Its that time of the year. The sun starts to set earlier, and Labor Day is kind of the last summer weekend in the Uintas. Of course you know I was going backpacking. I made my way to the trailhead on Friday and got the very last spot in the lot. I took my time and finished my coffee, then put on the boots and pack and made my way in. I was over the pass in about 33 minutes. I did it last year in 37 minutes so that is an improvement. The trail I was on was uncrowded from the lot. It was a peaceful walk with some hits of fall in the ground cover and grasses to look at. It was cool air and I was no complaining one bit. The skys were crystal clear and the wind was still. Seeing old haunts was really fun as I made my way into the basin.
I made a good pace up to the top of the basin, then bobbed and weaved my way through the off trail section to my spot. After about 5 miles, I was standing at camp. I put things together and then settled in for a bit as it was pretty windy. I harvested my wood and then tried my hand at fishing. The wind was pretty stout, so my luck was ust not there. I fished till evening. The Wasatch National Forest removed their fire restrictions on September 2nd, 2021 so I was able to have a fire. It was a very nice night with the Milky Way overhead! It was an amazing night! I turned in for some much needed sleep.
Morning came and I got up and tried fishing again. Same result so I returned to camp and made coffee and breakfast. I decided to get out of camp and go for a hike and try to fish some other lakes in the area. The weather was great and you couldn't ask for a better day. My first stop had some surface action so I threw in a line. After missing some strikes I finally landed a fish on this trip! A 12 inch Tiger, but I'll take it! I got a couple of more on the line that got off and landed another 11 inch Tiger. I moved to another lake, and hooked into a very large fish, but it got off before I could land it!
I moved on and fished some more lakes but only got one strike and no fish. Still fun to be hiking around all alone. It was quiet. Even the busiest lake in this area was not too busy. I headed back to camp to settle in for some fishing there and to get ready for the evening.
Evening came and with it a classic Uintas sunset with bats eating the bugs off the water. I settled in with a nie fire and put out my camera for a star trail. It was a beautiful night, no wind, and stars as far as the eye could see. These are the nights I live for! After a great time by the fire I turned in about midnight.
Labor Day Morning I was up at 7, got coffee and breakfast going while I packed up, and I headed out around 9 AM. It was a beautiful hike, and the temps were perfect. Along the way, I have been eyeballing this one spot for years, and I decided today was the day I was going to take a detour and check it out. Gorgeous place, and I decided to drop the pack and fish for an hour since I had made such good time. Fourth cast I had a small Brook Trout on. Not much longer and I had another one one as well. I could hear some bigger jumps accross the lake, so I walked around so see what was happening. I checked out some possible future camp spots, and on my first cast landed a huge Tiger Trout! It fought me a good one and I was so happy to have gotten a decent sized fish on this trip! I fished a bit more and landed another nice 12 inch Brookie to finish off the fun at this spot! I will go back for sure! The rest of the hike out was nice, a little warmer than I would like and after about an hour I was standing at the Jeep. A great weekend enjoying the Uintas! Enjoy the pics and make sure you check out my YouTube video for a live action version of events. Fall us upon us in the range. Just a few more weekends till this party turns from drit dances to snow dances. Get em' while you can! More adventures to come!
No comments:
Post a Comment