Monday September 26: Antelope Island State Part UT

Leaving Vernal in early afternoon we traveled toward Salt Lake City where we planned to spend a couple of nights.  Prior to going to downtown Salt Lake we went to Antelope Island State Park, an island in the Great Salt Lake northwest of the city.  Connected to the mainland by a causeway, there are no houses on the island, basically just a marina, camping areas, and animal shelters.  Unfortunately we saw no antelope and thus can’t testify to the validity of the island’s name, but we did see a few other creatures.

Such as buffalo. . .


coyote. . .


and more buffalo, the primary residents of the island.


The scenery and wildflowers around the island was beautiful as well.






And some scenes not so beautiful


As we were there in late afternoon we decided to stay until sundown.  The colors both in the sky and reflecting off the waters were something else, constantly changing as the sun dropped lower and lower.  One of the most beautiful sunsets we’ve ever seen.









Although somewhat mesmerized by the sunset, at some point we realized we were standing in a swarm of mosquitoes.   We had dodged the danger of buffaloes and coyotes, so we departed rather than being consumed by such tiny predators.  I don't see how someone could camp on the island. When we got back to the mainland, we discovered the front of our van was covered in a half inch of the creatures.

At the end of a long day we checked into our downtown hotel.  We were too tired for dinner, but we enjoyed a couple of Woodford Reserves and hit the sack.  Tomorrow is a day for touring Salt Lake City.