Dan and Hannah Venture to the Great Salt Lake, Utah to hike on Antelope Island

Outside of Salt Lake City lies Antelope Island, an undiscovered hiking jewel.  Having been through Salt Lake City two hundred times, well maybe ten, we never knew it existed.  With water five times as salty as the ocean, the Great Salt Lake is 57 miles long and 28 miles wide.  Traveling a seven mile causeway from the mainland, which costs $9, we pay a small price for this easy access adventure.  Taking the meandering road to the top of a small rise in the landscape to the visitor center, we find a spry elderly gentleman who suggests Mt. Frary as a challenging hike.   My dear readers, ever heard of it?  Me neither.  Never.  It’s the macho hike of the island and it has Dan and Hannah written all over it. 

The road on the west side of the island winds along the salty shoreline to a paved access road to the Mt. Frary trailhead.  Though there is a 2100 foot elevation gain, it’s only three miles to the top or so we are told.  Promises of big horn sheep and buffalo intrigue us.  Midday temperatures in early June are in the 70s but will surely fall as we ascend the mountain top at 6,596 feet.  Immediately we are huffing and puffing at the start, thinking, This is not going to be a picnic.  The trail is rock strewn and we step carefully.  Thankfully every half mile there is an indication of how far we have traveled.  I love knowing how far we have come.  You, too?   It’s like keeping score, which guys obsess about on a daily basis.  We like a record of our achievements.  Oh, we can be so shallow.  Busting our butts, we take the first half mile in 13 minutes as the trail becomes mostly dirt through fields of grasses.  Dressed in tee shirts and shorts we take long sleeve tee shirts for the possibly windy summit.                                                                                                                                               

Far in the distance we see a buffalo.  It’s fine.  Since Hannah’s brother Doug once had a buffalo farm, we are not awed or even moved.  In fact, we are quite blasé.  The trail winds through fields and is challenging but not exhausting.  We soon see the radio tower and three mile turn around point.  Alas, we have been deceived.  I know that is an inflammatory verb, but what we have is a faux peak, even though the marker says we are three miles from the trailhead.  It’s not the top.  The peak is in the distance, maybe a half mile away.  Bummed, we trek on.  The trail descends quickly as we must step carefully on the mountainside, and then it precipitously climbs.  We soon spot two twenty-something’s 25 feet above us wondering what they are going to do to get down this steep slope.  I crack, You must be the mountain goats we were promised.  They smile and start inching their way down what seemed to be a 70% incline.  I reach for the girl’s hand and she extends hers to mine as did her boyfriend.  Amazing what a connection can be made by the human touch, even when so brief.  We’re not alone.  Someone is there for us.  Our climb up was just as perilous, as we are grabbing rocks and dirt and skirting the edge of a cliff walk (knowing all the time we have to go back this way).

Atop, we have the classic 360 view of the Great Salt Lake.  With surprisingly little wind and pleasantly warm, it is only the no-see ‘ems that are a problem.  Knowing the inevitable hike down awaits, we begin our descent after ten minutes with Hannah in the lead.  Part billy she-goat, Hannah soon is sliding on her butt to negotiate the steep slopes.  Inspired, I do the same.  And then she starts going backwards on the 80 degree pitch.  I side saddle and at times go backward to descend this treacherous cliff mountainside.   Just having given up our group health insurance from my job at the U of New England, I start wondering what is in the fine print of our private pay health insurance that we just started this month.  A $10,000 deductible for each of us is not comforting.

Once back at the radio tower of the faux peak, we descend as if strolling in the park.  On the way down we see two hikers in the distance covered with what it turns out to be are motel towels.   Once we meet them, we learn that this father and son had no idea how little shade they would encounter on this basically treeless mountain.   Unprepared, they willingly accept our trail mix and water.  We are within 40 minutes of the trailhead and feel just so pleased to be able to share.    

Not wanting to leave the island before we dip our feet in the Great Salt Lake itself, we drive to the beach.  The parking area is just 400 yards from the water’s edge.   The walk to the water is on pebbly sand and certainly requires footwear.  Once there, we find the early June water warm.  Wading for 500 yards, we find the water never rises above our knees.  The walking is slow going as sand fleas swarm at our feet but not so much to be a nuisance.  Tasting the water, I find it tastes like the salt water drink I would make when I have a really bad sore throat and then I put extra salt in.   It has a medicinal taste to it.    

Not 30 miles from downtown Salt Lake City, this is a hiking oasis.   Don’t miss the opportunity. Mt. Frary Hike – Challenging, even perilous near the top, but most satisfying.   More than 20 people were on this hike this Saturday in June.  The connections with others are plentiful.  As always when hiking, know thyself, thy limits, and the conditions.  Be prepared.