Run Across Utah Lake

Run Across Utah Lake – January 15, 2007

Davy Crockett

Saratoga Spring, UT

In my quest to continue to seek out creative and interesting winter training runs, I embarked on a new unique adventure run on the Martin Luther King Jr. holiday. I live on the west shore of the largest freshwater lake in Utah -- Utah Lake. It covers about 97,000 acres (151 square miles) and is 23 miles long (north-south) and a has a maximum width of 13 miles (east-west.) It is a shallow lake, with an average depth of 9.4 feet. With six straight days of below freezing temperatures, and an overnight low below zero, in the morning I ventured out on the frozen lake with my son. The lake appeared to be frozen solid. We walked out about a mile and visited three duck hunters who had set up about 100 decoys out on the lake trying to coax curious ducks to check out the phony duck colony. They had already bagged three ducks. As we returned to the shore, I recalled a conversation with a local woman in her 70s who told me that when she was a child, they used to ice skate all the way across Utah Lake during rare times of solid ice. The crazy thought entered my mind, “Could I run all the way across the lake?” I had no firm plans for the rest of the day so I decided to give it a try. Little did I know what an amazing adventure run it would be.

Caution! Don’t try this at home, kids. Utah Lake has many hot springs both along the shore and in the lake. Areas of thin ice can be covered in snow and be undetectable. This is risking stuff.

My route across and back.

My starting point, Eagle Park in Saratoga Springs

One hour later, I began my crazy run across Utah Lake. I did not know what my destination would be. The frozen lake would dictate my course depending on how safe it was. I did hope to run all the way to the city of Prove, about 11.5 miles away.

Saratoga Springs disappearing behind me

The temperature started out about 10 degrees. The wind was light, coming from the south. I was dressed in warm layers and carried a couple water bottles of Gatorade and a flask of Hammer Gel. I found a good rhythm as I started my run heading southeast across the ice-covered lake. I ran about a half mile south of the duck hunters, not wanting to disturb their efforts.

So far the cracks in the ice were minor and self-repaired by frigid ice. On my shoe bottoms I wore Yak Traks. They gave me excellent footing on ice that was covered in about a quarter inch of snow/frost. If I brushed away the snow, the ice was dark and smooth. My feet crunched in the snow as I ran forward and the ice below felt solid and safe.

The ice beach, ripples of ice in the middle of the lake.

Mount Timpanogos in the background

The surface was generally smooth with some periodic cracks that extended for miles. I cautiously crossed them, but they were all solid and safe. To the south I could see what looked like an ice beach extending east/west across much of the lake. What was it? Would the ice be thinner on the other side? I soon arrived at the ice beach and could see that ice had been pushed up with pressure. There were lots of clumps of ice covered with snow. Massive Mount Timpanogos rose above the icy haze to the east. During the summer I became the first person to summit Mount Timpanogos five consecutive times in one stretch.

Ice pushed up

The ice continued to be solid. I crossed over some amazing cracks with ice sheets pushed up that were about 5-6 inches thick. Seeing the thickness gave me more confidence that I was indeed running over a good solid surface. The landscape was incredible and ever-changing. I never dreamed that there would be so many interesting things to see running across a frozen lake.

The “person” I saw from a distance – a icy headstone

I thought I saw the figure of a person on the ice about a mile ahead so I set my sights on it in attempt to catch up. But as I came nearer, I discovered that the object on the ice wasn’t a person but was ice pushed up by tremendous force where plates of ice thousands of feet across pushed together. My water bottle nozzle finally froze in the frigid temperature. I opened it up and took a drink of Gatorade slush. I tucked the bottle inside my fleece vest, hoping that my body temperature could thaw it out a little. It was cold, but I was still feeling fine.

Ice mounds

I next set my sights on two curious mounds of ice far to the horizon. In this way I could keep my run across the ice in a relatively straight line. I misjudged the distance. They must have been over a mile away because it took me many minutes to finally arrive at the mounds. They turned out to be some pretty amazing ice mounds pushed up arranged in beautiful patterns.

View back toward Saratoga Springs and Lake Mountain

I arrived at what appeared to be the east/west center of the lake. Miles to the southeast, I could see a tower that appeared to be the airport tower of the Prove airport. I changed my course to head in that direction. I started to hear some alarming cracking going away from my feet. The ice wasn’t moving, but it was still wearisome enough to slow me to a cautious pace. The cracking sounds continued as I crossed a large area. I then started to hear some loud booming sounds that I have heard before from the shore in times of freezing. The sounds were loud “CHOOOOOM, POOOOOM” sounds. Every couple seconds I would hear the sounds all around me. My feet still pushed against solid ice and I could not see any new cracks appearing. I could peer down into the lake through some clear ice and see that the thickness was at least 5-6 inches. The sounds made me feel very uncomfortable. I concluded that they were noises caused by powerful stress pressure in the plates of ice. I continued on but adjusted my course to head more directly to the shore across the lake. Perhaps the ice was more stable near the shore. In any case, I wanted to get away from this unstable area as soon as possible.

Mount Timpanogos

The cracking in the ice continued, but the stress booms were left behind and decreased. The cracking sound would occur more often when I approach junctions of existing cracks. But still, the ice felt solid and never moved. The east shore continued to come closer. I noticed giant ice-flow mounds on near the shore and set my course to approach the largest ice hill. All cracking sounds soon went away and I again picked up my pace.

Huge crack with water

I soon arrived at a massive crack in the ice where the ice plates had pulled apart instead of being pushed together. It appeared to be pretty recent because there was water on the surface. I kept my distance and carefully crossed over the frozen crack that was a couple feet wide.

Ice hills near the east shore

After a couple hours and about 9 miles, I arrived at the east shore and explored the huge ice hills there were created by ice flows pushing against the east side of the lake. The hills were massive, about 20 feet high. Huge ice slabs piled on top of each other.

Ice hill

Mount Timpanogos in background

Huge piles of ice slabs

I had fun climbing the massive mounds, exploring the formations, and taking pictures. It was an remarkable sight. The forces of nature were impressive. I called home to let my wife know that I arrived safely across the lake. I was in the city of Orem. I decided to continue to head south to reach my goal to run to Provo. As I ran south, I moved away from the shore to more stable sections of ice.

Tracks heading south

I tried to figure out where I was in relation to the cities to the east of Utah Lake. I eventually could see the Utah Valley State College campus to the northeast so I knew that I was now running beside the city of Provo. I kept an eye out for any trail or access point to exit the lake through the high reeds. I soon came across the tracks of a sled and many boot prints that were leading toward a peninsula about a mile further to the south. As I approached the shore again, I could see a man on the ice. He approached me as I arrived at the shoreline. He was curious where I had come from. I pointed to a location far across the lake that was barely visible through the ice haze. He asked how far away it was. I told him about 12 miles. He was stunned to consider that I had crossed the entire lake. “Are you being picked up?” he asked. “No, I’m going to run back across,” I replied. I then had fun telling him about my adventure and the things I had seen and heard while crossing the massive lake. I asked him where I was. He explained that I was near Center Street in Provo. I went up off the ice and could see that I was on a paved trail, part of the Utah Lake State Park.

Icy reflection

Three hours had passed since I began my crossing. It was time to return. Through the icy haze I could barely pick out a landmark on the far shore that was near my home. I decided that I would try to return along a direct line. I was now confident that the ice was solid and I could make better time. I went through a large section where the snow cover had been swept away by the wind. The ice was very solid with very few cracks.

Ice crystal field

I next came upon a truly amazing sight. Instead of snow cover, the ice was covered with billions of ice/snow crystals that were 2 inches high. The massive field went on as far as my eye could see! I had never such a sight before. The crystals crunched under my feet. I hated to disturb the remarkable sight.

River of ice

I soon came upon a significant crack that extended south across the center of the lake. Water had seeped up through the crack. It refroze, looking like a river of ice and presented a beautiful reflection in the setting sun. I was running about two miles south of the location where I had made my initial crossing several hours earlier. I noticed that the ice sheets were much more solid and stable in this section closer to the center of the lake.

My tracks coming from Provo

My route continued at a straight line. Despite my quick pace, it seemed like my home shore just wasn’t coming closer. I looked back and could see my tracks extending straight to Provo. I was getting close to the mid-point between the shores.

Setting sun reflecting across the ice

The sun descending toward the horizon and I wanted to make sure I was off the ice before dark because I knew the temperature would take a nasty dive.

Mysterious tracks

Next, I came upon a very curious sight shown in the photo above. These weren’t caused by cracks. These gouges in the snow extended as far as I could see. I thought that these tracks were made by a flock of birds dragging their feet in the snow, but it is possible that they are tracks from ski-skaters and their poles.

The sun continued to set, presenting me with amazing reflections across the massive ice. I drank the remainder of my Gatorade slush and could feel the pain of dehydration setting in. My Hammer Gel wasn’t frozen but was a thick chewy consistency.

Snowdrift across a crack

As I neared the shore, the upheavals and cracks appeared with more frequency. The snow was also becoming a little deeper and I crossed a curious snow drift along a crack. I looked down to my shoes and noticed that one of my Yak Traks was missing. I ran back about a quarter mile, guessing correctly that I lost it while laying down on the ice for a photo. My hand warmers were not working very well any more so the cold was setting in. I was anxious to finish my run. The duck hunters were still among their decoy flock on the ice. I kept my distance from them. As I neared the shore an incredible flock of geese filled the sky overhead. There were hundreds in dozens of formations. Honking noises could be heard for miles as this flock flew over the lake, heading to the southeast. The final crack I crossed was a very new one. I was very surprised to feel the ice on both sides of the crack dip down about an inch as I crossed over. As I approached Eagle Park, I could see someone on the hill watching my progress closely. When I finally arrived, the guy asked me if the ice was safe. I told him that it was pretty safe because I had just run to Provo and back. I could tell that he had difficulty comprehending what I had just said.

This 23-mile training run far exceeded my expectations. Seeing the effects of Mother Nature on the ice was amazing. Viewing the cracks and upheavals from the massive ice sheets made me think how similar these effects are compared to the land floating on magma. In a much lesser degree I saw cracks, canyons trying to form, and mountain ranges being pushed up. It was a thrilling experience. In a couple of weeks the lake would be thawing, making this experience impossible for another year.