It seemed like I’d been walking for hours. I couldn’t tell. I lost track of time, long ago. There were signs that others had been here before me, tracks in the salt, but I was alone.

I thought I heard something and stopped to listen. Were my ears playing tricks on me, inventing sounds in the stillness that weren’t there? I couldn’t tell.

My pounding heart was the only sound. All else was stillness. Oppressive, silence.

I was alone.

I began again, and the muffled shuffle of my shoes in the salt beat eighth notes to the sixteenth notes of my heart.

I was thirsty. I needed water.

I had run out . Yet, I could see it on the surface of the salt, shimmering, teasing, taunting. The closer I got the farther it seemed to be.

If I could  just make it to the mountains.

Splashes, suddenly. The sound was refreshing. My steps disturbed a sea of glass. The mirage had not retreated. It was real. The surface stretched for miles. My footsteps sent expanding ripples across the glassy mirror, distorting the sky below me.

I took two more steps and stumbled. The salt gave way to mud beneath it and my shoes remained behind. I fell to my knees and my pants sucked up water, wet coolness, rising slowly up my thighs. I watched the khaki darken with curiosity, as if my clothes were trying to suck waning life back into my body.

Somewhere inside my head I sensed, maybe even knew, I should not drink this water. It renewed these salt plains. But it was so blue, so clear, and the need was so great. My lips were cracked and my tongue was dry.

I could not resist.

I cupped my hands and scooped up the water.  It felt cool on my skin, wet. I opened my mouth and slurped it in. Again, in my head, I knew. I should not have done this.

I was consumed by greed and the reaction was violent. I sputtered and spit. My throat burned. When the brine reached my stomach I retched.

Falling forward, my body pushed a large wave across the glass and I broke the surface. The water was not deep. Just enough to cover my face. Salt surrounded me and I looked upon my body, reflecting through the glassy side of a mirror.

When these waters withdraw, others will find evidence that I have been, preserved by salt.

The Bonneville Salt Flats near the Bonneville Speedway as seen from the air.

Wind blown lifeless vegetation hints at soil beneath the Bonneville Salt Flats.

A thin sheet of glass like water mirrors the surrounding mountains of the Bonneville Salt Flats.

The setting sun turns the white salt golden on the Bonneville Salt Flats.

Tire tracks mar the salt near the Bonneville Speedway. Drive at your own risk.

In many areas of the Bonneville Salt Flats, the layer of salt covering the earth is very thin and in need of replenishing.

A thin sheet of water covers the Bonneville Salt Flats, replenishing the layer or salt for which the speedway is famous.

In spite of harsh conditions, life will not be denied to the salty plants of the Bonneville Salt Flats.

Turning donuts in the salt is the perfect circular activity on the Bonneville Salt Flats.

Seasonal water covers the Bonneville Salt Flats replenishing the salty surface.

The setting sun glistens on the water covering the Bonneville Salt Flats.

Water covering the Bonneville Salt Flats forms a near perfect mirror for the surrounding mountains.

A distant rocky mountain reflects on water covering the Bonneville Salt Flats.

It can be difficult to determine where the earth ends and the sky begins in the perfect reflections of the Bonneville Salt Flats.

Water covering miles and miles of the Bonneville Salt Flats is only a few inches deep.

Baked by sun and blasted salt, the road surface leading to Bonneville Speedway is in constant need of repair.

Mountains rise out of the Bonneville Salt Flats.

Windstorms, dust storms, sand storms and salt storms can be common occurrences in Western Utah hear the Bonneville Salt Flats.

A lonely road leading to the Bonneville Speedway crosses the submerged salt flats.

The setting sun turns the white salt golden on the Bonneville Salt Flats, as seen from above.

The Bonneville Speedway on the Bonneville Salt Flats used to be thirteen miles long. Now it is only seven. It is not known if the cause of the shrinking salt is due to the depletion of the aquifer as a result of nearby mining, or, from seasonal heavy rains. Nevertheless, the land speed records which have been set in years past must now be accomplished in  shorter distances, as time may be running out on the Bonneville Salt Flats.