Highline To Happiness, High Uintas Wilderness- July 2022

I had a overnight opportunity and I jumped at the chance to visit one of my favorite places in the High Uintas Wilderness. I made the drive in through Evanston, then up the Mirror Lake Highway. I arrived at the trailhead and put on the pack and headed on in. I had to park in the secondary lot and start from there which I have never done before. This little extention of the trail was nice and put you at an overlook right away before you make the big drop. The trail was pretty dry and no log hurdles either. Passing Scudder Lake is always a huge reminder of why you always extinguish your fire if you are allowed to have them. The south basin was nice with some color and Elephanthead Flowers filling the meadows. Up the next hill and you arrive at the fork in the road. You pass two very pretty lakes and one massive meadow as you make your way to the camp I love! There is one more bog next to the trail as you round the corner and behold there was a huge Bull Moose standing in the trail. Being solo, this was very nerve wracking as they are dangerous, and must be encountered with a healthy respect and avoidance. Being trampled by a Moose has a high probability of not surviving the encounter. I wound up the hill above him making sure he saw I had the high ground, which made him take off in the other direction before I could even snap a photo of him. I finished off the last section of trail and I was standing at the best overlook of any camp in all the Uintas.

After getting camp set up, I put together my fishing rod and tried out my luck. For the first three hours I had a few hits, but nothing landed. I put on a dragon fly and boom! It was fish on after fish on! They were agressively attacking my fly and it was so much fun getring after them! I fished till dusk then returned to camp for dinner and to get ready for the evening! I got my fire going and settled in camp as my camera was out on the shore shooting a star trail. After a good night under the stars I turned in.

I awoke to sunny skies, a bit of wind, and some mild temps. I made coffee and sat on the back porch for a bit before packing it up and heading out. The hike out was very nice, not as hot as the day before, and just really nice to be out on trail once more. Enjoy the pics and video and make sure you check out my YouTube edit to see the full trip! More adventures to come!

Thunder & Solitude, Uinta Mountains- July 2022

I generally avoid the holiday weekends, but this year the Milky Way was in play because of the moon set times so I gambled on getting out to hopefully get some good images. I made my way to the trailhead and surprisingly there was parking. I threw on the pack and headed on in. The trail was pretty empty into Ruth Lake. Past Ruth I did not see another human being. Over to Liberty Lake, then down to Jewel Lake, and it was so empty. I made the cross country route to my lake I was shooting for.

I quickly got my camp set and went out fishing. Shortly after casting out thunder rumbled over the ridge and I retreated to camp to shelter down as a pretty solid thunderstorm with lightning and hail came in with force! About an hour later it was sunny again and the clouds continued to billow over the ridge.

After the storm I headed back out to fish. Not long and I had a nice Cutthroat on the line. The clouds were putting on a show but so were the mosquitoes. They were thick and I am glad I had my Picardin on or it would have been really uncomfortable to be out there with how thick they were. Sunset came in and I went back to camp to get my fire and dinner going.

Night set in and with it some strong winds. I parked it in my chair by the fire after setting out my camera for a star trail. The clouds kept coming and going but it did not ruin the star trail I shot. When the star trail was finished there were some clouds hangning out where I wanted to shoot the Milky Way. It made for an interesting shot. After spending a bit of time hoping that the clouds would clear, I headed back to camp to get some much needed sleep.

I awoke to clouds pushing in and swarms of mosquitoes. I made a pack in haste and put the pack together and was hikingout a little after 7 AM. The off trail was fun and challenging but I nailed my way out and was on single track before I knew it. The rest of the hike out was quiet and full of flowers to see as I made my way to the Jeep. Another great trip and having a lake all to myself on a holiday weekend was a treat! Enjoy the pics and check out my YouTube video for this trip. More adventures to come!