We Might Not Be Back: Utah: Antelope Island and Zion National Park

Next stop was Antelope Island State Park in the Great Salt Lake. Once again we experienced a pretty dramatic change in scenery and temperature. The girls had slept in fleece pajama pants the night before and the temperature was now high 90s. Driving out onto the island was surreal. You can’t see anything past the water. We drove around and listened to the AM information station, which alleged there was a great beach for swimming. Everyone got their suits on and we were ready to check out this salty water. WHAT A DISASTER! The walk to the water was insanely long given how hot it was. As you get closer to the water you are swarmed by Brine flies. It was like an episode of fear factor. I kind of wanted to puke. Gabby ran straight to the water and sat down at which point she began wailing in pain. Apparently being in water with a salt concentration 6 times that of the ocean doesn’t feel particularly great on open wounds. Naturally all the bug bites from the Tetons had been scratched open and once they hit that water things went downhill. Lottie was soon to follow and was then screaming about salt and the nasty flies. We spent all of 2 minutes in the water before retreating. At that point heading to the hotel for a shower seemed to be the best option.

Our hotel had amazing views of the surrounding mountains and was conveniently a mere 3 miles from a restaurant that had been featured on Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives. It was like fate. So we headed up the “hill” to Ruth’s. I am pretty sure this was the only official meal we had that day, but due to complete exhaustion Dan and I had to finish our food and the girls. Thankfully we had a nice hotel to sleep in for the night before we headed to Las Vegas by way of Zion National Park.

I had been warned Zion would be crowded in summer, but I was not prepared for the wall to wall people we found there. It was like navigating a theme park. Although I think the hikes would be nicer with less of a crowd there is nothing that could detract from the beauty of Zion. I could’ve sat and stared at the rocks there all day. We got our 4th junior ranger book here and rushed to a ranger program so we’d be able to complete it. After that we headed to the riverwalk which leads to the narrows. We made it to where the paved trail ends and then decided to see how much further we could make it. Dan and the girls had sandals. As a throwback to high school I decided to go barefoot, so I wouldn’t have to ride the rest of the way to Vegas with nasty wet gym shoes. The river was literally packed with people. We made it down to watch some people repelling and then decided to turn back because we still had a couple hours drive ahead of us. On our way out Dan was stopped by a fellow Cincinnatian for his Hudepohl t-shirt. The same thing had happened to me in the Tetons. This time the person had also gone to St. X. SMALL WORLD!