The Great Salt Lake

The first non-native to view the Great Salt Lake was most likely Jim Bridger in 1824. The Spanish missionary explorers Dominguez and Escalante learned of the Great Salt Lake from the Native Americans in 1776, but they never actually saw it, getting no closer than Utah Lake forty miles to the south. There was some thought that the lake might be an arm of the Pacific Ocean until James Clyman and three others circumnavigated the lake in 1826 using a "bull boat" which was most likely a type of skin canoe. Interestingly enough, map makers persisted in drawing imaginary rivers draining to the Pacific Ocean for years to come.

John C. Freemont, Kit Carson and three others explored the lake using an eighteen foot India rubber and canvas boat in 1843. Their explorations included Freemont Island where Carson carved a cross on a rock outcropping which is still visible.

Kit Carson's cross carved in the rocks of Freemont Island.

The level of the lake fluctuates, but at normal levels (4200 ft MSL) the average depth is 15 feet. The maximum depth is about 31 feet. In recent history the lake level has varied from 4191 to 4212 feet MSL. The current lake level is shown on the following link.

The lake is about 75 miles long and about 45 miles wide. However, the lake is divided into halves by a railroad causeway. The south arm on the right side (Gilbert Bay) is the most used portion of the lake because the north arm (Gunnison Bay) on the left side is quite desolate.	The lake's surface area varies quite drastically as its elevation changes. In1986, the lake reached a historical high of 4,212 feet. At that time, the lake expanded to cover about 3,300 square miles. Lake levels hit their historic low in 1963, when the surface stood at 4,191 feet in elevation and covered 950 square miles. Today, the lake is at about 4,202 feet and covers about 1,700 square miles.

Salinity varies inversely as the lake level. As the lake rises (more fresh water) the salinity drops. Because the south arm receives all of the fresh water, and since the causeway prevents adequate circulation, the south arm is less saline (currently about 9%) than the north arm (currently about 25%).

The saturation point of salinity is around 25%, so the north arm is now saturated, and the south arm is getting fresher. This is not good because it will eventually change the entire GSL ecosystem. This imbalance is visible in the causeway photograph where the water north of the causeway is noticeably red due to the bacteria concentration in the super saturated water.

Actually the lake doesn't smell at all. However, the shoreline does. This is because there is a lot of decaying brine shrimp and brine flies that wash up on the shore.

Windrows of dead brineflies, brineshrimp and algae line the shore of the Great Salt Lake.

Brine flies are small flies that usually hatch in late June, and live until the first frost. They do not bite.
They are not really as annoying as most people believe. After you have sailed the lake for a while, you learn to ignore them.

Brine flies and the brine shrimp provide food for the myriad of shore birds that live by or visit the lake each year.

Normally all that is required is a thorough washing of the boat and oars with fresh water that is available at the GSLR dock from April-November. The water is cut off at the marina during the winter months. Many members bring a few gallons of water with them during these months to wash the boats and the oars.