#5: [30-Jun-06]

#4: [22-Aug-05]

#3: [07-Nov-01]

#2: [18-Mar-01]

03-Mar-2001 -- We now understand why this confluence had not been recorded.

After getting off of I-80 west, we head north on the road for Bonneville Saltflats Race track. It was small, but smooth paved road. After a couple of miles, we turned left onto a not-so-smooth road. What the map called an "improved" road was severely washboarded. The speed was reduced that of sheep pace. In fact, we pass through a flock of sheep early on. They caught us by surprise because we first thought they were just a bunch of boulders. They even had sheep dogs guarding them, but they were kind of loafing off.

There are no road signs, but the main road is not hard to follow, as all side roads are merely tracks. We reached the intersection with the first road on the flats at 1:23 pm, and the second road on the flats at 1:27. Soon after, we came to a solitary information sign that explained how early emigrants traveled to the west along the flats through Bidwell pass (See photo).

We continued north along the west side of the Pilot range past a herd of cattle grazing on BLM land. BLM stands for Bureau of Land Management, a federal organization task to manage the open lands of the west. We couldn’t help but be reminded of how troublesome the cattle have been to the BLM lands to the south where a drought has pitted the local ranchers against the federal government in the Escalante National Monument.

At 2:04, we reached the intersection with another trail/road, which I call the third road on the flats. We have traveled 21 miles from the Bonneville Road intersection to the confluence in an hour and a half. On this clear day, to the east, across the evaporation basin are some mountains called the Silver Lake Mountains. These mountains sit on the western edge of the Great Salt Lake.

We arrive at the intersection outside of the TL Bar Beefmasters Ranch at 2:20 PM. The road to the west leads up toward Pilot Peak and is the closest approach to our confluence. This is a very rocky road and slow going. The road intersects with the 41° latitude at 113° 59.3’ west longitude. We stop and decide to walk the rest of the way.

After a hike of 0.6 of a mile, we arrive at the confluence at 2:45. Pilot Peak is to our west and Newfoundland Evaporation basin is to our east. All that remains is to return to Wendover for some gambling and to win our gas money. We finally arrival in Wendover at 4:30 where we find gambling but alas, no gas money winnings.