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This is a view of approaching the railroad causeway via water, heading South.
I'm in a 11.5' aluminum rowboat with a 4 HP Mercury outboard at full throttle,
*barely* overcoming the Northward current. This is the "breech" in the
causeway, near the West Shore of the lake, by Lakeside (13-APR-02).
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This is a view under the causeway, heading North, motor at idle, the current
easily pushing the boat at ~3-4 knots. Gunnison Island is in the distance,
framed by the supports. I don't think there's any feasible way to get a real
sailboat under the causeway. Depth is only about 4-5', width maybe 15', and
clearance maybe 20' or so. I guess you could do it with the mast down, but it'd
be pretty scary. There is supposedly a boat launch ramp on the Western side of
Promontory Point, but it's on private property and the road to it is well gated,
fenced, and locked. I haven't ever seen the ramp myself.
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View of Gunnison Island, approx. 2 nautical miles South of island, heading North
at 5 knots. Note the "pink" Haline water and the foam line (which
extended from horizon to horizon, but was nowhere to be seen a few hours later
on the return trip). Gunnison Island is a bird refuge and "off limits"
to traffic, so I turned away while still a mile or so away. Even with
decent binoculars, the only birds I could see were California Gulls. Maybe it
was the wrong time of year?
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View from Lakeside towards the East (Promontory Point in distance). This
is the "breech" in the causeway, which allows water from the Southern
part of the lake to enter Gunnison Bay. This picture (obviously) taken from
Terra Firma. Generally, the green Southern Water flows steadily into the pink
Northern water, but I've been out there when the North wind was blowing so hard
that the current was reversed. You can drive to this point via public roads. Go
out I-80 past Delle, then head North at the "Military Access/Lakeside"
sign. The road is paved about 1/2 the way, then turns to dirt as it crosses the
Air Force artillery range (signs warn you to not leave the roadway), this area
is called Puddle Valley, and you'll usually see a dozen or so antelope standing
around and not much else.
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View from Promontory Point towards the South (Fremont Island in distance). This
is part of the brief section of rail line between the West and East causeway
segments. There is no public access to the point of Promontory, but there is a
paved (and private, or so the signs said) road down the East side of the
peninsula.
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View of the Promontory Point pumping station, which pumps super-salty water from
Gunnison Bay over the railroad tracks, and into a transport channel which
directs the water to solar ponds on the East side of Promontory Point. From the
lake, this overhead pipe appears something like a bridge near the East bank of
Promontory Point. The white area in the foreground is a pool of pink Haline
water covered by a salty foamy froth, whipped up by the pumps.
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Detail view of the "wood" work of the pumping station. Some of those
salt slabs are inches thick, and hard as rock. Note the water cascading down
into the transport channel.
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Our truck on the service road on the causeway, with a train passing. Of course
everybody has sailed across the lake, but how many have also DRIVEN across it?!
The service road has adequate width to safely drive by the moving trains at any
point along the causeway, but it's definitely closer to a train than is
comfortable. There are frequent "wide spots" to allow non-train
vehicles to pass each other, though there isn't much traffic. Note that
the causeway is private property with no public access, and signs warn of
trespassing and fines, etc., and locking gates. As I have discovered, the gates
are sometimes not actually closed or locked, except for the Easternmost one in
Warren which seems to always be locked up.
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Caked and cracking salt flat on the West side of Promontory Point, looking West
out towards Gunnison Bay.
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View of Antelope Island, looking South, from the Eastern segment of the causeway
(this part runs from Warren to Promontory). The Eastern segment of the causeway
is generally much wider than the West (and longer) segment, but is generally
padlocked at both ends (this day the West entrance was open, but the East
wasn't, so I had to do a U-turn and head back across the lake--good thing I
wasn't in any hurry to get anywhere).
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View from Gunnison Bay south, South towards the causeway, with a train running
from East to West. When I took this picture I was (sigh) STANDING on the bottom
of the lake, about 4 miles out from the West shore and a few miles North of the
causeway. Motoring along at 5 knots (my top speed) I was delighted to hear the
prop start chopping through the bottom mud. I rowed to the limit of my endurance
(about 10 linear feet) without avail, then got out and walked for about an hour
and a half until I got up to mid-thigh and then let the motor take over again.
Since I was barefoot, let me tell you about the bottom conditions. It's mostly
packed mud and salt, with occasional rocky "beds" strewn about. The
rocks are sharp, and the salt stings. Mental note--next time don't leave the
shoes in the truck. I use the same long-shaft motor on the rowboat that I do on
my sailboat (that's the Grey Ghost, by the way), so the rowboat doesn't have the
clearance (for motoring) that you would otherwise expect; I need at least
24" of water to motor. I think the GSLYC needs to put out the "other
half" of their excellent chart!
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