrive à Bonneville Flat dont certaines parties sont encore sous l’eau.
 
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7. Concrétions de sel…
 
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8. VivaLaVida sur la célèbre piste de vitesse où bon nombre de records de vitesse ont été établis ou battus.
 
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9. Estampe monochrome ou presque…
 
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10. Minimalisme ultime…
 
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11. VivaLaVida emprunte une voie de chemin de fer du 19ème siècle…
 
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12. Une petite arche naturelle dite “des Chinois”.
 
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Je suis ensuite passé en Idaho en allant visiter la City of Rocks, un lieu surprenant.
 
 
13. Première piste en Idaho.
 
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14. Lumière rasante sur des collines érodées.
 
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15. Campement à même le granite de City of Rocks.
 
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16. Petite arche sans nom au levant.
 
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17. Après deux bonnes heures sur la selle, la vue est immense…
 
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18. … mais je suis arrêté par la neige !
 
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19. Le granite de City of Rocks est superbe ! C’est un haut lieu de grimpe, avec plus de 140 voies répertoriées.
 
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20. Ferme traditionnelle.
 
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Suite de mon périple en Idaho à venir bientôt… 😀
 
 

Great Salt Lake

Before Jean_Luc left to fly back to San Fransico, I suggested to bring him see the Great Salt Lake, a place where I saw a lot of birds during my last trip there.
 
 
1. Arrival to that so large and quite lake.
 
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2. In the morning on Antelope Island, an inhabitant. Bisons were reintroduced at the end of 19th century and are several hundreds on the island now.
 
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3. The weather is going bad…
 
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4. It’s his cry which betrayed him!
 
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5. A big thunderstorm passed not far away…
 
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6. … then the sky clears.
 
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7. American Avocettes.
 
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8. Strange llight…
 
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9. Watercolor on clouds…
 
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10. Stop on the jetty which leads to Antelope Island.
 
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11. (Very) long-beaked curlew.
 
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12. Absolut quietness…
 
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13. Pronghorn antelope.
 
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14. This is the second time during our journey we saw burrowing owls.
 
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15. This yellow throat meadowlark had a powerful song.
 
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16. Euhhh… we’re only passing, ok?! 😉
 
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17. The lighting effects are quite unlikely, it looks like the picture of a painter…
 
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18. … Under the showers.
 
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19. Grandiose sky!
 
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20. Burning sunset…
 
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21. Lastcamp for Jean-Luc in a dreamfull decor…
 
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That’s the end of the period Jean-Luc travelled with me. I’m now continuing my journey alone, first trying to solve some heat issue of VivaLaVida… :-/
 
To be continued soon…