Cuberant Basin, Uintas- July 2012

I spent the weekend backpacking Cuberant Basin in the Uintas. I was able to get out with my friends Jeremy, Flor, and Jason. We started in on Friday, and it was raining hard. I was in full rain gear, and everyone else was as well. As we made our way into the meadow and up to the junction, the sun broke and we all had to shed gear. But the skeeters were out, so we all had to deet up too. We continued our climb, making our way through the woods and meadows till we reached the final climb to the pass. The view is awesome from up there. We made our way into Cuberant Basin, with a quick pit stop at Cuberant #2, and then to camp. It was nice weather for the most part, and we all got shop set up, and then I did a little fishing catching a nice brookie right off the bat.

After a while, it started heading for dark, but with the clouds set in, alas, no night photography Friday night. I have to say that was some of the best sleep I have had out there this year. Saturday morning we awoke to partly cloudy skies, and nice mild temps. We made breakfast, coffee, and then geared up to hike the basin. We made it up to the overlook for Cuberant #5, then made our way up to the Spooky Pond. It was at this point, the storms started building in, and the thunder and rain kept getting closer. We made a hastily decent back to camp, and that was a good call. As soon as we got to camp, it came in on us. Lightning, thunder and gropple, which is as close to snow as you would get with the temps being so high as of late. It rained and hailed for nearly 3 hours, at which point I decided to retire to my tent and take a thunderstorm nap. I awoke to cloudy skies, but the wind and weather very calm, and the fish were jumping.

I spent a few hours fishing, then the rest of the crew got up from their slumber, and we made dinner. As evening set in, the clouds pulled all the way out, making it a night photography adventure, complete with a star trail, and some nice camp shots I took with meteors in them. Finally it was time to turn in. Morning came early, and we wanted to get out of the basin before the thunderstorms rolled in. We made a very quick hike back to the car on Sunday, but it was an enjoyable walk in the woods. Once again the Uintas did not disappoint. Nice to be in cooler temps, and being in the mountains with good company. Enjoy the slide show below, more adventures coming soon!