BIG PLANS
A
few weeks ago, I received a pair of exciting job assignments. The first would have me in Salt Lake City,
Utah, for a week. That would be followed
by a job in Denver. As soon as I saw the
schedule, the wheels started spinning in my head. Returning to Charlotte in between the two
jobs seemed silly. Plus, the second job
would only take 3 days. That would leave
me with plenty of time to hike in the Rockies.
I
ended up booking a one-way flight to Salt Lake City and a return flight from
Denver. Then I reserved a one-way rental
car between the two cities. With that
accomplished, I merely had to decide where to hike.
I’ve
made several hiking trips in Utah over the years. Almost all of those hikes have been in the
parks and wilderness areas of southern Utah.
This time though, I wanted to investigate a different area. The High Uintas
Wilderness, in eastern Utah, contains the tallest mountains in the state,
including 13,528’ Kings Peak. Altitude
and weather concerns discouraged me from attempting the peak, but I was still
eager to check out the area.
The
High Uintas Wilderness is massive. A hiker could spend months exploring all of
the trails there. The Highline Trail
runs more than 80 miles along the spine of the range, which is the only major
mountain range in the country to run from east to west. Since I only had a weekend at my disposal,
the entire Highline Trail wasn’t an option.
I’d need to do some research to pick a trip.
I
picked up the Trails Illustrated map for the High Uintas
Wilderness on my first night in Salt Lake City.
Then, one of the guys I was working with, who is also an avid hiker,
offered to let me borrow his guidebook.
I spent the next couple of evenings pouring over the map and book. A number of interesting options presented
themselves, but ultimately I elected to do a 2-night backpacking trip. The route I selected was a loop starting from
Mirror Lake, on the Mirror Lake Scenic Highway.
It would take me to Governor Dern Lake, the
Four Lakes Basin, Rocky Sea Pass, and Naturalist Basin. By the end of the week, I was itching to hit
the trail.
THE GOVNUH
I
finished working at noon on Friday and headed for the mountains. I drove up through Park City, and found my
way to the Mirror Lake Scenic Highway. I
paid a $6 fee for the long weekend, and drove on to Mirror Lake. I found a fair number of people at the lake,
enjoying a sunny but chilly late summer day.
There are nice views from the lake that take in the rugged mountains
surrounding the area.
I
parked at the Mirror Lake trailhead, where I found a couple of other cars. I organized my gear, and hit the trail at
2:30. My goal was to reach Governor Dern Lake, which I estimated to be about 6 miles away. However, the sign at the trailhead suggested
it was 8 miles, which meant that I needed to hustle to arrive before dark. Unfortunately, I wasn’t sure if I’d be able
to maintain a fast pace. The trailhead
was at an elevation of more than 10,000’, and my only acclimatization was four
nights spent at 4,000’ in Salt Lake City.
I
followed a path through Lodgepole Pine forest, and
gradually descended towards the East Fork of the Duchesne River. Along the way, I spooked more deer than I can
ever recall seeing. It seemed like every
minute or two a deer or two would bolt from the trail into the woods.
I
crossed a sturdy bridge over the river, and headed upstream. This trail was a little overgrown, but I
didn’t have any trouble finding the way.
Although the trails aren’t blazed, each junction was marked with a sign.
I
reached Pinto Lake a few hours after leaving the trailhead. Pinto Lake was pretty, but Governor Dern Lake was less than a mile away. Since I had plenty of daylight remaining, I
decided to continue on. I reached that
lake a bit after 6pm, and quickly found a nice campsite with a view of the lake
and the rugged peaks beyond. That site
was a bit too close to the water, but it had been camped on frequently, and I
decided not to pass it up.
It
was an enjoyable evening. I was treated
to some fine alpenglow on the nearby peaks.
Shortly before dark, I spotted an otter swimming across the lake towards
me. At first, I thought it was going to
get out of the water right in front of me!
It eventually reached shore just a few feet away.
It
was a cold evening. I tried to stay up
to enjoy the stars, but chilly weather drove me to the tent early. I slept fairly well, although I was awakened
a couple of times by barking coyotes.
ERR JORDAN
I woke to heavy frost the next morning. Despite temperatures near freezing, I forced
myself to get up early. Oatmeal and
cocoa warmed me up before I broke camp.
Initially I thought about visiting the Grandaddy
Lake Basin, but I was afraid that including it in my route would be biting off
too much. Instead I headed directly for
the Four Lakes Basin.
I reached Rainbow Lake a short time later. There, I was startled when two horseback
riders passed by. I hadn’t seen anyone
all day on Friday, and it was a bit surprising to see anyone.
From there, I hiked through more Lodgepole
before descending into the Four Lakes Basin.
There, I lost the trail in a vast, lovely meadow. I passed one pretty lake, before wandering
over to another beauty situated at the base of a high, sheer cliff. It was a little early, but it was too nice of
a spot to pass up for lunch.
After eating, I bushwhacked a bit before regaining
the trail out of the Four Lakes Basin. A
bit of a climb brought me to the Highline Trail, where I had another decision
to make. Should I head on to Naturalist
Basin, or make the side trip up to Rocky Sea Pass?
In the end, the pull of the pass was too much to
overcome. I headed that way, and quickly
climbed above treeline. I pressed on to the pass, where I was treated
to a fantastic view. I looked out over
another fine lake basin towards the high peaks along the crest of the
range. To my right, the high ridge
formed an impressive arête.
After a break, I turned to head back down. However, shortly after leaving the pass, an
intriguing plateau directly ahead of me caught my eye. I headed that way through open terrain save
for some shrubs and stunted trees.
Eventually I reached the brink of the plateau, where I was rewarded with
fine views out over Naturalist Basin.
Far below, I could see Jordan Lake - my destination for the
evening. It was so close, yet so far
away. If I could make my way down the
steep slope below me, I’d save myself several miles of hiking. The route looked steep though, and I was by
myself. Shortcut or not, I decided
against risking it.
I returned to the Highline Trail and hiked back
towards Mirror Lake. Along the way, I
passed a few other hikers. After a
couple of hours of hiking an exceptionally rocky trail through Lodgepole Pine, I finally reached the junction to
Naturalist Basin. From there, I followed
a better path into the basin. After
another mile, I reached a junction at the edge of a pretty meadow. There’s a nice campsite here, but
unfortunately it’s closed due to overuse.
At this point, daylight was already beginning to fade. I had a choice to make. Two trails leave the meadow. One is a short
but steep trail up to Blue Lake. The
other is a longer, but easier path to Jordan Lake. After a brief debate, I decided to head for
Jordan Lake.
I reached the lake’s outlet shortly before
dark. I crossed the outlet stream on
rocks and logs, and worked my way around to the west side of the lake. Then, I found a decent campsite up the hill
above the water. It wasn’t a spectacular
spot, but it was too late to get picky.
I set up camp quickly, but ended up hanging my food, filtering water,
and cooking gear in the dark.
Fortunately I had a freeze-dried dinner that night, which was easy to
cook, eat, and clean up.
Shortly before reaching camp, I developed an
annoying headache. This headache was
unusual, in that it seemed to originate in the back of my skull. It actually it felt like I’d been hit with a
club. I’m not sure, but I’m guessing
that the headache was the result of the altitude finally catching up to
me. Oddly though, I hadn’t had any
problems up at Rocky Sea Pass, which is over 11,000’. I slept reasonably well that night, despite
the headache.
SHEEP
I got an early start again the next morning. I had a 7-8 mile
hike, followed by a 7-hour drive to Denver ahead of me. Fortunately, it wasn’t quite as cold as the
previous morning. I broke camp, and
backtracked to the Highline Trail. From
there, I endured a few more miles of boring hiking through the pines. This stretch of trail would be fairly easy,
except that it is exceptionally rocky.
It’s hard to keep a good pace when you’re constantly worried about the
footing.
It was a relief to reach the trail to Mirror
Lake. I followed it for a bit, before
reaching one of the scenic highlights of the trip. I passed close to a lovely lake, with fine
views of several of the surrounding peaks, including Bald Mountain. I spent a bit of time exploring this lake,
and particularly enjoyed one area full of lily pads.
Beyond the lake, I descended into the pines and
passed by the Mirror Lake Campground. A
few minutes later, I arrived at the trailhead.
Shortly afterwards, I hit the road for Denver.
The drive started out fine, as I was treated to many
fine views from the scenic highway. However,
things went downhill when I hit a “Wyoming traffic jam”. I came around a curve, only to find a huge
herd of sheep walking down the middle of the highway. There must’ve been several hundred sheep, and
they had the whole highway blocked, from one shoulder to the other. They weren’t crossing the road, either. Rather, they appeared to traveling it for
quite some distance. They were
accompanied by a single sheepherder on horseback, and a pair of mangy
dogs. I weaved my way through the herd,
but didn’t make much progress. The sheep
certainly didn’t seem concerned that there was a large vehicle right behind
them. The whole situation was quite a fustercluck.
Suddenly, the sheep parted. Then there was only a single sheep strolling
right down the middle of the road ahead of me.
I still couldn’t get around him, due to oncoming traffic, but I knew I
couldn’t blow my chance. Briefly, I
considered giving him a light bump.
I’d been in a “Wyoming traffic jam” once
before. On that occasion, the
circumstances had been quite a bit different.
First, I wasn’t in a hurry.
Second, that traffic jam had involved cattle, which are quite a bit
bigger than sheep. Third, I had been in
my Toyota Corolla. Today, I was in a
Jeep! And it wasn’t just any jeep,
either. It was a rental Jeep! So what did I care if I got a little wool in
my grill?
Ultimately, I chose a different course of
action. I was directly behind the sheep
when I blared the horn. Now, I’ve heard the expression “take a flying
shit” before, but prior to this day, I never really knew what it meant. When I hit the horn, that sheep bolted out of
the way, and crapped all over everything.
So now I know!
I made it into Evanston, Wyoming, without further
incident. There I picked up some late
lunch and hit the highway. I set the
cruise control on 80, and sailed east across Wyoming. Along the way, I passed a number of
interesting sights. At one point, I saw
a whole herd of cattle huddled in the shade of a large billboard. Christy and I saw a similar thing once on a
trip through Kansas. On that occasion
though, the billboard advertised “Beef – it’s what’s for dinner”. I still can’t believe I didn’t get a photo of
that.
Aside from cattle, I saw dozens of Pronghorn
Antelope. In many places, they were
grazing with the cattle.
In Rock Springs, I passed a sign for the Wyoming
state hospital. THE
state hospital? This raises some
questions in my mind. Wyoming is a
pretty big state. What happens if you
get sick or injured in another part of the state? Does Harrison Ford take you to Rock Springs
in his helicopter?
By the time I reached Cheyenne, a huge full moon was
rising in the east. It almost seemed
like it was pulling me in as I hurtled down the highway towards it. Then I turned south for Denver, and was
treated to a beautiful sunset over the Rockies.
I made to Denver in time for a late dinner. I even arrived just before the beer store
near the hotel closed. This was handy,
as I was able to pick up a 6-pack of Fat Tire to celebrate a great weekend.
I’ll probably return to the High Uintas
Wilderness in the future. There is an
intriguing loop there starting on the north side of the range that includes a
nice chunk of the Highline Trail. Best
of all, it would allow a side trip up to the summit of Kings Peak. Hopefully I’ll get a chance to tackle that
one sometime soon.
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