Antelope Island - Winter

We usually do Antelope Island in early spring, when the snow has melted and before the biting gnats come out. However yesterday they released an awesome video of the ice piling up along the causeway and it looked really cool! So, I decided, hey why not check it out in the winter? Worst case scenario, we see the ice, and then just drive around taking in the views and enjoying the wildlife. Ultimately, after the ice we ended up hiking the Lake Side trail, so, dual, partial adventure today but it was still fun.

To get here, take i15 to Antelope Dr in Layton. Follow that west until you hit the park gate at the beginning of the causeway. Pay the 10$ fee (as of December 2016) then follow the causeway onto the island.

Driving down the causeway.

Water coming in through the opening in the causeway.

The other side.

And this is what beckoned me out to the island today. Antelope Island released a video of the ice piling up here so I wanted to come see it.

You can see the video here if you are interested:
https://www.facebook.com/200150106673589/videos/1355171741171414/?pnref=story

Unfortunately, it is no longer moving and piling up like it was in the video, which I really would have liked to have seen myself, but it was still neat to see the results.

From their explanation: The freshwater flowing from the Jordan river freezes on top of the saltier water below. And then the wind was pushing it up against the causeway.

The piles of ice were really kind of neat.

You can see where it pushed up sand and other debris along with the ice.

Just big heaps of ice.

Some guy was using the sheets to build some sort of sculpture.

Some bigger chunks.

With the pretty mountains in the background.

This piece looks like the rocks have melted through it and it is settling down amongst them.

.

Again, I wish I had seen it in action, but I am really loving the results.

Okay, this is cool but we decided to see what else we could do.

The causeway from the visitor center.

Farmington Bay

Finally saw some buffalo, although from a distance.

The ice piles brought us out here today, the rest of it I was just kind of winging it. I had a few trails in mind, or maybe even just drive around and look for animals. We finally decided to get one last hike in for the year and headed out towards the Lake Side Trail, which we have done before but decided to do again.

After our hike it was too dark to do much else so we decided to head on home. Even though it was a short trip today, it was still a great, memorable trip. I love Antelope Island and now that I know winter is nice, will definitely have to plan a few more trips.