The Great Salt Lake-Antelope Island

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When I was first planning this trip I had only planned to stay one day in Salt Lake City, primarily to see Temple Square, then I saw how big The Great Salt Lake is and decided that I should stay the extra day so that I could take it in also.

The Great Salt Lake is an inland sea stretching 75 miles long by 28 miles wide, it is the remnants of the pre- historic lake which covered 20,000 square miles during the Ice Age. The lake has no outlet; water leaves only through evaporation. Water flows into the lake from four river drainages carrying 2.2 million tons of minerals into the lake each year. Because of this high concentration of minerals are left behind and salinity levels range between 4% and 28% compared to the ocean at 3%. Antelope Island is the largest of ten islands. The island is home to free-roaming herds of bison, bighorn sheep, mule deer, and pronghorn antelope. The island comprises of over 28000 acres and is 15 miles long and 4.5 miles wide at its widest point. The highest point on the island is 6596 feet above sea level. A 7 mile causeway connects the mainland to Antelope Island.

Unfortunately I did not see any bison, but as you can see two pronghorn antelope posed in the middle of the road for me--they let me get so close I think I could have rode one! A coyote crossed the road in front of me but he disappeared into the long grass before I could get my camera out. The water was too cold for me to swim, but there are pictures of folks floating on the lake just as they do on the Dead Sea. I think salt that gets deposited on the shore line is visible in my picture.

I leave for Idaho tomorrow.

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Photos

Great Salt Lake
Almost like being on the coast

Pronghorns
These two would not move out of the way, I got closer and closer and all he did was stamp his rear hoof

Lake
Another view showing the salts that are left after the water has evaporated

Causeway
A veiw of the 7 mile causeway from the island