Great Salt Lake

This last weekend Franco took us to the shores of the Great Salt Lake (see below for info about this lake). Although its about 5 minutes away from us I have never been so this was fun. The kids loved it, especially Addyson. She is fascinated with water and has no fear of anything. See the picture below for proof! :)
She was running everywhere like she was a free bird, too cute that girl.

What a romantic picture :) I thought i would be sitting and hanging in sand because I didn't know what to expect so I wore my yucky clothes. Had I known we were going to take a picture I would have dressed up :)


My two precious children. Andrew takes such good care of Addyson and is always watching out for her. Poor Addyson has two mom's sometimes. We had a good time and it was a nice, fun, short adventure.

The Great Salt Lake and its islands provide outstanding scenery and recreational opportunities in northern Utah. Sunsets over the lake can be breathtaking. Amazing red, orange, lavender and magenta hues slowly dissolve in the evening sky. The lake's turquoise waters attract sailors, its white sand beaches are popular with swimmers and sunbathers, and craggy outcroppings on Antelope Island and some shoreline areas draw hikers and mountain bikers.

The Great Salt Lake is one of the most asked-about tourist destinations in Utah. A remnant of the massive ancient Lake Bonneville, the lake is now landlocked and its waters are salty. It is the largest lake between the Great Lakes and the Pacific Ocean, and is the largest saltwater lake in the Western Hemisphere.

Legends abound about the lake. Early explorers thought the lake was an inland extension of the Pacific Ocean, or that a river connected the lake to the ocean. Some Indians and early settlers thought the lake was inhabited by a terrible monster with an enormous head. The lake and its legends are an intriguing part of Utah's landscape and history.

Swimming and sunbathing are popular on the clean, white sand beaches at Antelope Island State Park. The salinity of the water averages about 12%, making it much saltier than the ocean. The water is so buoyant that people can easily float. Freshwater showers are available to rinse off after swimming.

Fish live in the freshwater marshes and inlets, but no fish species can survive in the lake's salty water. Unique brine shrimp thrive in the lake; they are harvested and processed into fish food. Brine flies live on the lake's shorelines and can be annoying. They don't bite but often swarm around humans. Antelope Island beaches are relatively free of brine flies. Winds coming off the lake can carry a "lake stench" at some times of the year. Again, the odor is usually not a problem at Antelope Island.

History
The Great Salt Lake is actually the remainder of prehistoric Lake Bonneville, which covered some 20,000 square miles of land in what is now Utah, Nevada and Idaho some 10,000 to 30,000 years ago. The present lake is about 75 miles long and 35 miles wide, with a maximum depth of 33 feet. After a series of wet years, the lake's surface area may be much larger but it will be only a little bit deeper.

Water levels in the lake are far from constant. During its recorded low in 1963, some of the lake's 10 major islands became peninsulas. In 1983, when the lake reached its historic high, it flooded houses, farmland and the nearby freeway. Huge pumps were constructed to deposit excess water into Utah's west desert. The pumps were shut down in 1989.

Four rivers and numerous streams empty into the Great Salt Lake, carrying dissolved minerals. The lake has no outlet so these minerals are trapped. Continual evaporation concentrates the minerals. Several businesses extract table salt and other chemicals from the lake water.