This second handcart hike was a “revenge trip” because two weeks earlier I had to abort the same hike due to poor conditions on the mud flat. After the disaster of the first hike I drove to Moab and spent two weeks exploring the fins and canyons there. Then I returned to Crater Island to try again. Naturally I was hoping for better conditions so I could complete the hike.

I arrived at Crater Island in the evening and planned to start the hike the next morning---if condirions would allow. After arriving, I walked a mile and a half (about two kilometers) on the mud flat to check its condition. The mud was much drier and quite a bit firmer than it had been two weeks earlier, giving me a good chance to get revenge for the earlier disappointment.

It was a success: I walked six miles with the handcart, pushing it most of the time (easier than pulling) camped in my tent on the mud flat, and returned the following day. What an experience!

In some photos, I use the word “shoreline” to refer to the boundary between the dark land of Crater Island and the whitish mud flat surrounding it. When Lake Bonneville existed, Crater Island was indeed an island, surrounded by water hundreds of feet deep. The Great Salt Lake is a remnant of Lake Bonneville.