Oct 11 - Sentry Trail - Antelope Island

With rain the last 2 days, I decided that a snowy or sloppy hike in the mountains was not on the agenda today. I'm returning to Antelope Island (Great Salt Lake). Haven't been there since late April/early May when the gnats arrived.  But today its 50degrees and sunny, perfect day to go back to check out Fall on Antelope Island. (But cool enough for gloves and I didn't bring any - must bring gloves from now on.)

Heading to the Sentry trail on the east side of the island --- did this trail earlier in the year (had to walk thru a herd of bison).

Antelope Island was a wise choice because there are still clouds in the mountains even up in the Layton area.

The drive down the causeway was wonderful as usual. There was no water at the start -- but it sure smelled like salt water. A little further down, there was water and the mountains and clouds cast nice reflects.

I could see the Oquirrh Mts to the west had lots of snow on their tops from the recent rains. Looked pretty stunning and at this point in the year, I'd bet that snow isn't melting anytime soon.

Before I headed down the east side, I had to make pit stop. There was a truck in front of me that suddenly stopped in the road -- I don't know why. But on my way back, I found out --- there was a bison on the side of the road (the truck was blocking my view of it) eating the vegetation. And he must've been so hungry because he had dried plants hanging from his horn.

I saw 3 more bison on the way down the east side. The orange/red colors of the lake-side grasses were wonderful.

And the masses of yellow rabbitbrush over the plains made it look like fall. Most of the hills are sagebrush but in some of the deep valleys, I could see the bright yellows of aspen and the reds of other trees.

There were no massive herd of bison today.

I got down to the ranch (end of the paved road) and parking for Sentry trail and was called over by a DNR guy. Told me I can now drive down the dirt road to a new trailhead -- guess they just opened the dirt road to the general public - yea, I get to save about 1/4mile walk both ways!

He also wanted to show me a sleeping female Great Horned Owl in the tree. I've never see a wild one (only ones in rehab). Boy was she beautiful and blended nicely into the tree. I could see that her eyes were closed.

The guy told me the male was around earlier but had flown off. This pair have had owlets on the ranch property the last 2 years - once on a platform and the other time in an old raven's nest. I learned something today, I thought they built their own nest in holes of trees but they actually re-use nest, treeholes from other birds. Thank-you Mr DNR!!. And now I can look for them come winter.

I got back in my car and went down the washboard dirt road to the parking area and started on my way.

I was greeted by the rabbitbrush, sunflowers and a yellow plant that looked like Arnica. And I was surprised to see bflys!! Mostly sulphers but I also saw a Monarch, 2 Checkered Whites, 2 Mylitta Crescents, a Common Checkered Skipper and 1 Melissa Blue. Pretty exciting. They were all at the bottom of the trail.

As I climbed, I just enjoyed the Fall views.

At one point during the climb, there were 3 bison on the other side of the gully from me --- actually very very steep gully. They were eating and stopped and all looked my way. And then just continued to eat.

There were puddles from the rains of the last 2 days but the trail was mostly dry. In some muddy places, I could see deer or pronghorn tracks. And come to think of it, I've never seen a deer here.

I came to a intersection in the trail -- the one trail was closed to hikers but there was one hiker on it of the 4-legged variety, a coyote! Never fails, everytime I come, I see a coyote and I'm still thrilled. He looked my way as he was crossing the trail.

I finally get to saddle and the views westward towards the Oquirrhs and the white mountain tops. It was windy up here (from the west) so I had to pull out my windbreaker.

A quick lunch enjoying the views and I was off heading south down the saddle behind Sentry Peak.

Pretty rocky around the trail. Spotted a lizard!

As I got closer to the rocky Sentry peak there were lots of signs of bison - fresh signs (and smells) of bison. Definitely had to watch were I was stepping. I looked down below towards the water and could see what could be just large rocks or bison. Actually there were rocks and bison - a herd of about 30 - and I know where they were early in the day. :)

Finished the crossing and started back down the hill. Along the way I scared up a pronghorn. He trotted across the road and stopped. He was about 200 yrds away. He turned to look at me and then trotted off. I watched him for a while and at one point he was perfectly silhouetted against the lake.

The butterflies were still flying on my return.

I still had time so I drove off towards the Visitors Center. I made a stop at one of the official turn offs and walked down towards the water on what looked like a game trail (lots of little pellets along the way). I was just trying to get good shots of the lake but it really didn't work out so well.

A little further down the road was a lone pronghorn. Worth a photo.

As I turned toward the Center some movement in the sagebrush caught my eye. And yes there are deer here! There were 2 buck - both looked to have 5-6 points.

Stopped on the beach for a quick look.

As I circled the Center, the one bison (w/ the grass in his horn) was still there -- no grass. And there were 4 others around the Center.

What a great day -- lots of wildlife and fall colors. And the part shot, as I drove past the gate was a red-tailed hawk pretty low to the ground, flew right over my car. I was glad no one was behind me because I stopped to watch. Can't beat that to close the day!!