In addition to my passion for bird watching, I love to hike and explore the outdoors.
I also love a great sunset so when the two come together it can make for a spectacular evening like it did a couple of weeks ago one Saturday evening out on Antelope Island.
Normally when I photograph sunsets over the Great Salt Lake I pull off somewhere along the causeway but with how low the Great Salt Lake water level currently is, getting a good reflection is near impossible this time of year with the sun so far south.
As a result, it was time for me to improvise and hike a few miles to get closer to the water.
I condensed my camera gear to a packable amount and took about a 45-minute hike on the Lakeside Trail, a fairly easy hiking trail on the west side of Antelope Island, to get to where I could have a chance of photographing the impending sunset.
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According to the sign at the trailhead, the Lakeside Trail is about 2.8 miles one way and gains 154 feet in elevation so it’s a fairly flat hike and rated as easy according to the signage.
Western meadowlarks were singing along the trail as I headed west and I did come across a few mule deer feeding in the tall vegetation along the shoreline.
But the highlight of the evening was the spectacular sunset that emerged, one that was well worth the effort to hike to the west side of the island just before sundown.
Now I won’t go into the particulars about how to photograph sunsets, I have a blog post on my photography website that covers that in detail.
I do want to just make mention though that the most spectacular sunsets I have ever seen and taken are out on Antelope Island while photographing over a calm Great Salt Lake.
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When I arrived at the location I figured would be best, I stood and looked all around me for about 10 minutes as I waited for the sun to cross the skyline, scratching my head in wonderment why the only other living thing out there with me were a couple packs of distant coyotes howling back and forth off to the east.
A most spectacular sunset was had that evening and I had it all to myself, well, me and the coyotes, that is.
After it was over, I found myself hiking out in the dark as I usually stay until every ounce of the color from the sunset is gone.
Don’t take my word for it, however, experience it for yourself.
The Great Salt Lake west of Antelope Island has some of the most spectacular sunsets I have ever experienced, and I’ve seen plenty over the years as I have photographed sunsets much longer than I have birds if truth be told.
If you are a nature lover like I am, enjoying anything and everything nature-related from bird watching to sunsets, I offer you to head on over to our subscribe page and sign up for email notifications for future blog posts.
I appreciate your readership and support for this website and enjoy bringing you what I can through my camera lens, regardless of whether it’s birds, waterfalls, sunsets, butterflies, or anything else found in nature for that matter.
It’s all part of nature and every bit of it can bring some peace and serenity to our lives if we just get out and enjoy what the natural world has to offer, no matter if it’s 100 miles away or just down the street.
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