Fremont Island

There are about 10 islands on the Great Salt Lake. I say about because nobody can agree on a set number. I guess it depends on how you define island, and how full the lake is.

But anyway, there are some that everyone can agree upon as islands on the Great Salt Lake - Antelope, Fremont, Stansbury, and a couple of others. Antelope Island is the largest of the islands, and certainly the most well known. Fremont Island may be one of the least well known, simply because it is privately owned, and not many people have the chance to venture forth onto it. I lucked out during my first week on the job at Antelope and was able to join a group of people who got permission to go out there as part of a "Summer of Salt" journey. One of the draws to the Island lies in what is known as Kit Carson's Cross. When Kit Carson was out exploring with John C. Fremont long, long ago, he ventured onto Fremont Island. He apparently got kind of bored with things and went exploring and carved a cross on one of the higher rock outcroppings. It's still there.

So we all loaded into two State Park boats to head on over.

Once we arrived on the Island we began our search for the cross. Others in the group had some information about where it was (in general), but nothing specific. So off we went.

There isn't much wildlife on the Island. We did see some domestic seep, but not much sign of anything else. As far as I know, there is only one fresh water spring on the island. That could be why there isn't much wildlife.

Finally after hiking longer than we anticipated, and enjoying a bit of rainy weather, we finally found the cross. It wasn't as big or prominent as we were expecting, and we almost missed it. But there it was. After all this time.

Kit Carson's Cross on Fremont Island

Our group gathered at the rock outcropping where the cross is located.

For more information about this trip, check out this great summary by one of the participants. And here is a great video that was taken while we were out there. If you pay attention, you will see me here and there. And yes, while it was a memorable experience, it was wet.