For those who’ve never had the privilege of attending a speed meet on Utah’s famed Bonneville Salt Flats, they’ve missed absorbing the aura of one of nature’s greatest wonders—a national treasure every bit as important to America and the world as Yellowstone or Yosemite.
Its brilliant, hard, white, billiard-table-smooth surface has been a magnet for those who seek record speeds …
I was visiting Freinds in Salt lake and this Firefighter I knew Had a plane. I was delivering a MG TD to a freind in Napa, Ca. He suggested we fly out to Bonneville. I assumed we would fly over then head back. Well as we approached the area we were parallel to the race track on the north side. The pilot then suggested we just land. I instantly freaked out I knew the salt had soft spots that you could not see. The plane was lively with conversation about what the crash would look like. Well we landed and crashed , in my mind. Just kidding. The pilot made a perfect landing while I was sweating. As we got off the plane everyone was looking to see who these big shots were. Nothing and No one to see here just some crazy cowboy pilot and his sweating freinds. If you have not been at Bonnivllle for speed week it is other worldly. But please drive. You could be racing on Pluto with better lighting ( I know it's no longer a planet, also being so far away from the star we call the Sun I guess it is rather dark ) I didn't know but should have guessed that the money the BLM had to restore was diverted to a seemingly more important project. Bummer! Great to here the race community has worked with the BLM to get things back on the good foot.
What do the extractors do with the left-over salt after they remove the potash, which is a low percent of the load? Why not truck the de-potashed salt back with the same haulers they use for the raw material, and spead it around a little with the same scrapers? The winter rains will even out the surface. Oh, silly me- that costs money and eats into the profit. Sorry....
Peter, Thank you for this article.. Even though the Salts are a bucket list item for me, I had no idea what condition it's in.. Where do I contribute?
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