I feel like I have not been home on a weekend in over a month. I think it was Mid July the last time I stayed home on a weekend this summer. I've needed to catch up on somethings around the house so I had decided on Thursday that I would stay home this weekend and avoid the hordes of people bound to be out. Well to my surprise, I got a lot more done by Saturday than I anticipated and I really was itching to get outside. I decided since Monday was a holiday, I would do an overnighter in the Uintas. No way was I going anywhere near Crystal Lake or Ruth Lake. I knew they would be jammed packed. I thought about it and realized that Dean Lake was a good option. I did not care if I had to share it with a few other folks. I really just wanted to be in the mountains. I rolled up Hwy 150 and pulled in the Bald Mountain Trailhead. To my surprise, there was a spot waiting for me and my Jeep. It was half past noon and I put on the boots, loaded the pack, and hit the trail. There seemed to be a lot of people climbing Bald Mountain, so the trail was empty. I saw one family right before Clegg Lake, but after that there was nobody around. I thought this to be a bit peculiar, but was not complaining rest assured. I made my way to Clegg Lake, shot a few photos, then down the hill to my turn off to get to Dean Lake. After moving down a huge meadow, I found myself standing at the edge of Dean Lake.
2.3 miles in 57 minutes. Not too bad. I moved to my favorite spot and began to realize that no one was there. I would later walk around the entire lake confirming my suspicions, but was excited that I took a gamble on this spot and it looked to pay off! I settled into my spot and set up camp. Once that was done I moved out to the lake for some fishing. The wind was hit or miss, and I had a few strikes, but nothing was on the end when setting the hook. I fished for quite a few hours, even getting one on the line only to have it get off before landing it. I was actually laughing that the poor fishing luck might be the trade off for having a lake only two miles from the Mirror Lake Highway on a holiday weekend all to myself. I still had a great time, and what a beautiful day it was. I walked around the whole lake, and I was correct, no one was there. In fact, every fire ring looked as if it had not been used in a while. As I rounded the lake I saw three day hikers come in and fish for about an hour. They seemed to be having no luck like myself, so they moved on. I waved hello, not sure if they saw me. After shooting a time lapse, I made my way back to camp to put the finishing touches on things for the evening.
Returning to camp I put on the warm layers. The temps were dropping and the alpenglow was starting to light up the peaks. I took my camera out for a shot and boy was it a beautiful sight. I moved back up to camp and got my fire going. Dusk set in so I made Ramen with some Chili Citrus Jerky in it. It was like having Spicy Ramen with Beef. Pretty dang good, a meal I will for sure have again. Dessert consisted of a Twix which was delicious! It began to get dark, and I could hear some campers down at Notch Lake. I kind of laughed because they probably had no idea I was even up here. I got the lights on in camp and set out my camera for a star trail. I played some blues on my iPhone at a low volume and enjoyed the display that the universe was kind enough to give me. The Milky Way was right over head and the stars were so bright! You could even see the planet Mars just east of the Milky Way if you were looking south. It was a tug of war of wanting to be by the fire and wanting to walk just out of camp and look at the night sky. So I did both! Even took my chair out for a bit and enjoyed a beverage under the stars! Its times like there when you are alone out there that you really connect with the place you are in. This night was no exception! Eventually I coaled out my fire and turned in. I heard something with hooves walk through my camp just after laying down. I figure it was a deer, so I did not pay it much attention. Sometime in the middle of the night, the Coyotes were howling pretty close to camp. It woke me up for a second, but lulled me back to sleep because I love that sound!
It must have gotten cold overnight. There was frost on all the grasses in the meadow when I woke up. This new sleeping bag I got this year from Sierra Designs, The Cloud 800 20 degree down bag is just unbelievably warm and comfortable. I say it was was upper 30's overnight and I never felt cold once. I am very happy with my sleeping bag! I eventually got up, and had tea instead of coffee on this trip. Acai-Blueberry Green Tea is yummy! I packed in some hard boiled eggs, and dehydrated fruit, nuts, and grains for breakfast. I knew I only had 2.3 to the car, so I only needed a light breakfast to get out to the car. I gave fishing a try again, but about the same luck that I had the previous day. I did hook into something big, but unfortunately it got off. That's the price you pay for barbless fly fishing! I packed it up and headed out. The hike out was pretty quiet. A couple of day hikers on the way in as I was coming out, but I did not see the crowds till I got to the trail head. I took it easy in my chair at the Jeep, taking in the view of the building clouds coming north from the south. Just goes to show if you know your spots, and you take a gamble, a great time can be had! The drive out was pretty busy, probably the most humans I saw all weekend were on the road. A great little solo adventure and wonderful night skies! Fall is here, the colors are beginning to change. Get up and see them over the next few weeks before they are gone! Enjoy the pics and time lapse! More adventures to come!
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