Highline To Happiness, High Uintas Wilderness- July 2022

I had a overnight opportunity and I jumped at the chance to visit one of my favorite places in the High Uintas Wilderness. I made the drive in through Evanston, then up the Mirror Lake Highway. I arrived at the trailhead and put on the pack and headed on in. I had to park in the secondary lot and start from there which I have never done before. This little extention of the trail was nice and put you at an overlook right away before you make the big drop. The trail was pretty dry and no log hurdles either. Passing Scudder Lake is always a huge reminder of why you always extinguish your fire if you are allowed to have them. The south basin was nice with some color and Elephanthead Flowers filling the meadows. Up the next hill and you arrive at the fork in the road. You pass two very pretty lakes and one massive meadow as you make your way to the camp I love! There is one more bog next to the trail as you round the corner and behold there was a huge Bull Moose standing in the trail. Being solo, this was very nerve wracking as they are dangerous, and must be encountered with a healthy respect and avoidance. Being trampled by a Moose has a high probability of not surviving the encounter. I wound up the hill above him making sure he saw I had the high ground, which made him take off in the other direction before I could even snap a photo of him. I finished off the last section of trail and I was standing at the best overlook of any camp in all the Uintas.

After getting camp set up, I put together my fishing rod and tried out my luck. For the first three hours I had a few hits, but nothing landed. I put on a dragon fly and boom! It was fish on after fish on! They were agressively attacking my fly and it was so much fun getring after them! I fished till dusk then returned to camp for dinner and to get ready for the evening! I got my fire going and settled in camp as my camera was out on the shore shooting a star trail. After a good night under the stars I turned in.

I awoke to sunny skies, a bit of wind, and some mild temps. I made coffee and sat on the back porch for a bit before packing it up and heading out. The hike out was very nice, not as hot as the day before, and just really nice to be out on trail once more. Enjoy the pics and video and make sure you check out my YouTube edit to see the full trip! More adventures to come!