From the Floor

I’m back from my quick trip to Utah to see Spiral Jetty. I will probably post something more thought-based on the piece and the experience of visiting it later this week. I will definitely post more photos in upcoming days. But I thought I would stick some facts and a few snapshots up today to give more current information than is available elsewhere on the Internet about accessing the site and current water levels.

First off, it’s not as difficult to get to Spiral Jetty as I had thought. If you can find your way to the north bound lanes of I-15 in Salt Lake City (not I-80 as most direction you’ll find on the Internet say), you can find your way to Spiral Jetty. There is signage on I-15 for the exit to Golden Spike National Historic Site (exit 368). The roads to Golden Spike are well signed once you exit the interstate, and as you pull up to the parking lot at the Golden Spike visitor’s center you see the first sign to Spiral Jetty. Major intersections (as major as one-lane dirt road intersections can be) for the rest of the 16 mile drive out to Spiral Jetty are signed as well. There’s no need to worry about counting cattle guards and measuring miles. While the last mile of road is rough, in dry conditions it’s not necessary to use a four-wheel-drive or high-clearance vehicle to get to Spiral Jetty.

As of this past weekend (these photos were taken on August 14, 2004) Spiral Jetty is not only above water, it’s completely land locked. The Great Salt Lake has receded so much that the water line is currently 75 meters beyond the edge of the piece that is most distant from shore.

I took several panoramic shots of the piece to try to capture it in as much of its natural context as possible. Here's a sample of some of the photos that will follow.



Update: In the interest of sharing a number of pictures but in keeping individual post sizes down, I've decided to post four follow-ups to this item over the next few days. They will be called:

• Drive to the Jetty
• Industrial Wasteland
• Walking the Jetty
• Perspective

As I complete each post, I will provide a link to it above.