Buffalo, folks roam on isle

ANTELOPE ISLAND — Buffalo Days came with something unusual this year: permission for visitors to hike off the trails at Antelope Island for the first time.

Sept. 15-16 were the first days Antelope Island State Park allowed visitors to hike off the trails and explore the island, said Ron Taylor, Antelope Island manager.

Visitors could buy a $10 permit to hike or ride horses off of the trails, Taylor said. Three hundred permits were available, 105 were purchased.

All the money goes to operating and improving the island, Taylor said.

Usually there is a $110 fine for going off of the trails, Taylor said.

"And if you're snotty about it, the judge will double it," said Larry Hambleton, Antelope Island volunteer trail patrol.

Visitors have been able to ride horses off of the trails before, Taylor said.

Some hikers with special permission, like researchers, have been allowed to go off the trails before, too, Taylor said. But they only receive permission to go in specified areas.

To help manage the extra visitors in the backcountry, volunteers came from Weber and Davis counties, and the Antelope Island volunteer trail patrol came out to help, too. There were about 27 volunteers total, Taylor said.

The park also has 13 full-time employees, he said.

"We probably couldn't run this park if it weren't for volunteers," Taylor said.

Most of the trail monitoring was done by the 27 volunteers, Hambleton said. They were on horseback, all-terrain vehicles and foot.

The volunteers quickly helped an injured woman who fell and broke her arm and hip while riding her horse off the trail, Hambleton said. Life Flight flew her off of the island.

There were no other major incidents, Taylor said.

The 27 volunteers also helped keep people away from restricted places like mine shafts and archaeological digs, Hambleton said.

Because visitors have never been allowed to hike off the trails, they haven't been able to take shed deer antlers, Taylor said.

Before the event, Taylor predicted there would be a lot of antlers on the island because they had built up over the years.

But some visitors were disappointed with the number of antlers they found.

Shawn Syme didn't bring a camera because he "didn't even want to be distracted for that amount of time" from hunting for antlers.

He said he has already found 215 at other locations this year, and he has about 800 stashed at his home.

Syme spent 12 hours hiking on Antelope Island on Saturday, from 6 a.m. to 6 p.m., he said, and found four antlers.

"Didn't see as many as I thought I would," Syme said.