Labor Day Fun

We took a half day trip this Labor Day as a family. We visited Antelope Island in the middle of the Great Salt Lake. Salt Lake City was named after this giant inland sea of course. And since we live here we thought it appropriate to go visit. We'd never been there before. It is about an hour from our home and you can reach the island by a man made causeway. Antelope island is the orange colored island in the South East corner of the lake. The causeway is from the east lakeshore to the northern tip of the island. (see map)



We took a bunch of pictures. It was a beautiful day and a beautiful place. It smelled a lot like going to the beach! The Great Salt Lake is full of salt of course!



We took a guided hike to 'Buffalo Point' on the northwestern side of the island. The trail wasn't too bad and we got enough height to have an amazing view of about 80% of the lake.



Buffalo Point was a very rocky place and we saw a mountain goat, wait, that's KJ!



We lucked out and had the Naturalist all to ourselves on the guided hike. We sat on the tippy top of Buffalo Point and learned all about the Great Salt Lake. Did you know there are several islands in the lake? Did you know that parts of the lake can be 8 times as salty as the ocean? Did you know there are only two forms of life that actually live in the lake? Brine shrimp and Brine Flies. Brine shrimp are actually harvested/farmed and turned into pet fish food. If you've ever bought food for your goldfish there is a good chance it had brine shrimp from the Great Salt Lake in it. The Brine flies are hatched under water and then they make their way to the surface for the rest of their life. Of course salt mining is also a big industry at the Great Salt Lake. Why is it so salty? The Great Salt Lake has no outlets. So, water comes in but the only way it leaves is by evaporation. As water evaporates it leaves behind any minerals (salt, magnesium etc.) behind.



Here's the fam sitting on Buffalo Point, Antelope Island, Great Salt Lake, Utah. With the lake in the background of course.



KJ entertained us with his recent 'survival skills' he learned in scouts. Here he has a sunflower bud in his mouth. He says they are quite tasty. I tried to get him to try out the sage brush but he wouldn't.



Antelope island was named as such because when the Mormon pioneers arrived in 1847 they found wild antelope on the island. Years later the antelope were all hunted off and the island was turned into a State Park. Around this time wild Bison were introduced to the island and the herd now stands at over 600 head. They thin out the herd each year and sell off some of the animals. The Bison roam freely around the island and you can see them off the side of the road as you see in this picture. We tried to have KJ get out of the car and get closer but the Bison weren't cooperating so this shot is using our digital zoom at about 50 yards away. Many people call these animals 'Buffalo' and they are, sort of. We learned this day that the term 'Buffalo' is incorrect and that the animals we usually call Buffalo are really Bison. Buffalo is supposed to be only used for some African animals or something. Whatever. At the restaurant at the visitors center they serve 'Buffalo Burgers' not 'Bison Burgers'. Go figure. So yeah, you can sit at the restaurant eating a buffalo burger and watch the 'Bison' literally roam the fields right in front of you. Ironic. Ya.



The State Park preserved a ranch that has been on the island for well over a hundred years. They had lots of old stuff. Been there done that. ;) But Shelby did get to ride a horse!



Well, that about wraps up our trip. It was fun and interesting. We want to come back and actually try and do some 'swimming' or floating in the lake. With the salinity so high they say you can float in the water with very little effort. Weird.
One thing was that it felt a lot like being at the ocean. A large body of water with sandy beaches. The smells. But there were no waves and strangely enough no seagulls. We have lots of seagulls in utah but we saw very few of them here.
So it was a little eery sitting on top of Buffalo Point looking out over the lake and not seeing or hearing waves. It was very serene. There were also no boats on the lake at the time we were there. The Great Salt Lake has a couple of marinas and people do go sailing on the lake. It would have helped it feel more like the ocean if we could see boats out on the water.