A Walk on the Beach

On a sunny, relatively warm day last week I decided to take  a walk on the beach.  I drove to the mouth of Logan Canyon, parked the car and walked the two miles along the Bonneville Shoreline Trail.  The beach that I was really walking on was the beach along the shore of ancient Lake Bonneville, which was fed by the Bear River and covered about two-thirds of the state of  present day Utah.  About 15000 years ago the level of the lake rose to a point that it breached its shores at Red Red Pass near Downey , Idaho.  The result was a flood of epic proportions.  The level of the lake dropped by a bout 350 feet and flooded much of Southern Idaho as the water raced to the sea through the Snake/Columbia River Basin.  I slightly trained eye can find  evidence of this flood all across the Snake River Plain.  The Snake River Canyon at what is now Twin Falls and is nearly 500 feet deep was filled by the raging torrent and was overflowing.  Huge boulders were deposited all along the flood route, particularly in the Pocatello, Idaho area.  The main flood is said to have lasted about eight weeks.  The Great Salt Lake is what is left of Ancient Lake Bonneville.  Many areas along the shore line have now been developed into trails for hikers, bikers and horsemen.  It was along a two mile stretch of this trail that I took my walk last week and then again today.  I tried to envision what it was like back then, when much of Utah and all of Cache Valley was filled with water.  Sometimes it helps us put things in perspective to contemplate the earth on which we live and truly depend for our food and shelter and livelihood even today just as the prehistoric peoples of the area did.  It's true, much has drastically changed, but on a basic level it's still the same.  God created the earth for us to enjoy and to provide for our basic needs.  I hope we can stop long enough once in a while to allow some appreciation for this wonderful world to seep into our consciousness.

An artists rendition of ancient Lake Bonneville 15,000 years ago.

Modern evidence that this was once a lake shore beach.

Where once the wooly mammoths roamed now it's golfers taking advantage of a rare warm day in January 2012.

Not far away a young mule deer enjoys a quiet moment in the nearby thicket.

The beauty, diversity, and steadfastness of this earth, even amid dramatic change, never cease to amaze me.  There are those who think my appreciation of ancient Lake Bonneville comes because I was there and experienced it first hand.  Oh, well, old age has its benefits.