Great Salt Lake Adventure Trip Memoir (in relation to my painting)

Michael Rawlings

Great Salt Lake is nasty.

Great Salt Lake is full of shrimp and flies.
Great Salt Lake would be so much better if it didn’t smell so bad.

Why should I care about what happens to that lake? Ugh.

These were all thoughts I’d probably had at some point in my life before I learned the first thing
about the giant mass of salt water that sits at the heart of the American Northwest.

The first time I ever visited Great Salt Lake, I had not been having a good day. Genuinely, would
have rather done anything else except take the trip over to Antelope Island to look at some
smelly lake. However, I had work to do.

I had decided a few weeks prior that I was going to paint a painting of the lake… using the water
from the lake to do it. Pretty slick stuff right? Unfortunately, I had gotten sick the previous week
when I initially had planned on going and I was still feeling pretty terrible. But, as the actors
would say, “the show must go on!” so I packed up my things and drove to the lake with my
friend Kaleigh. Well, she drove me. I do not own a vehicle. This is important to note, I promise.

The weather was pretty trash. It had been raining a lot and super cloudy all day. As we ventured
toward the lake, the sun began to set. So, now it was rainy, cloudy, and starting to get dark. We
neared the thin strip of land that connects Antelope Island to the rest of Davis County, Utah and
looked ahead in awe as the golden sky spread out across the landscape right in front of us. I
saw some birds and almost flung myself out of the window trying to get a closer look. This is
why it was important to note that I was not the one behind the wheel. We made a stop by the
stone sign welcoming us to the State Park and it began to rain. No, it began to pour. Half of me
wanted to run back to the car and hide from the cascading onslaught of rain, the other half of
me wanted to dance. I decided to dance.

Kaleigh and I danced and splashed in the rain as it continued to fall down harder and harder.
Eventually we got so wet and tired that we retreated to her car and decided to travel down one
of the few roads that sprawled out before us. I still needed to get some water for my painting
and we had to find somewhere that wasn’t being rained on.

Is it illegal to steal water from a State Park? I have no idea. I didn’t exactly consider it until I was
scooping some of it into a cup. We found the perfect scenic location. A trail by the northwestern
point of the island. I pulled out my watercolor set and started to get to work, beginning with a
golden-pink backdrop and some blue for the lake’s surface. As I began to paint, I realized that I
was happy, genuinely happy. I had been having a rough few weeks and I figured that this trek
would only make things worse. I was so wrong. Full transparency, my eyes were watering as I
worked on my watercolor masterpiece.

The rain eventually caught up to us as we sat and stared into the beautiful sunset; golden
streaks of light illuminated a calm, pristine shore. I took a picture with my phone to capture the
moment so I could finish the piece later and quickly stuffed my unfinished art into my duffel bag.
The night began to fall as we walked back to the car in the cold rain. We drove away from the
sunset, away from the smelly lake that had lifted my spirits and helped me find peace, away
from the birds and the flies and the shrimp. Away from the water, so precious and rare.

Great Salt Lake is magical.

Great Salt Lake is alive and changing.
Great Salt Lake is vital to Utah and everyone who lives here.

So why should I care about what happens to that lake?

Because if I can learn to care about something and find a real connection to it, it becomes more
than just a lake. It’s a living ecosystem, full of beauty and splendor. What happens to Great Salt
Lake could very well personally affect me and those I care about. Learning about its purpose
and what could happen if it were to dry up has widened my eyes in ways I never thought to look.

And to be fair, it only smells gross when you get right up close to the water. Yes, I would know.