Western Byways

On the way home from Mike's graduation, KR and I took a little side trip (shock). From near Brigham City, we headed west around the north end of the Great Salt Lake on some mighty lonely gravel roads. First, we stopped at the Golden Spike NHS and, to our surprise, we hit the 140th anniversary re-enactment right on the day and the hour. They had replicas of the two engines, gave the same speeches that were given so many years ago, and otherwise copied the event as closely as records exist as to what happened. It was actually very well done. We headed north and entered Idaho, passing through the City of Rocks, a famous stop on the Old California Trail, whose interesting rock formations routinely were mentioned in pioneer journals. The dirt road eventually ends up changing to asphalt as you enter the Burley Valley, where you can catch the freeway west once again. Nice short detour for those that regularly drive the Washington-Utah corridor and are getting a little tired of the scenery.


Pictured are the Golden Spike NHS and the replicas of the two trains that met for the driving of the last spike. We happened to pass by on the anniversary of the event and enjoyed a reenactment! Rather than return to the freeway near Snowville, we headed west around the unspoiled north end of the Great Salt Lake through the City of Rocks and crossed the California Trail. Interesting country!