TRIP REPORT PHOTOS
The Devils Golf Course area changes from year to year based on rainfall and wind. So the salt formations and surface areas can look quite different depending on when you visit:
Notice the uplifted layers of salt with cracks along the top ridges:
Small clumps of surface salt are visible all over the place:
The cracked salt is uplifted, which allows the sunlight to brighten the formations from the inside out:
This is the main salt pool which appeared near the Devils Golf Course parking area beginning in the Spring of 2005:
Notice how large the salt pool looks from this angle. It appears to be at least 6 feet in length along one side:
This salt pool was actually measured by the park service and found to be 8 feet deep:
Getting a picture next to the salt pool in January of 2007:
My sister Tiffany and our friend Kayla pictured by the salt pool:
View of the salt pool with the Black Mountains in the background:
This was the second salt pool to be discovered in 2005. It was located at a nearby undisclosed location. (Picture credit goes to Alan Van Valkenburg):
Charlie peering into the third salt pool to be discovered in 2005. (Picture credit goes to Alan Van Valkenburg):
In March 2018, I returned to the Devils Golf Course and began a quest to find four salt pools which I thought I had found by doing research. Here I am heading out from the gravel road to begin my search:
Notice the unique terrain. The ground is flatter here. The small mounds are more spread out than in the previous picture:
It was great to see my research pay off when I arrived at this spot. This was clearly recognizable as a salt pool:
Looking down at the surface, the first salt pool has completely salted over and closed up:
The first salt pool seen with the Black Mountains in the background. Mount Perry (5,716 feet) can be seen if you follow the right wall of the pool straight up the picture:
It was time to continue hiking through the Devils Golf Course area in search of the next salt pool:
As you can see, the terrain got quite a bit rougher after a short while:
Precious little formations that looked like lizard heads were rising up all over the place through here. It would be easy to damage these. Thus, I purposely went around this area rather than directly through it:
That was a smart decision, because this terrain was easier to deal with:
Here was the second salt pool that I spotted during my search of the Devils Golf Course area:
To my surprise and delight, I had managed to find a partially-open salt pool. I estimate that this salt pool is 90% salted over (or closed):
The first opening is this small circular hole in the surface salt:
The second opening is this triangular hole near the edge of the pool:
Salt water was clearly visible by looking into the first hole:
Leaving the second salt pool behind, I continued hiking and enjoyed the varied terrain. Notice how the lines here form a "Y" shape on the ground:
Sharp salt ridges along the surface can be seen in the next two pictures:
This is not a spot that you would want to trip and fall onto or brush your skin against:
A natural square that has been carved onto the ground surface:
I next hiked back to the parking area and then headed out in another direction to look for more salt pools:
The third salt pool that I found is more than likely the original salt pool which was showcased earlier in the photos. (The salt pool I was sitting next to.) I say this because notice how the ground is all crushed down around the pool in comparison to the surrounding terrain. It looks like this pool was heavily visited at one time:
The third salt pool looked to be about 99% salted over:
This small hole with water underneath provided conclusive proof that this was once a large salt pool:
The next portion of the hike was some of the most brutal terrain I have ever tried to pass through in the park (or anywhere for that matter):
Looking down, notice all the mounds of salt with small sharp spikes sticking up:
Imagine having to walk through this area with no alternative route. I had no choice but to proceed very slowly:
An example of a delicate salt formation. There were several of these salt "bubbles" with tops broken off which revealed small tunnels underneath:
The terrain got slightly easier through this area:
Passing through a section of salt flats with smaller amounts of formations and distinct surface lines:
These surface lines were quite thick and they extended all over the place in this area:
Finding my fourth salt pool for the day. It would have been amazing to visit this one when it was still open:
There appears to be two small surface openings in this salt pool, but I would say it is 99% salted over:
Alternate angle view of the fourth salt pool:
I next decided to head out to the disturbed area located about 6/10 of a mile southeast of the parking lot:
While heading out there, I stumbled across what clearly looks like a fifth salt pool:
Two close-ups of the delicate salt formation with a small tunnel which was next to the salt pool:
The fifth salt pool was the smallest and it was also the most salted over and closed up of all of them:
The terrain became too brutal and I had to turn around before making it to the disturbed area. It literally would have taken hours to get there and back. Here, I am heading back to the parking lot:
