I've managed to set foot on most of the lake's islands over the years. I know I haven't made it to Dolphin and can't remember being on Badger, though we might have made it there when we toured Carrington and Hat on the same day. I've been near but never set foot on Egg.
I would rate as career highlights my two visits to Gunnison Island on the remote north arm with Division of Wildlife Resources officials, who are the only ones who can legally reach the island for research purposes.
Few places can boast of the bird life there. In the spring, between 10,000 and 15,000 American white pelicans nest on Gunnison along with 30,000 gulls. Seeing that many birds on a 160-acre, mile-long island is not soon forgotten. Lack of predators and isolation from humans make Gunnison an ideal nesting colony.
On my second trip there, the boat dropped me off with biologist Don Paul and photographer Bruce Anderson. Seconds after stepping ashore, we saw a peregrine falcon dive bomb an owl, knocking it off a cliff. Since Paul did not know rare peregrines nested there, the scene was quite a surprise. We also used that second trip as an excuse to do some quick survey work on Cub Island.
On another trip, wildlife officials and state park rangers received permission from the private landowner to spend a night on Fremont Island, second only to Antelope in size. We hiked to the top and found its most famous landmark: a cross carved into the rock by famed explorer Kit Carson, who visited the island with John C. Fremont, a U.S. Army officer after whom the island is named, in 1843.
Antelope Island, a state park, is considerably easier to visit, though it wasn't in 1991, when the high water of the Great Salt Lake closed the causeway. I managed to take a lesser-known route from the south side of the island with geologists Don Mabey and Genevieve Atwood. The two experts graciously explained the geology of the lake and the island as we stood alone on the shoreline.
Since then, I have visited Antelope Island many times, climbing to Frary Peak once and camping near the Fielding Garr Ranch on another occasion. I've ridden horses there. There have been bison roundups and a bighorn-sheep transplant. I also recently had a chance to fly over the island in a small plane. When visitors come to Salt Lake City and ask where they should visit, the island is the first place I send them.
Stansbury has never seemed like an island because visitors can almost always drive there. Seeing the ancient American Indian rock writings etched into black rocks is the highlight there, though the mix of private and public land can be problematic for visitors, who must be careful not to trespass.
Again traveling with state parks and wildlife officials, we also visited Carrington and Hat or Bird island by boat. The sheer number of birds that use those barren places is difficult to believe.
Memories of these island visits remain among the most vivid outdoor experiences I've had in Utah or, for that matter, anywhere in the world.
---
* TOM WHARTON can be contacted at wharton@sltrib.com. His phone number is 801-257-8909. Send comments about this column to livingeditor@sltrib.com.
