Day 67: Antelope Island State Park

Had a nice breakfast in the morning and then checked out of The Haxton Manor, a B&B that I got for cheap through Living Social Escapes. Since I had recently decided to stay an extra night in SLC I then checked into The Perry Hotel, a nice historic downtown place I got off Hotwire. Once I settled in I went to Antelope Island State Park which is the entirety of the biggest island in The Great Salt Lake. It is home to dozens of bird species and an state owned herd of bison.


The bison roam free on the island, I caught a glimpse of one right on the public beach. They are soo big in person.


The island is so big that only about of third of it has roads. You would probably have to camp there for a week to hike all of the trails. It's a beautiful place with quite a varied landscape.


I drove to the end of one of the roads to the oldest continually running ranch in the USA. Is still operates today but also functions as a museum. The white dots in the distance in this photo is downtown Salt Lake City.


The point I hiked up to around sunset was a gorgeous trail but I couldn't fully enjoy it because the bugs started attacking me. I don't look happy in this photo because the gnats (or fruit flies?) were crawling all over me. I've never been accosted by so many bugs before. They would swarm in a cloud and follow you everywhere you went. When I got back to the hotel room to shower I kept finding dead bugs in my ears and nose. I can see why they sell bug netting at the visitor's center. Next I stopped at the beach to dip my toes in the Great Salt Lake but found it muckier that I prefer so I headed back shortly after.


Once I was showered and de-bugged I walked over to a Japanese restaurant, Takashi, recommended to me by one of the Innkeepers at the B&B (originally from Seattle so her recommendation should be legit). I got the surf and turf which is sauteed sablefish and pork ribs over asian caesar salad. The sablefish was succulent and tasty but the ribs were kind of mushy. But I'd go back to try the sushi, it looked very inventive. Apparently Salt Lake City is really into sushi, there's a place on just about every corner.

Next: On to Elko, NV.