Rest Day - Antelope Island

Antelope Island is a great place to spend a rest day.  It's full of wildlife and surrounded by the Great Salt Lake and there are easy trails with little elevation gain so I can let the dogs stretch their legs a bit without wearing mine out.  Just enough walking to keep the blood flowing.  I've been all 3 years I've gone to Nationals and this year didn't disappoint.

We saw loads of bison.

Some were a little too close for comfort.

I'm glad this wasn't my tent.  Not that we were camping anyway.  My camping days are over.  The guy in the visitor's center going on about the wind and lightning and mosquitoes did not make me yearn for any more camping in my life.  But he was there to extend his permit one more day so apparently the hardship was worth it to him.

And of course antelope.

There were Jack Rabbits as well.  Lucky for them Lola can't run anymore.  He was up on his hind legs in a very cute pose but of course as soon as I got the camera pointed he ran away a bit and turned his back to me.

Beautiful mountain views across the lake.  And more buffalo.  Because you can never have enough buffalo.  I always feel bad for Ralphie the CU mascot when I see scenes like this.  Sadly the football team uses an actual real buffalo at their football teams rather than someone dressed in a buffalo suit.   Don't even get me going on that one.

The only bad thing about the island is that traffic is a bitch.  Glad I was in my car and not on my bike. 

There are nice hills on the island as well.  Supposedly there are big horned sheep on the island and I suspect they're up in these hills.  I've never seen them in the lower elevations and the trails up there are steep and not the best for hiking on a rest day so I've never been on them.

The causeway itself is a fascinating feat of engineering but I suspect I might be in the minority with my fascination.

Ah well, time to eat dinner and get my gear organized for tomorrow.  Two transition areas always makes for a fun sorting of gear the night before.