Let Me Tell You a Little Something About Antelope Island Salt Lake City, Utah

I just got back from spending the week with my boyfriend in Salt Lake City, Utah. When we're together he likes to take me to different national parks and sites around the state. Utah has some gorgeous parks and mountain ranges unlike anything I've ever experienced here on the East Coast. This time we decided to take a little day trip over to Antelope Island State Park right on the Salt Lake. He had taken me to the Salt Lake before but since neither of us had been to the island on the other side it seemed like a great place to do a little exploring and take some photos. 

All of the park's sites online made it look like a really gorgeous place where you could see antelope (obviously) and bison while overlooking the Salt Lake -- which don't get me wrong it was a stunning view, BUT no one happened to mention one tiny detail. This island is swarmed by droves and droves of gnats which would have only been a minor annoyance if they didn't also bite the ever loving crap out of you as soon as you step out of your car. We first noticed these little devils while driving into the park. I was bummed because I thought it had started raining but actually we were driving through swarms of gnats that were so thick that it sounded like rain on the windshield (gross I know.) At this point we still didn't realize we were walking into a swarm much like the plague of Egypt.

Our first stop was the Visitor's Center so that we could get some waters and this is when we found out that those little gnats weren't just annoying, they are the work of Satan himself. As soon as we got out of the car we noticed that they were swarming all around us and they started to bite. I didn't even know gnats bit but, whatever these hybrid works of the devil were hurt like hell and followed you wherever you went. 

Inside I asked the park ranger what she did about the bugs and she casually said she wears a bug hat (similar to what a beekeeper wears.) Strangely enough this gift shop had ZERO bug repelling apparatuses which honestly is stupid of them because they could make a killing selling those products alone.  

We obviously still didn't understand how many of these little creatures inhabited the island. Afterwards, we were going to stop off at the shore of the lake but then we noticed everyone who was around it was so wrapped up with hoodies and had t-shirts wrapped around their faces so that they looked like mummies. Clearly, we took that as a sign not to go down there but we figured that there wouldn't be any bugs up on the mountains around the lake because of the higher altitude. Unfortunately, we were severely mistaken.

These little devils were EVERYWHERE and made their presence known as soon as you got out of the car. Flying all around our faces and biting as they went. It was unpleasant to say the least. Being the determined people that we were we still popped out of the car at a few places just long enough to snag a few cute photos to commemorate the trip. After we would take a photo or two we would run back into the car and watch as other people fall victim to the same fate we did which is obviously a little bit more funny when it isn't happening to you. Goose was a good samaritan though and told a few girls that it really wasn't worth it and that the bugs were really bad as they were setting to do a photoshoot in summer dresses. We didn't stay around long enough to see if they took his warning into consideration but I hope for their sake they did because I'm sure that they would have been bitten up even more than myself. I haven't been able to wear open back or chest tops for about a week now because I have so many bug bites it looks like I have chickenpox. 

Even now I'm terribly itchy but, I'd still have to say it was worth it in a funny way because it really is a gorgeous place and now I have a funny yet unfortunate story to look back on. If I ever go back maybe I'll wear a bee keeper suit to protect myself or maybe I just won't get out of the car. I don't know if the bugs are always this bad but I feel like the world needs to know what they could be up against when visiting Antelope Island.