Off to Salt Lake City for a 3 day marathon weekend – my 6th marathon & first Saturday race day.

Runner’s Expo bib pick up at Energy Solutions Arena (home of the NBA’s Utah Jazz), then off to Antelope Island – my pre-race Utah adventure.  The Great Salt Lake is large enough to be seen from space — [so for me] an obvious go-to destination.

Antelope Island is accessed via a causeway west of Ogden.  Pronghorn Antelope?  Yeah, yeah they’ve been reintroduced to the island – but why did I go?  BUFFALO.  Free roaming herds of buffalo inhabit this island – so much so that each October they roundup herds, update vaccinations & sell off 100-150 head to maintain balance.

Quick stop at the Visitors Center to boost my knowledge base –

• Why salty vs fresh water?  [lake is a bowl with no water outlet]
• Do fish inhabit Salt Lake? [nope, only brine shrimp]
• If no fish, what do the sea gulls eat? [lotta gnats & other insects]
• First Anglo to settle Antelope Island?  [fur trapper Jim Bridger]

Bucking against ranger advice, hiked up Buffalo Point for pic ops of the Great Salt Lake.  Amazing landscape shots against Utah’s snow-capped Rockies (Wasatch Mountains).  Beautiful but then… GNATS

Hundreds of gnats settled on my cap, shirt, neck, in my ears, eyes, mouth.  Appears the rangers were right – it really is gnat birthing season.  Rushed back down the trail, stepping on a snake on my trek return.  Not a rattlesnake (which is what I initially thought) but rather a Great Basin gopher snake.  Vigorously shook off, ducked in my rental & turned the AC on high.  Goal?  Freeze all remaining insects resting on my body & clothing.  I’m not crazy squeamish but these swarms were epic.

Meanwhile…only 20 minutes away on the other side of the island roamed herds of BUFFALO.  On a cerebral level, I understand these are genetic cousins to our domestic cattle – but in person, these massive mammals represent the American West.  Native to our continent, muscular, strong – I’m a HUGE fan.  WOW!

Saw jackrabbits which ridiculed the size of my neighborhood’s bunnies – huge feet, enormous ears.  Didn’t leave before snapping shots of deer & a coyote.  Whole lotta wildlife.

Can’t imagine day-to-day life for those first frontier pioneers but for me, Utah’s Great Salt Lake – a ‘must-see’ destination.