Not far from our house, in the southeast corner of the Great Salt Lake lies a large island known as Antelope Island. It’s also a state park, and one of our favorite places to go, whether for a scenic drive or hiking. We’ve made several trips out there since we first discovered it a couple years ago. On one of our trips we found the Frary Peak Trail, which takes you to the highest point on the island via a three-mile trail that rises 2100 ft. It’s not a difficult trail–there are a few spots that require some get-up-n-go to get up–but the heat of summer can be a little daunting. There are nearly no trees, just baked hillside.
The first time we tried to hike it we didn’t have water. We made it to around the two-mile mark before we turned back. But there’s something about having “been beaten” that niggles at you, and we vowed to go back and finish the trail.
We tried again this summer when we had a Chinese exchange student with us. His dossier said he liked hiking, so we took him up on it. We had food and water. But we hadn’t even reached the mile mark before he was acting like he was going to drop dead at any second. While we thought he was being melodramatic, we didn’t want his death on our hands, so I turned around and went back to the car with him while my wife and kids took a short trail to Dooley’s Knob, which was just a little over a mile to the top. They enjoyed a nice view of the island, but Frary Peak remained unconquered.
So this last week we decided it was time to try again. We picked a perfect day for it; clear and cool. We had water and food, and determination. And we made it. It was a little anticlimactic to find a transmission tower there, but the view was incredible, and the scenery quite dramatic. There was a higher point still above that, but the trail ended, and it would have required rock-climbing skills and gear to make it the rest of the way. We decided the official end of the trail was sufficient. No “Family Hike Turns Tragic” headlines for us.
We took lots of pictures–none of which I have handy, of course. Perhaps I’ll post up a photo-essay tomorrow. It’s a harsh environment out there, but there’s a rugged appeal to it, much like the more extreme coasts of Scotland. I’d hate to be out there where the weather really turns bad, though.
Along the way we selected our next goal. Along the western shoreline there’s a promontory called “Elephant’s Head” for semi-obvious reasons (if looking at an overhead map, anyway). We overlooked it for much of the hike, and noted there is a hiking trail up onto it. It’s a longer hike, but most of the trail looks to be little more than semi-flat road. We’re thinking that might be fun to tackle next spring.
Meanwhile, we have a sense of accomplishment. Frary Peak is the longest hike we’ve been on as a family, and the fact that it took us several attempts just makes the success sweeter. No matter what, we’ll always have Frary Peak.