Mike and I snuck one last backpacking trip in before the season disappeared on us: to Naturalist Basin in the Uinta mountains here in Utah. We left work at 3:00 on Friday so we could start hiking by 5:30 and hoped to get camp set up before the dark hit - and we were just barely successful! Joel, a new friend of ours that backpacked Bryce Canyon with us, and his friend Colleen were supposed to hike in that night to meet up with us.... but they kind of got lost on the trail in the dark, decided to call it a night, finish the hike in the morning, and ended up camping only a mile from the trail head! I'm so glad that was their circumstances and not the disastrous injuries I imagined when I heard a helicopter fly overhead in the middle of the night. Then Mike's really good friends, Jordan and Julie, hiked in Saturday as well.
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| Mike and I laughed that his 0-degree bag that I borrowed was nearly as big as my pack. |
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| Mike and I at the trail head |
Mike and I hung out around camp for a bit hoping Joel and Colleen would arrive in time to hike Spread Eagle Peak with us, but they were an hour behind us so we went ahead and headed up to the peak. It was pretty fun! We took our time and explored by Jordan Lake and a waterfall that dumps into it, then we made our own trail across a pretty barren moon scape of grass and rocks and passed two other lakes on our way to the peak. Hiking the peak was pretty nuts - there was no trail! We had to scale up a pretty steep slope to the saddle/ridge, then after that attaining the peak wasn't too bad. This was definitely the highest peak I've climbed so far! Its elevation is 12,540 feet above sea level. Coming down from the peak, we practically slid down the slope the whole way because it was so steep and loose. Then we explored, and Mike fished, some more lakes, including a very beautiful Blue Lake where we happened to run into Joel and Colleen!
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| Jordan Lake |
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| Mike and the waterfall |
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| Pointing where Spread Eagle Peak is |
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| Mike leading the charge to the peak |
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| On top of Spread Eagle Peak |
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| Mike's tiger trout he caught |
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| Blue Lake |
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| Mike fishing at Blue Lake |
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| Mike's colorful fish out of Blue Lake |
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| Colleen, Joel, and me at Morat Lakes |
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In camp with Jordan, Julie, Colleen, Joel, Mike, and me (left to right)
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We hiked back down to camp and met up with Jordan and Julie there, built a fire, made some dinner, chatted, gazed at the stars, and went to bed. And then.... we woke up to rain Sunday morning. But I was kind of excited! For two reasons: I wanted to try out my new rain jacket to see how water proof it was, and it would save me from having to hike Agassiz Peak with Mike since he wanted to maybe hike a second peak on Sunday. Ah! I could barely walk as it was from hiking Spread Eagle Peak - I was that sore.... in fact it took me three more days to recover from my sore muscles. :) So we hiked the five miles back to the trail head in the rain. But my new boots and rain jacket kept me nice and dry and warm.
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| Mike - hiking out in the rain and clouds |
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| Me, Colleen, and Joel in the rain |
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