Lakeshore Trail Antelope Island State Park

                            View looking east from trail

General Information: One trail head for this hike is the Bridger Bay Campground. I chose to do this hike because the Gnats were so bad in camp. This trail is about 3 miles one way with minimal elevation gain. The hike provides great views of the Great Salt Lake. This is an out and back hike so a shuttle might be a good plan of action. Since I was camped in Bridger Bay I hiked on an unestablished trail over the point back to the campground. Enjoy the photos from my hike. Remember to wear a hat and bring enough water.

                                    Orange Globe Mallow

                      Orange Globe Mallow

                         Looking north along trail

Antelope Island State Park Utah May 11 and 12 2013

                                             Elevation map of Antelope Island    
General Information and location: To get to Antelope Island take Exit 332 on I-15 in Layton. Turn left onto Antelope Island Road and continue through Layton to the Causeway+. Entrance fees: $9 for each car and $3 if you are biking. Camping is available at Bridger Bay Campground and White Rock Bay Campground for $13 a night. There is no water at the Bridger Bay Campground so either bring enough or stop at the Visitor Center. Gnats are a problem in the Spring on the island so make sure to bring a head net. They don't bite but will drive you crazy because they fly into your nose, eyes and ears.On this blog I have included posts giving information on the Buffalo Point Hike, Lake Point Trail, Frary Peak and Fielding Garr Ranch House.

Activities on Antelope Island:   Biking is popular on state park roads. Watch out for groups of bicycles on the shoulder when driving in the park. Throughout the year roads might be closed for races. Visitors come from around the world to watch birds and wildlife on the island. In fact Antelope Island has one of the largest breeding colonies of California Gulls, Wilson's Phalaropes and Eared Grebes in the United States.  Viewable wildlife include Coyotes, Bison, Antelope, Bighorn Sheep and Mule Deer.
             With about seven trail heads hiking is a popular activity on the island. Trails range in length from 0.25 to over 16 miles in length. Make sure to inquire at the Visitor's Center about trail conditions and difficulty. Popular trails include Buffalo Point, Frary Peak and the Lake point trail near Bridger Bay Campground. The Frary Peak trail gains over 2100 feet of elevation to an elevation of 6596. Caution: there is no shade when hiking so make sure to bring enough water and wear a hat. I would suggest hiking early in the morning before the sun becomes intense. Buffalo Point is a nice place to watch the sunset over the Great Salk Lake. If you are a runner there are runs throughout the year of various lengths including 5Ks, 10Ks, 50Ks, and 100Ks. If interested inquire on the state park website.

Short History: Antelope Island has a rich history of human habitation from Native Americans to settlers. The earliest known habitation on the island was 6,000 years ago with the Freemont people. They were primarily hunters and gatherers. The Visitor's Center has an impressive collection of viewable artifacts.
                   Important settlers include John C. Freemont and Fielding Garr.  John C. Freemont and Kit Carson, the first people of European descent, arrived at the island in 1845. They did not stay very long but hunted large game including Antelope. In 1848 Fielding Garr established residency in the southern part of the island. His family and John Dooley Sr. herded Sheep and Cattle until 1981 when the property was brought by the state. Brigham Young paid him to watch the Tithing Herd for the LDS Church. This herd provided funds for the Perpetual Immigration Fund which funded church members to immigrate to Utah. In 1981 the state of Utah acquired the rest of Antelope Island. (Information from State Park website and Wikipedia).  

                               Antelope Island State Park map with trailheads

Vanishing Communities #3 Union, Nevada May 2013

I continue my vanishing communities series with Union, Nevada, in central Nevada.  This ghost town is located approximately two miles from Berlin in Berlin Icthyosaur State Park. Union was a small mining community within the Union Mining District. The camp thrived for awhile in the 1860s but by 1866 most miners had left. A short revival occured in 1890 because of a renewed interest in Berlin area mines. Today this building is the only remaining structure in the town. Nevada state parks has done a good job with using plaques to show where other structures existed.  (Information from Nevada Ghost Towns and Mining Camps By Stanley Paher).

Church History Museum Salt Lake City, Utah April 27, 2013

                                              Map showing the immigration to Zion

Location and General Information: The Mormon History Museum is located off of Temple Square next to the Family History Center.Admission is free but donations are appreciated. I should allocate at least one hour and a half to walk around. A museum store sells artifacts as well as information about the Mormon religion. On the main floor exhibits show the immigration of believers from Nauvoo to Zion (Salt Lake City). Church members also came from around the world. They left because of persecution at Nauvoo. Church leaders summoned believers from around the world to Zion where they would be free to practice their religion in peace.  Immigrants started out traveling by covered wagon however, that method became too expensive and the majority used hand carts to travel to Zion. This journey was very arduous and many died as a result.  The second floor of the museum has a big exhibit showing the past Presidents of the Church. Highlights include Joseph Smith and Brigham Young.The exhibit is informative and worth your time.
              I partly visited the museum to see how the Church portrayed the Mountain Meadows Massacre as well the future. I was very surprised that there was no mention of the Mountain Meadows  Massacre anywhere in the museum. I expected the Church to attempt to explain what happened to visitors. There was also no mention of future reforms within the church such as letting women  and African Americans become more involved within leadership.

                        Pistols belonging to Joseph SMith and Hyrum in Missouri

                            A method used to determine mileage traveled on a covered wagon

                           Blurry map showing the path immigrants took to get to Zion

                                                  Presidents of the Church exhibit

                                      Covered wagon

Hike in the Northern part of Toano Mountains, Nevada April 20, 2013

                            Looking west toward the Pequop Mountains


Location: For this hike I am not going to give precise location information. What I am willing to say is that it is to the north of the Shafter exit on Interstate 80 in eastern Nevada. The exit is approximately 30 minutes west of West Wendover, Nevada. To explore this country you will need a vehicle with high clearance.

The hike: I hiked approximately 4-5 miles off trail through Pinyon pine with my dog Nevada. The hike required scrambling over rocks, and crawling along the ground. I found this hike fun and challenging because it required route finding skills. To do off-trail hiking it is necessary to have common sense and not climb any rock you cannot get down. Most parts of Nevada are remote and if you get hurt help is far away. On this blog I have included some of my favorite pictures from the trip.

                                   Looking north in the Toano Mountains

                          Impressive country; looking south.

            Nevada hiking 

                                  Pilot Peak and rock formations

Vanishing Communities #2 Taylor, Nevada April 2013

                                  One of the unreadable graves at Taylor

The second community I am going to highlight for this series is Taylor, Nevada, in eastern Nevada. It is located 18 miles south of Ely in the Schell Creek Range.

History: Silver mining occured in the Taylor District for 10 years from 1880 to 18889. Silver ore was descovered at the Monitor and Argus mines in 1880. The town would not become a boomtown until Cherry Creek and Ward, Nevada, declined in 1883. From 1883 to 1890 Taylor had saloons, butcher shops, restaurants, boarding house, Wells Fargo Office, drug store and school. Unlike Pioche to the south, Taylor was quiet with very little violence. Daily stage coach service transported people north and south.
                Similar to other mining communities mining declined because of lower metal prices. By 1889 most businesses at moved to Ely, Nevada. Today there are no remnants left of the original town except for a small cemetery. In the cemetery only one headstone is actually readable. The other headstones were made out of wood and they have long since decayed or have become unreadable. I have included in this blog a page from one of the directories at the cemetery with records of people who might be buried in the cemetery. Today the location of some of the graves is a mystery. Presently, there is mining going on near the cemetery so watch for trucks on the dirt road to the cemetery. (Information from Nevada Ghost Towns and Mining Camps By Stanley Paher) 

                                          The only readable grave in the cemetery
 

                                    The cemetery which is slowly succumbing to the elements

                                   A page from the directory at the cemetery. What is interesting is Amos Horn who was killed by a Grizzly Bear in 1888.

Vanishing Communities #1 Bullionville, Nevada

                                               A headstone in the Bullionville Cemetery

Throughout Nevada are mining camps and communities which were important at some point in Nevada's history. The discovery of ore caused many of these communities to spring up over night as prospectors came rushing in to strike it rich. For many of these towns the boom would not last. Today, these communities are vanishing; succumbing to the desert landscape. My first post in this series is about the milling town of Bullionville, Nevada, 10 miles south of Pioche on US 93.

History: Pioche, Nevada, became the center of mining for all of Lincoln County. The town prospered because of the discovery of gold and silver ore; however, Pioche had a lack of water which made milling impossible. Because of plentiful water, Bullionville became the center of milling for Pioche mines. In 1873 Bullionville had five 110 stamp mills as well as a population of 500.  The creation of a waterworks in 1875, which supplied Pioche with water, hastened Bullionville's decline.
             Bullionville grew rapidly for a number of reasons. First, the completion of the Pioche and Bullionville Railroad facilitated the transport of ore from the mines to the mills. Second, from 1872-1875 workers build four more mills. As a result of the railroad and the mills the town had hotels, saloons, hay yards, blacksmith shop and school.
           As stated above the town declined when Pioche was finally supplied with water. Soon after the railroad ceased operations and residents left. Bullionville had small revivals throughout the years but nothing has been sustainable. Today all that is left is a small graveyard with many unmarked graves. (Information from Nevada Ghost Towns and Mining Camps by Stanley Paher)

                 Another pic of the cemetery. Notice some of the graves have no identification

                                     Mill at Bullionville

Another picture of Bullionville in its heyday