Finally - a new look!
We're hard at work finally, putting the new site look up, and making sure all the content is fresh and newly updated.  Please bear with us over the next week or two if you find something missing or a broken link or two.  We are working hard to get caught up so if something doesn't work right today, please check back tomorrow!

Some sections gone
If you're looking around for a few of the sections we had before, I'm sorry to say that some of them are just plain gone. I decided it was time to narrow the focus of the site a bit to make sure we can really do a good job of covering the things we kept around. We were getting a little thin before, trying to offer something for everyone. We've got a new sitemap here though, so you can see all the sections.

The Great Salt Lake is one of the most unappreciated lakes in the Utah, particularly by Utahns. Tourists seem to have it on their "must visit" list when they first visit, in fact on any given day in the summer, at the Great Salt Lake Marina state park, big tour busses full of tourists pull in. Their doors swing open and a crush of tourists, many of them Japanese, pour out. Many times, if the weather condiitons are just so, you'll see them with one hand holding a handkerchief over their nose while the other snaps a few quick photos with the camera. I'm sure their takeaway memory of the Great Salt Lake could often be summed up as "a smelly place where nobody goes".

In fairness, the Great Salt Lake doesn't always smell bad. But sometimes it does. There aren't always tons of brine flies and spiders, but sometimes there are. But despite the fact that the conditions hear aren't as sweet as those of any Ocean, there is a community of people who enjoy the unique recreation opportunities here. The Great Salt Lake Marina on the south end of the lake is home to the Great Salt Lake Yacht Club. This small club suprinsingly enough has a history that goes back nearly as far as any Yacht Club in the country. Clear back in 1877 the club was originally founded, and while it wasn't necessarily operational full time, it was incorporated in 1932 under the original charter and has remained incorporated since that time under the original charter. The local club is pretty active, there's a full schedule of summer racing to participate in and plenty of partying to be done afterwards. Some of the memorable events include such unique events as the "Bottom of the Pit" party. This event is the annual celebration of the Winter Equinox, the shortest day of the year and roughly the point in time where the evaporation loss of water in the lake shifts to the gains made from the annual snowfall and spring runoff.

See here's the deal with this inland dead sea. This lake is the remnants of the prehistoric Lake Bonneville, a body of water that covered much of northern Utah and Southern Idaho back around the days of the dinosaurs. It drained to the north, carving out much of the now scenic Snake River Gorge around Twin Falls Idaho as it did. What's left is a shallow, extremely salty body of water that is host to nothing more than the tiny Brine Shrimp. These Shrimp provide the means for one of the major industries on the lake, as they are harvested once a year to be packaged up and sold as aquarium fish food. But the shallow lake and the recent years of drought in the Wasatch Mountains has made it a bit rough to be a sailor here. In the summer of 2008, the mouth of the Marina had to be dredged to keep enough water depth to get most of the sailboats in and out, but by the end of the Summer, many of the larger boats were pulled from the water or stuck helplessly in their slips, their keels sitting in the mud under the shallow water. So sailors who call this lake home are particulary in tune with the snowfall totals each winter, they hungrily watch the spring runoff as this spring runoff is the time when the lake surface slow crawls back up in the positive direction. Once the runoff ends, the cycle reverses and evaporation begins to slowly suck the lake down again.

So this lake has its' issues. It's shallow, sometimes the smell gets a little fowl as the brine shrimp and other critters that wash in from the rivers decompose, the water isn't much fun to get into because it's so salty it makes your skin itch as soon as it starts to dry, and there's no fishing. But despite all that, the community of sailors, scullers, bird watchers, duck hunters and others that have found ways to enjoy themselves here find this unique lake to be one that isn't crowded, has some great summer wind patterns that make for great sails and has sunsets that will take your breath away. And all this is located less than 20 miles from the heart of the Salt Lake City.

The lake has several large islands, the biggest of which is Antelope Island. Antelope Island is now connected to the rest of the valley by a paved causeway, which has turned it into a unique destination even if you don't go out onto the water. There's a $9 charge to drive across the causeway, or if you're on foot or on a bike, it's only $3, and if you want to camp on the island, there are campspots available, they have a $13 per night fee.

There's a small Marina when you first leave the causeway, where a few boats are moored, but there aren't really any Marina services offered. There is a nice visitors center though, and if you travel a bit further into the island you'll want to make sure you stop at Buffalo Point. You can order up a burger from their Bistro, and sit outside on their patio and take in the views out over the unpopulated west side of the lake, a view that will make your forget there is a city anywhere nearby. If you've never watched a sunset over the lake, this spot is one you should try out. You won't regret it. They also offer unique Safari Trips in their amphibious "Duck" and Sightseeing and Dinner Cruises aboard their new "Majestic Islander" boat during the summer.

Antelope Island is also home to a herd of roughly 500 Bison, and each year in the fall there is a roundup of the herd that is an event that anyone can particpate in or watch from afar. There's some very nice hiking trails on the island, you can take a nice day-hike clear up to the top of the highest peak on the island. There's also the old Fielding Garr Ranch towards the southern end of the island that the State now maintains as a historic site. You can take your own tour of the buildings and there's usually a park ranger around who can answer questions. Periodically there are even special events there at the site, sometimes complete with local musicians, sack races for the kids and all sorts of fun. This Island definitely deserves some exploring!