under the Utah sun (is hot!)

While still in the hot strange state of Utah John and I decided we had to swim in the Great Salt Lake. Before I get into the story let me explain my use of the word 'strange' when describing this state. First of all there are more Mormon churches than there are anything else, we saw a bumper sticker for the website petweds.com (of course we checked it out- basically a web service dedicated to your dogs or animals so they don't live in sin by wedding them!), fast food places are closed on Sundays! (it's a ghost town on Sundays in Utah) and the strangest of all- The Great Salt Lake.
Knowing the lake had a higher salinity than the ocean John and I had to just get in and see how well we floated. We found a beach off the highway and the fact that it was nearly empty in 105 degree weather should have been our first clue. We climbed into our swim suits and walked toward the water. The beach was about a half mile until we hit the water because of summer evaporation. On the edge of the lake were what looked like washed up plants or black debris from the lake. Once close enough to touch, the entire pile moved, in a swarm covering anything in sight. These tiny little gnat bugs covered your feet clothes and anything else..they were a barrier to get into the lake that I should have yielded to.
Eager to get to the lake we ran through the bugs and into the warm water. After walking about a mile into the lake the water was only up to my calves. The lake doesn't get deep at all and is actually referred to the great puddle! There is absolutely nothing on the lake bed except sand and on top of the water was small floating debris; looking almost like kelp or small parts of a flowering plant. John coaxed me down into the water and we started floating- you really do float easily!! The whole time I felt very uneasy though- a sort of creepy uneasy feeling being in the lake. I began my mile trek out of the water and as I examined the floating debris closer I found out it was tiny larvae!! Millions and millions of tiny little worms just wriggling and floating around me and on me and in my hair after floating on my back!! I'm sure all who know me, my sisters, or mother know exactly what happened next. I ran as fast as I could yelling out of that lake!! John knew they were little bugs but didn't bother telling me because he figured I would never get in-true statement but none the less it would have been nice to know.
Finally moving on from the Salt Lake City area, with air conditioning!, we moved south to Arches National Park. This park was the hottest we visited. We did a few short hikes like this one to the double arch. To give you an idea of how large this natural structure is this a second photo of John after climbing high into the rocks. I climbed up a bit but the height was a little to much for me.
After Arches National Park we headed towards Capitol Reef, Bryce, Escalante Staircase, and Zion. to be continued...