Goal # 15. Go to the Spiral Jetty in the Great Salt Lake

Some years ago I heard about this massive (15' by 1,500') earthwork sculpture built by Robert Smithson in 1970 called Spiral Jetty. I think my humanities major friend Lisa, must have told me about it. Otherwise I could have probably lived a decade in Utah without having heard of it.

Apparently it's in all the art history books, and is considered the Mona Lisa of earth art. What's interesting is that it's the least-sighted masterpiece. A few years after it was constructed, water levels returned to normal (it was built during a drought), submerging to artwork for nearly THREE decades. I was concerned that it wouldn't be visible now, so I checked the water levels on this website to make sure it was below 4,195'. I needn't have worried. We had to walk 20 minutes beyond the jetty to get to the water!

On the drive up we read the personal essay "Looking for Spiral Jetty" by Lance Larsen, a recommendation from a different humanities friend. The essay totally colored my perception of the jetty. Despite the author's difficult diction, he created a sacred space around this artwork for me.

Spiral Jetty seemed like a moment frozen in time, yet outside of time. It felt prehistoric, with it's earthy shell-like swirl and ancient lava rocks. It felt like a moment in 1970 with Smithson (see this 2 minute excerpt from his 32-min 1970 film Spiral Jetty). And it felt like now.

I love the reflection in this spiral selfie!

In Larsen's essay, he said that the jetty "takes you where you want to go by going somewhere else." We found that to be true. Because although we came for the jetty, 2/3 of the fun was seeing the unexpectedly PINK water!!!

It felt like I was inside a fantasy novel, exploring some other planet! The sand was black (from the basaltic rocks), the water was pink, the surface underneath the water was white salt with golden flecks, and the soapy-looking foam was actually salt that melted back into crystals in your hand. I kept looking at the sky, expecting it to be green or purple, since everything else was following different rules.

It was a splendid adventure. I highly recommend it as a day trip to anyone living in Utah or Salt Lake Valleys. My ideal itinerary would be to drive up in the morning, get to the Spiral Jetty around 11am, plan to spend an hour to an hour and a half there (we spent an hour 20), then hit up Golden Spike National Monument on your way back at about 1pm for a demonstration of the joining of the Transcontinental Railroad (I didn't go this time since I went a few months ago, but it was awesome!), then go see the ATK rockets (it's 2 miles out of the way as you're driving back, and well worth the 15-20 minute diversion!).

Also as a side note, some of the sites I checked out before coming said you'd need 4-wheel drive. I had no trouble. The road is well grated, and as long as it hasn't been raining, there shouldn't be any trouble going in a commuter car.

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My dollar for completing this goal goes to my student's Donors Choose campaign. She is trying to get books for her classroom library, as she will be a first year teacher this coming school year.