Antelope Island at Sunrise – Part First

It has been a favorite pastime of mine for the past nine or so years to hike and to explore the mountains and canyons or desert plains and hills in my surround…

…or in the case of the last five years, in addition to the deserts, etc., the forests, mountains, and mesas that are within a few hours’ drive of where I live.

When I have had good or better fortune, I have been able to go back to those preferred mountains and islands of my not so distant past…

…those beloved places up north, and hike and explore and simply exist again in the environment or locale that remains in my core as “home.”

At some point in the early part of those few years that I lived up north, it became preferable to start the specific adventure, to be at the designated trailhead, before sunrise.

There were fewer cars in the parking lots, fewer pairs of boots on the trails heading into the mountains…

…and a greater chance of capturing the essence of an undisturbed morning’s peace when starting at such an hour.

In application to my southern journeys, it became prudent to start this early, so as to avoid the greater heat of the day by completing the trek and returning to my truck before noon.

That said, I had determined to arrive at the trailhead to Frary Peak on Antelope Island before the sun rose and started warming the northern Utah August day.

Well…I made it to the Antelope Island State Park entrance before sunrise…

…but was then waylaid by the views north and south and east and west while driving on the causeway to the island, so I didn’t make it to the trailhead until nearly an hour after sunrise.

To be…