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!