Spiral Jetty, Robert Smithson

We checked off a bucket list item in visiting Spiral Jetty, a site-specific earthwork by Robert Smithson, completed in 1970 on the northeastern shore of the Great Salt Lake. This location was chosen in part because of the red color of the water—a result of a certain type of bacteria and algae that live there—no doubt a testament to Smithson’s interest in science and geology. Due to drought, much of the lake bed was exposed far beyond the tip of the jetty, allowing us to walk freely through the boulders, crunching on sheets of salt crystals.


Cowboy Bar and Café

Fellow Land Art artist (and wife of Robert Smithson) Nancy Holt constructed her “Sun Tunnels” a few hours west by the Nevada border where we fortuitously came across the Cowboy Bar and Café. Holt would spend her free time here chatting with locals and the proprietor, Barbara, who insisted we come back during the summer and winter solstices to see the tunnels in full spectacle.