Cutthroat Lake, Uinta Mountains- 9.16/17.2017

The high terrain received its first snow of the season this past week. After months of unbearable heat in the valleys, we finally got a cold front, some moisture, and some mountain snow. I had plans to get out backpacking in the Uintas. From the forecast, it seemed that it would be cool going into the weekend but warm up to end the weekend. I was able to get out with my friend Clay and his awesome dog Sekoia. We decided to hit Cutthroat Lake since Clay had never been there before. We packed it up and headed into the range. Things were pretty warm until we hit Bald Mountain Pass. This showed you the extent of the snow fall on the range, most of the high peaks had snow on them. We stopped at the pass to take a picture of the snow capped peaks. Getting out to shoot really gave you a taste of how cold things had gotten since the storm. It was 32 degrees on the pass will cold winds blowing. When we arrived at the trail head it was 42 degrees. With a biting breeze to chill you all the way on trail, we made the hike in. It was very quiet, and only a couple of cars at the trail head. We made a good pace while passing all the lakes in the area and enjoying the sights and silence. This was some cold air for September. I bet if it had been storming it would have been snowing.

We made our way to camp and got things set up. Then we decided to get a fire going and collect what we needed to stay warm. I think both of us were kind of shocked at how cold it was, not expecting the bite to the air. We sat around drinking tea and warming up for most of the day. It was way too cold to do anything but either move or sit by the fire. Evening came in and it seemed to actually warm up a bit. We made dinner, then I set my camera out for the title image in this post. We had a very nice and warm fire as the stars were out and the temps were cold. Eventually the sleeping bag called my name. I bundled up in it like a mummy and dozed off for some much needed sleep. Morning came and both myself and Clay slept in and got up later than usual. I personally can attest that my planning for the cold paid off, and I was just too comfy in my sleeping bag to want to get out of it. When the sun hit camp I made my way for coffee and breakfast. The sun was warming it up quite a bit as it was at least 10 degrees warmer than the previous day. We packed it up and made the hike out. With the forecasted temps and snow this coming week in the Uintas, this might have been my last trip out there for the year. I have seen stranger things happen, so maybe I'll get lucky one more time to get out before winter reclaims the high terrain. If not its been a short but good year out there. Enjoy the pics! More adventures to come!