Toomset Lake, High Uintas Wilderness- August 2015

This is a place that I loved when I first visited it, and was really looking forward to returning there when our destination was finally decided upon. This was my maiden voyage with the Granite Gear Crown VC 60, and I was in the low 20's in weight, and was really excited to see how this pack performed. We left Friday evening and arrived at the trail head. We departed about 7 pm and made it to the Amethyst junction in about 50 minutes. We then headed up the steep climb that puts you in Amethyst Basin. We made it to the top as the alpenglow covered everything and the clouds turned pink. We continued on through the woods as twilight was fading fast. Once we hit the big meadow it was time to put on the headlamps and hike from there in the dark. After a long walk we finally made it to our crossing and made our way over the river on a downed log. Another 20 minutes or so of climbing and we found ourselves at Toomset Lake. We made our way to camp and set up shop. After getting settled we made a fire and enjoyed the clear weather and bright stars. Soon after the moon came up and I used this time to get a time lapse and star trail shot as I was not sure if this was my only window to shoot this weekend. After a late night and long day on the trail, I wrapped up my photography and we turned in.

Morning came to me opening my tent and seeing the sun rays through the trees and huge wildflower meadow that we posted up next to. I got up and made my way down to the lake to see the fish jumping and being quite active. I grabbed my fly rod and made it back down to the shore and cast on in. Third cast and I had a Cutthroat on. A few more fish and then I landed a very nice Tiger to get the day going. Eventually Chris rose from a long sleep, and breakfast and coffee were in order. We decided to just stay at Toomset because of the amount of people who had signed in at the trail head for Amethyst Lake and Ostler Lake. We fished the whole lake, and the fishing was good. After hours in the sun fishing, we made our way back up to camp until the evening and just took it easy and relaxed and just took it all in. The dogs took a nap, and I almost joined them. You could not have asked for better weather, and things just felt good. Evening came, and we went down for the best fishing of the day! We had two brookies on right away, then I got a fat Tiger Trout which was catch of the trip for me. twilight wet in and it was time for dinner and to get a fire going. We had a great evening and I managed to get another star trail off which was great to get out with the camera and shoot in the night once more. Bedtime was at hand so both of us turned in.

Morning came with blue skies and nice temperatures. After crawling out of the bag I made breakfast and coffee and then packed it up. Having a UL backpack means you don't have much, so I was packed and just relaxing in minutes. Chris eventually got it put together and we began the hike out to the car. This was a great weekend, capped off by a great hike out talking to the many people on their way in as we were exiting. I love my new pack, and I highly recommend that if you are looking to lighten the load and move to the ultralight category, this pack linked above is the one I suggest. We had lunch and a beer when we reached the car and we sat in the meadow and watched the thunderstorm clouds build. It is awesome to watch the weather out there. Enjoy the slide show, pics and time lapse video below. More adventures to come!

Toomset Timelapse from Christian Paul on Vimeo.