Beautiful morning as I drive across the causeway. Although the wind is blowing, some parts of the Great Salt Lake side are still leaving wonderful reflections. Still lots of seagulls near the water although their numbers do seem to be dropping.
As I close in on the island I see a coyote along the shoreline. I move in for a closer look.
Then I head down to the Ranch as I'm hiking the Sentry Trail today.
I see my first bison of the day not even 1 mile onto the island.
My first stop is the first pullout -- I do this everytime I'm here and usually there's nothing below but sometimes there's a surprise like today's large herd of pronghorn!!!
I count 26 but there could be more.
From here, I also get a good view of Salt Lake.
And 3 small herd of bison to the west, northwest and southwest.
Moving on, there's nothing happening until just past Frary Peak where I see a very large herd of bison. But they are out near the mountains.
The herd is spread out stretching a good 1/4 mile or more.
Soon I arrive at the Ranch and head down the dirt road towards the trail head. I'll have company on the trail this morning as there's another car already parked and the people are somewhere far along the trail as I cannot see them.
I put on my gloves and coat (it's only 43 degrees and windy) and head off. But before I even get to the trail, I'm greeted by a Horned Lark.
As I head up the trail, I notice what looks like animals far in the distance and on closer inspection, it's another herd of pronghorn. Looks like around 10 animals.
I'll get somewhat closer as I move up the trail. But when I do, I can't find them - the landscape is rolling so they must be behind a "roll". I eventually find one and then I get a glimpse of the herd running south.
Time to head up the hill.
Along the way, I see a dragonfly
And grasshoppers.
I reach the long flat switchback - 1/2 way there!! I also see a herd of bison along the ridge on the south end of Sentry Peak. They could be a problem for me a little later.
As I'm crossing, I see a big black beetle.
I also see dog tracks. These could by coyote but they also could be the dog of the other hikers out here.
Done with the flat part; time for the rest of the uphill. Along the way, I'm surprised to find the smallest butterfly in the US -- the Western Pygmy Blue. (It's wingspan is between 3/8 - 3/4 inch.)
Quite a surprise as the White Rock Trail is usually a good spot for these and I haven't seen one this Fall. Also, this trail was burned out by the wildfire last summer, so to see them is pretty exciting!
Tons of sunflowers as I near the top -- most already done blooming. It's like a sunflower forest!
Soon I reach the top -- wonderful views!!!
(There's whitecaps out on the water!)
And start my way across. I meet the other hikers (they are going the other way). The one guy tells me about a large herd of bison on the other side of Sentry Peak (the ones I saw earlier). They also do not have a dog so those were coyote tracks on the trail below!
As I complete the trek across the ridge, I'm looking for bison and making sure the large dark boulders I'm passing are really rocks. I'm not finding them until I cross the ridge just on the other side!!!
At first, they seem obviously to my presence as I move along the trail. But them, they notice as heads turn and others move off.
I just continue downhill.
Looks like there's a young calf nursing
and a baby "Red".
Downward I go. Seeing Clouded Sulphers flying now. (21 of them!)
And another the final stretch to the parking lot, I find a very faded Melissa Blue!!!
Awesome hike!
Back at the car, I decide to continue down the dirt road hoping to find that herd of pronghorn but I was unsuccessful.
Nothing new as I drive back up the island except that very large herd of bison along the mountains are still along the mountains but have separated into several smaller herds and those pronghorn I saw from the overlook have moved into the open near one of the water bins!
Great day!
