Granddaddy Basin, High Uintas Wilderness- July 2020

It has been six years since I have visited Granddaddy Basin. I honestly do not know why. I have been there half a dozen times, some of those trips I have written about on this very blog. The last time I was in there I did a massive loop off trail out there. I had plans to visit another area, but the day before some stuff changed and I was not able to leave till afternoon. I made the drive to the North Fork Of The Duchesne in pretty good time. There was virtually no traffic all the way. Its pretty this year on Hwy 35. The Grandview road that climbs out of the main road is not a smooth road, I've seen cars go up it, but that must be rough. It has big rocks in the road and big potholes too. Not to mention steep drop offs. Also, the road itself is only wide enough for one car in parts, so keep your eyes ahead on the road. There are pullouts wide enough for two vehicles, just hope that is where you are when oncoming traffic is coming the other way.

I arrived at the trailhead and got the very last parking spot. I was kind of thinking maybe this is going to be way to crazy and started making a back up plan incase my destination was crowded. I put on the boots and the pack and headed on in. This trail does a steep set of switchbacks for the first mile. Then it is a gradual climb till you reach Hades Pass. I took a 15 minute break here, rehydrated and had some trailmix and then threw the pack back on and headed in. You get your first view of the basin and the Granddaddy Lake, the namesake of this basin. You descend a rocky trail that eventually lays off the grade. The hike through the basin was amazing and really quiet and empty with so many vehicles in the lot. After a five mile hike, I arrived at my destination. After getting camp built, I was able to set out the camera for a time lapse. As the sunset lit up the sky like it was on fire, I was able to get the title shot to this blog post and only had minutes to do it. Score! I settled in by the fire and let my camera run a star trail, but the clouds had other plans. Oh well, turned out to be a fun time lapse. I eventually turned in for some much needed sleep.

I slept for what felt like a long time. The light from the sunrise woke me up and I opened the tent to crystal clear blue skies. There was a pretty good breeze keeping the mosquitoes at bay and I was grateful for that. I made some coffee and had breakfast. I decided I would put together my Osprey Ultralight Stuff Pack I brought with me for a day adventure off trail to one of my all time favorite fishing spots in the Uintas. This little pack stuffs down to nothing and holds a lot. Its a couple of miles through the woods and there is no trail. Once I had the pack situated I locked down camp and headed out. The hike was nice, saw lots of wildflowers and the area was so green this year. You really don't get to know an area for all its worth unless you head off trail. After a very nice adventure, and a bit of a climb I was at the spot! I threw a line in and almost instantly had one on. You'd toss two or three casts and boom! You'd have another one on. Big fat Brookies and Hefty Cutthroats. The weather was perfect, and I was on no schedule so I spent the better part of the day up there. I took a lunch break mid day, then went right back at it. I really can't remember a better day fishing as far as size of fish and the frequency of getting them on the line in years. It was heading into evening when I decided to head back. I knew I had a couple of miles to walk before I was back at camp so I said my goodbyes to the secret spot and made my way back to basecamp.

After returning to camp I took a hour nap in the tent because I was feeling like a snooze, and the skeeters were being kind of annoying. After a relaxing camp nap, I got up and made dinner. Nothing like cooking your meal in a skeeter net! After dinner I gave fishing at my spot a go, got a couple of bites, but didn't land anyting. That's ok, where I was at is not where I was expecting to catch any. I moved back up to camp at dusk to get my fire going and set up for what was going to be a good night! Skies were clear and it was really warm. I set out the camera for a star trail and settled in by the fire in my chair and stared up at the stars. It was a beautiful night and I certainly enjoyed my time. About midnight I coaled out my fire and headed for the tent fullfilled from two days of fun backpacking the Uintas.

I got up about 7 AM which is a long sleep for me. Once I got out of the tent I was greeted by the worst mosquitoes all weekend. I put on my bug spray and proceeded to break it down and pack it up. By the time I was finishing up the temps warmed up and the skeeters seemed to vanish. There wasn't any wind. Strange how that happened. Bonus for me! I was on the trail at 8:36 AM and made my way out. There was no one on trail, not at any of the lakes I passed, and none on trail. It was unbelievable to be in such a popular area and have no one on trail. I made Hades Pass in 1 hour and 10 minutes from camp. That was pretty fast for me. UL Backpacking has its benefits. I did not stop on the pass this time I decided to push to the Jeep and try to get out before all the traffic stacked up. A great last minute weekend plan change that turned into a great trip! Enjoy the pics and time lapse. More adventures to come!