Antelope Island State Park

I love how many different layers there are in this photograph of a beautiful landscape.

 

 

After leaving Clearfield, we drove out the causeway to Antelope Island State Park in the middle of the Great Salt Lake.  First stop was the beach.  Turns out it was a very long walk from the parking area and the bathhouses to the water.  The Great Salt Lake is very low by historical standards.  The kids left their tennis shoes and socks in the car and although I vaguely recall discussing that they needed to bring their flipflops, no one else seemed to have remembered that conversation.  The sand was hot, and there were a few sections that were both hot and rocky.  Even with my sandles on, I had a hard time in a few places as hot sand and rocks kept slipping between my feet and the soles of my sandles. 

Nice sand near the parking lot.

 

They have nice bathhouses and bathrroms now at the beach area.  When I went swimming in the Great Salt Lake as a child on trips to Utah, they only had water in a tank that you could use to rinse off. 

 

 

 The long walk from the bathhouse to the water.

 

Grandma, Darcie and Arik.  Grandma wisely brought her water shoes.   

 

Feet that are hurting on the walk out. 

 

All complaints magically disappeared with the first step into the water.  The day was very hot and the water felt delightful.  It was not cold like a mountain river or stream.  

 

Darcie

 

Arik

 

 Kara

 

Brine Shrimp Huddle

 

Brine shrimp may be unique to the Great Salt Lake.  They are everywhere in the water and easy to catch.  Catching brine shrimp reminded me of catching fireflies in Virginia.  The kids react very much the same way. 

Darcie catches her first brine shrimp.

 

 

Kara catches a brine shrimp.

 

 Kara

 

Arik let some water go so his brine shrimp is out of the water and sitting between his hands.  It still swam away when he put it back in the water. 

 

Darcie 

Darcie and Arik wade in the Great Salt Lake

 

Darcie

Front to back, Arik, Darcie and Kara. 

 

 

Brine shrimp swim along but are easy to catch. 

 They were endlessly fascinating to watch swim in your hands. 

 

 Beautiful view to the north from Antelope Island. 

 The water meets the sky on the horizon. 

 

Starting to walk back, the brine flies swirled away from the kids feet in waves.

 Brine flies eat the brine shrimp.  Both are food sources for

hundreds of thousands of birds and waterfowl. The only thing that can live in the Great Salt Lake are the Brine Shrimp, Brine Flies and a few kinds of algae.

 

The long walk back from the water. 

 

 We had a picnic lunch in the welcome shade of a pavillion. 

 

Swallows were nesting in the top of the picnic pavillion.  This mother brought food back to her babies and we could here them chirping for her attention.   

 

  Sagebrush and sand, yes, I am back in the west. 

 

After the beach we went to the Visitor's Center and watched a movie about the history of the island, what is on the island, and the types of animals that currently live on the island including bison, antelope, mule deer, big horn sheep, coyotes, and birds.  The Great Salt Lake, and the freshwater bays that surround it, are a major migration route. 

 

We drove south down the island looking for some bison.

  We found this herd of adults and young ones.  We are looking to the east.

 

This bison preferred to be on his own.  The white sand behind him is salt. 

  

Looking east from Antelope Island.  It is hard to see but toward

 the center of this photograph is a brown and white lump that is actually an antelope. 

 He blends in well, but we could see him moving. 

 

A fun afternoon on Antelope Island that my kids will long remember.  Thanks for taking us Mom.