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Show The Great Salt Lalie feVrV,"sVV;., v-'"; . "'-.ft a,';'. .;V': :?' 'A'ji&?--:'?M Great Salt Lake Yatch Club on annual cruize and anchored off Elephant Head on west side of Antelope Island, Great Salt Lake. This is one of a series of articles to appear in 'is newspaper aponsored by the Salt Lake Advertising. Club, associated c v.c c ubs ot southern and central Utah, and chambers of commerce; part of a program to point out Utah's resources so that locai people will "Know Utah Better". By THOMAS C. ADAMS - (Member ot Great Salt Lake Basin Authority) In trapper days Great Salt Lake was thought to harbor on its islan .ds a race of giants and to have a subterranean outlet at whose entrance an immense whirlpool existed which would draw to destruction the canoes and rafts of any rash explorer. The explorations of Fremont and more particularly those of Stansbury in 1850 (and later others gave us more accurate information about the lake, but the interest the lake has tor all, and even glamour for some, has not been in any way dispelled. Great Salt Lake, because of its saltyness, its elevation and Us desert situation is the object which causes great numbers of people to select a route of travel along its shore or over it. The two principal prin-cipal attractions enjoyed by the casual visitor are the rare views, especially es-pecially the sunsets, and bathing in the lake. A combination of atmospheric conditions existing over Great Salt Lake produces exquisite sunsets rarely occurring elsewhere. Sometimes Some-times the whole western sky will assume a bright, firey aspect whicn will, as the sun sinks, change to a deep crimson-tinged, golden glow and then continue through colors of dying sea embers, to a deep purple as night sets in. At other times, while the sun is sinking, a bnlI'aI' blast of yellow resembling the glow from a furnace is shot nearly half way to the zenith and as it gradually fades the sky around changes through delicate greenish blue to turquoise with wraiths of pink which become deeper and give way to purple-black as the last of the day disappears. dis-appears. Many persons go to the lake shore to sit in admiration while the day fades. Bathing in Great Salt Lake is of particular interest because one can honestly float. In fact one can float with his head entirely out of the water and carry, if he choose, a considerable weight. The ability to float is, however, not the only attraction to bathing in the lake. The waters in the bathing seasons are pleasantly warm, more so than though they were fresh, and the salt furnishes an exhilaration greatly enjoyed by many. One who is bathing for the first, time in the lake may have the membranes of his throat, nose and eyes disagreeably irritated by the salt water if he is not careful to keep these portions of his head free from spray, but after a few times in the lake one acquires an immunity im-munity to this irritation and after some experience and knowledge of how to do it may even dive in the waters without harm. Great Salt Lake has been the scene of several tussles of man with nature. One in which man triumphed and which is a notable undertaking under-taking is the Lucin Cutoff, a railroad line of the Southern Pacific System Sys-tem carried over the middle of the lake on trestle and rock embankment embank-ment for 35 miles. Its construction involved the driving of great numbers num-bers of piles; sometimes one on top of another so soft and unstable was the bottom of the lake. Also, many trainloads of earth and rock had to be dumped into embankments before these were raised high enough to furnish a safe height for the track. The difficulties of this construction are well illustrated by experience in one part of the embankment em-bankment where rock sufficient to build an embankment over seven hundred feet high has been deposited to raise the track only fifteen feet above the bottom of the lake. The bird life of Great Salt Lake is very interesting and of great national importance. Many thousands of gulls nest on its islands and are a conspicuous feature anywhere food is to be found. Twenty-five thousand pelicans raise their young on its islands, making these rookeries of first importance in the west. Small colonies of cormorants and herron also nest on the islands. The bird life of the shoreline marshes is very extensive. In the Bear River Marshes, the federal government maintains a large bird sanctuary upon which many thousands of ducks, geese, swan and other migatory birds nest. Nearby there is a state reservation and a second state reservation has been constructed recently at Locomotive Springs at the north end of the lake. Further bird nesting grounds are being built on the southeast shores of the lake. mmmmmmmimsmi isiiiiif i Sail boats maneuvering oft Black Hock Beach, Great Salt La'ke. Only the most persistent individuals now enjoy one of the fines; features of Great Salt Lake, its boating opportunities. Early explorers made short trips on the lake. Fremont, in 1843, rowed in a rubber canoe to the later island named for him. Stansbury built a sizable sailing craft and used it to carry his supplies and men. Bricham Younn had a boat on the lake which was ingeniously propelled' by a horse operated treadmill. Several large steam boats were later built The "City of Corinne", a 170-foot sternwheelcr, made trips earlv in the seventies from Corinne (20 miles up the Bear River) to Garfield uiui returned with ore to the railroad. The "Promontory", almost as tree was built and used by the Southern Pacific Railroad during he construction con-struction of the Lucin Cutoff in 1902-1003. Since that time iT, dred boats of substantial size have been built and opcr 0 , U,e 1 " but at a penalty of considerable effort and at a risk incurred in nn hor ing a boat in the open without the protection of a harbor 12 water, and unattended. At times when evaporation and do i-i , fall drive the lake to low level it recedes alo e ?u ?n. d.uliclcnt ,Illln" and remains virtually inacccssib e to thS se w T0 ll tT T water. It is expected, however, that this condition nn?i T" 1,8 for recreational boating eventual wm bo f!,llv realized and' ule' n! essary facilities where boats will bo accessible 1 ' A mc" Lake has a 1000 square milis of navi "b 0 ! nto n ' ,Groat Si,lt wood, seaweed, or barnacles. Boats lo ft a sue' r m' " " dIft-than dIft-than on fresh water and fine brcUU Ma. Reader : Do jur parl to aJVcrlU, UlaK pUasa f TCalVe r b"""" ei0te of of Stale. |