non transmitted cookie

Is there anyway for a page to save information on a user's computer which is accessible via java or javascript, but doesn't get sent with each HTML request the way a cookie is? I had this idea, patterned after kerberos: 1/ A user logs into a site via a secure link. 2/ A hash salt is stored on their computer and an initial hash is generated for the user as a Password to their session key. 3/ The user is redirected to the non secure part of the site and they have both the hash-pw plus session key in their document. 4/ Each time they access a page on our site, a javascript fires which generates the next sequence in the hash-pw. 5/ the server also generates the same new sequence and compares it. If the session key and the new password agree, then it is the user attached to the session. So, this salt needs to NOT be transmitted via the cookie so that it does not appear 'in the clear', which would invalidate it's use. Please CC me when you reply to the list, I am on digest.