Soda Lake

Walk Review

• We wanted to experience the salt flat at Carrizo, so we found the pull-off closest to Soda Lake.

• We walked in our tennis shoes and found the Soda Lake to be a salt flat for sure, but one that was a lot muddier than it looked.

• There was obviously no shade available. Because of the salt being perfectly white in color, it was quite hot and sunglasses were a necessity.

• The parking lot was small with room for just a few cars. There aren’t that many people in Carrizo though, so it was more than adequate.

• There were no facilities (not even a sign talking about Soda Lake) at this road pull-off.

Friends

Steve, Mercedes, and Chris joined us for this walk.

What Happened?

.3 miles, 15 mins, 12 ft of ascent

After lunch, we wanted to see the sights at Carrizo, so we headed off to Soda Lake first.

We parked and walked a hundred yards or so until we hit the salt-covered lake bed. At first, the ground was solid with this layer of salt that plenty of people had trodden over (we could tell as footprints will only be erased when the rains wipe the evidence from the lake bed in winter).

Just a few hundred feet into the salt flat, we found ourselves sinking if we stood for more than a few moments. It got more muddy as we stepped further into the lake bed, so we turned around after just a bit. We did wonder as we saw car tracks that led farther into the lake bed—how did the car not sink when the ground was so soft?

Before we turned around, we tasted the salt and found it as salty as we expected. We also took a few selfies, then headed back to our cars, hoping that the next thing we checked out would be more exciting.