Wednesday, October 14, 2015

Teal Lake, Uinta Mountains- October 2015

Our weather held out for one more adventure in the Uintas this year. Me and my good friend Chris headed into the Uintas on Saturday morning. We arrived at the trail head a little after 8 AM and packed it up and headed in. The temps were crisp and the skies were clear. When we arrived at Ruth Lake, we set off for an off trail adventure to Teal Lake. I have a normal route in there, but this was going to be fun to see the parts of this basin I have not explored. We soon were at Naomi Lake and we pressed on after a couple of pictures. We saw Fir Lake, but did not go down to it as we wanted to get to camp at Teal Lake because daylight is short this time of the year. We passed Jewel Lake, and then moved through the woods route finding all the way to Teal Lake. We found a great camp spot and set up shop. We tried our hand at fishing but the wind was just too strong to cast, and both of us decided to get our fire wood and water situation sorted until the winds calmed down.
The winds subsided in the afternoon, so we moved out to the lake to fish. I got a nice Cutthroat to start things off with. Chris nailed a nice brookie and cutty as well. Chris got a huge hit and I wandered over to take a look. Wow! This was one of the largest fish I have seen on this side of the Uintas. It was a massive Tiger, and even the dogs were happy about this big guy Chris landed. I was not having any luck, so I tried a fly in my box that has never caught anything. First cast it got hit and what I landed was the biggest fish for me backpacking this season! It was a hog of a Tiger Trout and was a joy to get this guy on the line. After some mug shots with our fish and some more fun, dusk was setting in and we wanted to get camp situated before night fell. We had a nice fire and a fish dinner that would have cost nearly twenty dollars in a restaurant. I got one star trail in the meadow behind our camp and the Milky Way was pointing to the west as it has moved into its fall position. It was cool, but not unbearable cold like previous October trips at night. I soon was in my sleeping bag asleep resting up from an awesome day.

Morning came and I actually slept in. Coffee was made and breakfast had. We decided to loop out via Cutthroat Lake and Jewel Lake to try our hand at some more fishing. I did not have the same luck as the prior day, but Chris seemed to be getting them at Cutthroat Lake. We hiked out at a good pace, past Ruth Lake and on down to the car. This has been a great season out there! Full of adventures and new places and same old haunts. I am lucky to have been out there to experience this year and what the backpacking season had to offer in the Uintas. I will have a few more days hiking in the mountains before the winter party begins. Enjoy the slide show below. More adventures to come!

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