The next day we left Capitol Reef National Park and drove north to the town of Green River, Utah. We needed fuel and a few groceries. We had a brochure that suggested some unpaved backcountry roads to travel north and west of Green River. There were some small campgrounds and interesting geology to explore. After checking the weather forecast and determining that there was rain coming for the next several days, we decided to stay off the dirt roads and make yet another new plan.
 |
| Heading up the Sevier Valley with the Wasatch Range on the left. |
 |
| Exploring Maple Grove Camp |
 |
| View from our campsite |
 |
| Campsite with nice view across the valley |
 |
| Looking north along the Fishlake National Forest |
The next morning we connected up to I-15 and made the drive to Salt Lake City. We were surprised by the large amount of population stretching north-south along the interstate. We left that all behind when we approached the six mile causeway connecting the mainland and Antelope Island State Park in the Great Salt Lake. The only concern we had was when we learned that we had arrived in no-see-um gnat season, which runs April through June. The campground wasn't very full and we found a site overlooking the lake. There was enough wind blowing to keep the gnats at bay, so we went exploring.
 |
| The flats of the Great Salt Lake |
 |
| Tame Deer made of bronze. Causeway in background |
 |
| Camp near beach |
There are only a few roads on the island. We checked out the other campground and then took the paved road south as far as we could until we reached the Historic Fielding Garr Ranch. We toured the buildings and learned about the history of sheep ranching on this remote island. The drive back took us past a couple dozen of the 500 bison that inhabit the island. They were relaxing on the beach supposedly to escape the gnats.
 |
| Sheepherder's wagon |
 |
| View from the ranch across to Salt Lake City |
 |
| Remote ranch only 6 miles from downtown SLC |
 |
| Bison on beach to avoid gnats |
 |
| Sunset view over the Great Salt Lake from our campsite |
We stayed two nights. The second day the forecast called for more wind, so Greg decided to bike some of the trails. We awoke the second morning to no breeze! Greg decided to brave it anyway and thought that if he kept riding, the biting gnats couldn't keep up with him! He didn't count on two flat tires caused by cactus thorns that would need patching! He got hundreds of gnat bites. I stayed in the RV the entire day and still managed to get some bites!
 |
| Greg feeding gnats |
 |
| Beautiful bike riding until you stopped |
 |
| Chukar partridge imported a century ago from India for hunting |
No comments:
Post a Comment
Your comments encourage me to keep posting!