It's kind of hard to see, but there are some seagulls (our state bird) flying along the shore there. I always viewed seagulls as the rude, annoying birds that try to steal your food when you're trying to have a picnic. After seeing them in their natural habitat, however, I realized what cool birds they are. . . perfectly adapted to that salt water and all the brine flies, brine shrimp, and grasshoppers they could possibly eat. They are so much better to see at the Great Salt Lake.
And here is the sego lilly, our state flower. They don't grow very many places in Utah, but at the Great Salt Lake, they are abundant and beautiful. They are smaller than I thought, with maybe a 1" diameter.
Here are Carl and Jude with one of the many buffalo statues placed throughout the state park. There are between 550 and 700 American bison on Antelope Island. We saw one, and its herd was nowhere to be seen.
We went on a short hike on a trail that would probably be way more fun to bike. It was nice to be out there with the salt air and breeze. We saw lots of lizards and got landed-on by grasshoppers.
Jude was having a lot of fun on this hike. I think he smiled for about 30 minutes without stopping! Of course, that's probably because his dad was doing such a good job of keeping him entertained.
As we were leaving the island, I thought the water looked so smooth and glass-like, and I had a new appreciation for the interesting natural phenomenon that is the Great Salt Lake.
The shoreline kept getting smaller as the lake got bigger and reflected the sky.
My eyes were going crazy when I looked at the lake because I couldn't tell where the horizon was. It just looked like sky out there. The only way you could tell where the water was, was by the waterfowl floating on top of it.If you haven't been to Antelope Island, you should go! I always thought the Great Salt Lake would be too stinky to even get near it, but the smell is just salty, like the ocean. People tell me the brine shrimp are totally disgusting and they would NEVER swim in the lake. Well, I really want to feel the unique buoyancy of the salty water there, plus the state park has really nice showers for when you're done swimming. So. . . we're planning to go back when it's really hot outside, and I'm going to swim in this amazing lake! Let me know if you want to come!
We went there last year for our first time ever and camped out for a night with some friends. It is truly gorgeous! The only problem was the large quantities of tiny little ravenous BUGS. We went in mid-August and we all got eaten ALIVE. The bugs were somewhat unbearable until the sun went down. Then it was great. We plan on going back when it's not so hot. The funniest part was when we pulled up to the entrance and the electronic sign was flashing this message: "BUGS! BUGS! Bugs are BAD on the island!" We should have listened. :)
ReplyDeleteMany Many years ago we went to do a "Clean Up Antelope Island" Day and there were loads of us helping to clean up the place. Anyway, one of the people heading up the project told us the entire beach was made from Brine Shrimp feces. I guess it's kind of like petrified poop. Anyway, if you look closely they are perfectly round and not like grains of sand. Interesting, you might want to notice on your next trip. It's crazy! I liked swimming in the water, yes it's a bit gross from the muck, but if you go past that it's a bit cleaner.
ReplyDeleteWhat fun! Jude is so cute and getting so big! You will also be pleased to know that I got a hat for gardening that matches his. I'll have to bring it out so we can get a shot of us in matching hats. Won't that be precious....
ReplyDeleteThat video of Jude was so cute!!! Those are cool pictures. That makes me think maybe I should take a trip out there sometime. I think it would also be cool to go see Saltair. I've just always heard about it.
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