TO SEE COMMENTARY & GET THE FULL STORY, CLICK ON THE IMAGE AND VIEW PHOTOS ONE BY ONE.
01- Utah's UINTA MOUNTAINS in relation to the surrounding civilization. The range is the most prominent in the lower 48 states that goes from east to west, and that's just the beginning of it's exciting uniqueness. The Uintas are more than 100 miles long, and 40 plus miles wide.
02-The Uinta Mt. range is an alpine wonderland with the most contiguous above timberline area in the Continental United States, distinction shared with the San Juan Mts. of Colorado.
03-The heart of the range is THE HIGH UINTAS WILDERNESS, Utah's largest and most biologically diverse. Click on photo and scroll down to see more comments.
04- KINGS PEAK, Utah's highest mountain at 13,528 ft. viewed here from the North Slope's Henrys Fk Basin decorated with Autum colors in September. The Henrys Fork Basin and Trailhead is used by most climbers of the peak. It is 16 miles from the Trailhead. Most climbers do half of it, camping in the Dollar Lake area, and then do the round-trip 16 mile day-hike to bag the peak, and then return to the trailhead on the 3rd day.
05-KINGS PEAK was named after Clarence King, a daredevil explorer and adventurer of the 1800's.
06-KINGS PEAK as the setting sun turned it to gold, so far the only gold I have found in the High Uintas. This photograph was taken on the "survival backpack" as explained a bit further along and in the BACKPACK LIGHT & SURVIVAL segment where the image of my bivouac camp is also featured.
07- Kristian and Dorina, from Belgium, climbing the peak, were asked why they weren't in their famous Alps? Great answer! They went on to explain their reasons: The Uintas are more remote, more pristine, fewer hikers, less commercial, etc. They went ahead of me to the peak, as I was moving slower with my backpack. When they were coming down the weather was closing in, and Dorina yelled a question, "WHY IS THE WEATHER SO TERRIBLE?" Kristian just smiled his approval of the approaching "wonderful storm" that finally blew me off the mountain.
08- High man on the hill. I was a rare climber doing the Peak with my backpack-- most climbers do it as a day hike. I actually did it with the intention of bivouacking there, lashing my bivouac bag to the rocks, to get some spectacular photos. Shortly after this self-portrait, a storm hit me before I could get rain gear on, and being quite wet I decided I would have a tough time staying up there. So, as I have said, "A wonderful storm blew me off the mountain!" I still hope to do it one day when there is a full moon.
09-THE WONDERFUL STORM closing in on me. 13,440 ft. high Mt. Emmons, 4th highest in the Uintas, is in the center above the Atwood Basin. South Mt. Emmons at 13,170 ft. is down the ridge, 7th highest in the Uintas. Then above my head comes a sharp peaked 13,000+ no-namer, and behind my head Mt. Jedediah at 13,387 ft., 5th highest. In the distance is seen the Atwood Basin, then coming this way is Trail Rider Pass, over the lip of which is the windswept George Beard Basin. To the right of the pass, and just above my hands, is Beard Lake, or U-74. See the "Fishing" album for a Utah State record Brook trout from this alpine lake. U-75 can be seen just over the lip of the peak at my feet. It is also featured in the "Fishing" album for another very large Brook trout from this above timberline, no-name lake.
10--The "wonderful storm" all around me as I look to the east across the Uinta River drainage. I was so busy taking photographs that all of a sudden the terrific storm poured rain and hail on me and I headed down the mountain.
10a- Lonely camp on the slopes of Kings Peak, Utah's highest at 13,528 feet. Twenty days after knee surgery in early September 2004 I was camped on Kings Peak's eastern slope, and for the first time experienced a medical emergency that almost did me in. Emergency survival items, and prayer saved me quite miraculously. For details click on: http://bit.ly/cuM4Jw On this trip I got the opening image of my website--when King's Peak was turned to gold at sunset.
11-My bivouac camp on King Peak's eastern slope. This eastern slope is known as Utah's highest ski slope. Adventurous mountaineers ski in from the Henry's Fork Trailhead, ski a bit and return the same day--a 32 mile cross-country trip.
12-Kings Peak from the Painter Basin to the southeast. Kings Peak is seen in the center. To its right is Anderson Pass, then a no-name 13,100 ft. peak, next Gun Sight Pass leading to the Henrys Fk, and on the extreme right the slopes of Gilbert Peak, the 3rd highest in the Uintas at 13,442 ft. The 2nd highest is South Kings Peak (13,512 ft.) seen to the left of Utah's highest. A rare flower, Old Man of the Mountain, is seen in the foreground. We are climbing Trail Rider Pass that leads to the Lake Atwood area. No-name U-75 lake is in the dead center. To the right of U-75 and a bit higher, directly at the feet of Kings Peak just barely visible is no-name U-76 lake.
13- Mt. Jedediah, 13,387 ft., 5th highest in the Uintas over lake U-75. This beautiful mountain, down the ridge to the south of Kings Peak, was a "no-name 13,000 plus footer," until I named it in honor of famous explorer and mountain man, Jedediah Smith. The naming is not official as it is impossible to name anything new in a Wilderness area, but I hope the name will eventually stick. The small no-name lake produced a very large Brook trout. See the "Fishing the Uintas" section of Galleries.
14-Mt. Jedediah and lake U-75 2 years later early in the season when I was the first into the high country.
15- Kings Lake, 11,416 ft. high, rarely visited. It is under the southern shadow of South Kings Peak. Only two letters of the old sign were legible, so I fixed it up as you can see in the following photograph. This remote lake is under the southern shadow of South Kings Peak.
16-Kings Lake--only the "I" and "N" were legible so I went to work for the Forest Service. This remote above timberline lake is most easily accessed hiking cross-country north from Milk Lake across arctic tundra.
17- Kings Lake viewed from a bit up the slope of South Kings Peak. A very colorful lichen garden decorates the rock in the left foreground.
18- Kings Lake viewed by your photographer. The lake appeared as though it should have fish, but after an hour or so of testing it with no luck, I headed back to my Milk Lake camp. A Department of Wildlife Resources pamphlet says, "It may contain cutthroat trout. It is marginal for fish. Angling pressure is 'light.'"
18a -- MILK LAKE located south of Kings Lake in the Yellowstone Creek Drainage. This one-time smaller lake is now called a reservoir as a dike and headgates were installed many years ago as part of the irrigation system in the Uintah Basin to the south. There are several "Milk Lakes" in the High Uintas. This one is high on the mountain to the east of the Yellowstone Creek Trail on the South Slope. I was told it didn't have any fish, but I caught several medium size Eastern Brook Trout
18b -- Milk Lake sunset
18c -- Milk Lake sunset
18d -- Yellowstone Creek sunset
18e Red Castle Peak in early July 2004 with the run-off in full swing. See the next image to see the creek at the end of August.
19- Majestic Red Castle Peak as viewed looking up the East Fork of Smiths Fork in late August 2008. This view is from just above the 2nd bridge, taken on the GOLDEN ANNIVERSARY BACKPACK on August 28, 2008. The slide show can be seen in the Uinta Project section.
19a. Smith's Fork sunset
20- Smiths Fork and Red Castle Peak at sunrise. The image was taken about 1/2 mile upstream from the 2nd bridge
21- Zooming in on awesome Red Castle Peak
22- Red Castle Peak and two old geezer backpackers. The "old geezers" are of course my backpacking buddies, Ted Packard and Charlie Petersen, from Trip #6-2008--THE GOLDEN ANNIVERSARY BACKPACK. The shot was taken just a bit up the mountain above the switchbacks (6 of them from the 2nd bridge).
23. Beautiful Red Castle Peak at sundown from my alpine camp
24. Gorgeous Red Castle Peak at sundown
24a. Another sundown shot of Red Castle Peak
25. My camp north of Red Castle Peak at sunrise.
24- Red Castle Peak from the north
37c - Gorgeous Red Castle Peak
28. Red Castle Peak guarding Lower Red Castle Lake, at about 10,500 ft and 10 miles from the China Meadows Trailhead. This is a spectacularly majestic mountain some of us think is the most beautiful in Utah. As you will see, it is equally impressive from all sides-each with its own jewel of a lake.
28 - Your photographer admiring Red Castle Peak and Lower Red Castle Lake
30. The sun going down on Red Castle Peak
30a. The sun going down on Red Castle Peak
30b. The sun going down on Red Castle Peak
30c. The sun going down on Red Castle Peak
31. The day dawning on Red Castle Peak
32. Sunrise on East Red Castle Lake and Peaks
33. A fisherman ready to test East Red Castle lake. See the FISHING THE UINTAS album for spectacular results.
34. East Red Castle Lake and Peaks
35. Ted Packard's panorama of Red Castle Lake and Peak. I took 2 of Ted's photographs taken on August 30, 2009 and was able to put them together resulting in this very good panorama of this marvelous area. They were taken a bit lower and from a different angle than the panorama that follows. Also this one was taken late in the season when the tundra was turning from green to yellow. Both images are spectacular and certainly gorgeous alpine scenery.
36 -- RED CASTLE MOON
37 - Red Castle Lake and Peak early in the season on July 4th
37a -- Moon over Red Castle Lake and Peak
37b - Upper Red Castle Lake on July 4th, 2004. In 1962 Ted Packard and myself visited this area for the first time--from a unique approach. We climbed 12,236 ft. Porcupine Pass from the Garfield Basin, then traversed the steep mountain and dry skied down the chute on the left, and caught huge native cutthroat trout in this 11,600 ft. high alpine lake. See the "Uinta's Fishing" album for details.
37c UPPER RED CASTLE LAKE in late August, with 13,100 Mt. Wilson in the background. Photo taken by Ted Packard.
38 - Majestic Red Castle Peak--some calling it THE MOST BEAUTIFUL MOUNTAIN IN UTAH.
39 - Mount Powell, one of the nine named 13,000+ foot peaks in the Uintas. Mount Powell is made up of two peaks--one, 13,159 ft. and 13,137 ft. It rises up on the east side of the upper Smiths Fork drainage, east of Red Castle Peak. Here we view it over Lower Red Castle Lake.
40 - UINTAH LAKE, found in the upper reaches of the Rock Creek drainage on the South Slope. We are on our way to the other "most beautiful mountain in Utah," Triangle Mt. To get here you go off-trail to the south of Rosalie Lake which is on the western side of the upper Rock Creek drainage. In the dead center is a pyramid shaped mountain--Explorer Peak, which we will see a bit further along when we visit Crater Lake, the deepest in the Uintas.
41 - MARGIE LAKE, off-trail, southwest of and above Rosalie Lake
42 - GLADYS LAKE, found in the upper-most part of the Rock Creek drainage. To the left is the Ostler saddle. On the right is the back side of Triangle Mountain, which we'll see in a moment. To get here you hike up into the upper reaches of the Rock Creek drainage, hike up to Rosalie Lake and then follow the above timberline trail passing above Gladys Lake. From here you continue on to Lightning and Helen Lakes, and keep swinging around the basin, and on to Ledge Lake from which one can go off-trail to visit Continent Lake, and then continue on to Deadhorse Pass.
43 - LIGHTNING LAKE with the Ostler saddle in the left background
44 - Goat-packers heading towards HELEN LAKE. The backside of Triangle Mountain is in the background. You will see it in all its beauty in just a moment. To get there and to Reconnaissance lake you have to leave the trail at the right point (a bit past where a creek crosses the trail--following your map, but if you want to see Priord Lake first, on the North Slope, leave the trail past Helen Lake and climb up a little drainage and saddle. See the next photo.
45 - Emerald green PRIORD LAKE on the North Slope. This photograph was taken from what we can call The Priord Saddle, climbing up from the Rock Creek drainage. It's worth mentioning that one tributary of the Bear River is born here, it becoming the longest river in the hemisphere that doesn't empty into an ocean. It flows north out of the Uintas into Wyoming, then swings to the west into Idaho, and continues south back into Utah, emptying into the Great Sale Lake--500 miles long.
46 - TRIANGLE MOUNTAIN and RECONNAISSANCE LAKE at sunup, arguably "the most beautiful scene in the Uintas." This off-trail remote lake is on the east side of the upper Rock Creek drainage. It is one of the areas in the Uintas that has impressed me profoundly and drawn me back 3 times in 6 years, and will again. In fact, the more I gaze at this gorgeous scene, the more I begin to think it rivals Red Castle Peak as the most beautiful in the Uintas--and Utah. It isn't even listed in the main guidebook of the Uintas and doesn't see too many visitors. It is about 20 miles from the Highline Trailhead.
47 - Majestic TRIANGLE MOUNTAIN and RECONNAISSANCE LAKE
48 - Triangle Mountain and Reconnaissance Lake with elephants head flowers
49 - Triangle Mt. and Reconnaissance Lake flower garden
50 - TRIANGLE MOUNTAIN guarding RECONNAISSANCE LAKE. This photograph was taken climbing up the mountain to the east. My next visit will see me continue the climb up the mountain to the saddle to get photographs of the North Slope's Allsop Lake where the East Fork of the Bear River is born.
51 - TRIANGLE MOUNTAIN at twilight. The two small backpacker tents happen to be mine and Mahana's. This beautiful area is not even mentioned in the most popular High Uintas Guide Book, and maybe I should keep the secret too. This photo was on the goat trip with Clay Zimmerman.
52 - Observing the beautiful scene at sunset. For the fishermen, I have never failed to catch sassy Eastern brook trout at a rate of about 1 every 3 or 4 minutes. I have never caught a big one, but I have never taken the time either of going all the way around to the other side of the lake. I will do that the next time--either in 2009 or 2010. Maybe we will meet there. The Utah Division of Natural Resources pamphlet on ROCK CREEK explains it has a self-sustaining population of brook and cutthroat trout.
53 - My alpine camp on Reconnaissance Lake. Sorry, but I love my little campfire--me and my buddy Jedediah Smith! Usually only for my one cooked meal a day, and always cleaned up to "LEAVE NO TRACE."
54 - RECONNAISSANCE LAKE at the foot of beautiful TRIANGLE MOUNTAIN--WOW! It never ceases to inspire me with profound faith and gratitude
55 - Cascading stream near the Grandview Trailhead in Hades Canyon
56 - Cascading Hades Canyon stream. I have never passed this wonderful spot, coming or going, without stopping to fill my water containers with the greatest water in Utah
57 - Bog Laurels on the shore of Grandaddy Lake. In the background we see from the left, Hayden Peak, Mount Agassiz, and Spread Eagle Peak. The Naturalist Basin is between Mt. Agassiz and Spread Eagle Peak.
58 - Hayden Peak and Mt. Agassiz over Grandaddy Lake
59 - Beautiful GRANDADDY LAKE, the Uinta's largest, dominating the Grandaddy Basin
60 - "THE GRANDADDIES" - The Grandaddy Basin is one of the most visited in the High Uintas Wilderness, yet a backpack everyone should do. Access is from the North Fork of the Duchesne River, driving up Hades Canyon to the Grandview Trailhead, and from there 4 miles to Grandaddy Lake. The Basin has 26 lakes. Grandaddy Lake is the location of the Native Cutthroat trout spawn shown in the "Fishing the Uintas" section. It is another spectacle of nature everyone should see. Now let's now take a trip to see it from higher up on East Grandaddy Mountain.
63 - Driving the BLIND STREAM ROAD from Hanna. \Once, halfway up the canyon I jumped a herd of about 30 elk right on the road. Blind Stream Pass is 10,300 ft high. I best tell you that sometimes mid-June attempts driving the road have ended in impassable snowdrifts a few hundred yards down from the pass.
64 - This Blind Stream Road short-cut will save you about 80 miles compared to going on the pavement- -from the pass you go down 17 spectacular switch-backs
65 - After the switch-backs you go up to the west along the South Fork of Rock Creek. You follow an old logging road for about 5 miles. Four wheel drive is not needed as it is a good graded road that most any car can navigate if you are careful. There are not signs, nor trailhead at the end of the road. Just hike up the creek to Arta Lake, then scramble up to Survey Lake. From there you scratch and claw your way up to the saddle where the High Uintas Wilderness area begins, and prepare to BE AWED AT THE INCREDIBLE VIEW OF GRANDADDY LAKE & BASIN.
66 - Mahana scrambling up the steep mountain--Be careful, she's one tough little backpacker! If you haven't met her already, she is my adopted daughter from Guatemala. Women in Guatemala don't do this sort of thing--except balancing heavy loads on their heads to or from market, but Mahana has wonderfully adapted to our Utah way of life. Don't get me wrong, she SMILES too--see the UINTA FRIENDS ALBUM.
67 - Mahana caught me with her tiny camera zooming in on Grandaddy lake fun-seekers. Mahana and me climbed the mountain from the south side, having driven over to the South Fork of Rock Creek. We were to camp up on the East Grandaddy Mountain saddle- -Mahana with her one lady tent right on the saddle, and me in my bivouac camp down the face of the mountain where I would have a good vantage point for photographing the scene.
68 - Zooming in on an island and fun-seekers on Grandaddy Lake
69 - Building my "Inteligel bed" on a niche in the mountain. Mahana set her little camp up near the saddle. I went down looking for a great vantage point for my photographs. There was only one little niche in the mountain, but not level enough, so I had to build my own platform over which I set up my bivouac camp.
70 - Looking up at the saddle from Grandaddy Lake--my niche in the mountain is seen in the next zoom shot
71 - Approximately where I bivouacked below the East Grandaddy saddle
72 - My bivouac camp at the perfect photographic vantage point
73 - I was ready for my afternoon/evening/night/morning photo shoot. I was hoping like cazy that there wouldn't be an updraft from the lake as it would have caught my shelter like a sail. I was luck as there wasn't enough wind to cause any trouble. With bad luck, as has happened, I just remove the pole (and tripod) and tuck the poncho underneath me to get safely through the night.
74 - Smoke from Wyoming forest fires moved in.
75 - The smoke moved out in time for the sunset
76 - The rainbow colors of sunset evolved--always beautiful
77 - The colors intensified as night approached
78 - The night was fascinating too
78a Night on Grandaddy Lake
79 - Sunrise on the Grandaddies
80 - As the morning warmed I got into the spectacular scene
81 - In a previous year, earlier in the season, I was there too
81a - Ted Packard was with me also on one of my 3 trips to the saddle
82 - Ted was so impressed with the awesome view that he was immediately planning to do the trip again and camp out on the saddle for a day or two.
82a -- Early morning on Fern Lake in the Grandaddy Basin
82b - Golden sunrise on Fern Lake
83 - Remote, off-trail, FERN LAKE has been one of our favorites for more than 50 years. This is one example of a remote lake in the well visited Grandaddy Basin. It is located down to the east from Grandaddy Lake, past Lodgepole Lake and then just before La Marla pond, you go off-trail to the south-east to find this jewel of a lake.
83a - Sunrise on Fern lake
83b Sunrise on remote Fern Lake
83c Fern Lake sunrise
84 - DOC'S LAKE is just a mile or two from Fern Lake. It is seldom visited, and found at the very tip of East Grandaddy Mountain
84a - Golden sunrise above Mohawk Lake. This photograph was taken over a pond high on the slopes of West Grandaddy Peak above Mohawk Lake.
85 - The Grandaddy Basin's MOHAWK LAKE, just up the trail from Betsy Lake. West Grandaddy Mountain is in the background.
86 - Remote, off-trail MARSELL LAKE, a mile or so from Mohawk Lake. In 2002 I found the sign on the ground, hung and signed it "Hung By Andy." In 2006 only the post was left.
87 - SONNY LAKE, off-trail just a bit north of Marsell Lake. It yielded some nice Eastern Brook trout
88 - Off-trail FARNEY LAKE with West Grandaddy Mountain in the background. It is stocked with Arctic Grayling
89 - SHADOW LAKE with East Grandaddy Mountain in the background. This lake is a bit off trail as you come down from Betsy Lake on your way to Lost, Powell, Rainbow and other lakes going northeast across the Grandaddy Basin. Shadow Lake is mentioned by Snooks Roberts from Hanna in his autobiography, THE LIFE & TIMES OF SNOOKS ROBERTS. He describes he and others camping on this lake in 1925 and fishing from a raft, and, after a day or two of fishing taking 300 Eastern Brook trout back to civilization. They were on horseback.
90 - LOST LAKE is found along the trail from Betsy to Rainbow Lake, traveling northeast across the Grandaddy Basin. About in the middle of this lake is a faint trail heading east to Powell Lake.
91 - POWELL LAKE is found a mile or so to the east of Lost Lake. Familiar East Grandaddy Mountain is seen in the distance. This lake was named in honor of John Wesley Powell, famous 19th century explorer, surveyor, map maker, and the 1st man to boat through the Grand Canyon.
92 - BEDGROUND LAKE on the way to the Four Lakes Basin. From here you can go due east off-trail a mile to Allen Lake
93 - ALLEN LAKE - In 2003 I scraped the sign so it would be legible (photographable). This lake is famous for Forest Ranger Floyd Allen, and for its Arctic Grayling. This off-trail lake is 1 mile east of Bedground Lake. A couple of years later I visited the lake again and found the sign in pieces on the ground, and propped it up so it would hopefully last another year or so.
94 - THOMPSON LAKE, considered as one of the most remote High Uinta lakes, is found to the northeast of Cyclone Pass. Cyclone Pass is on the east side of the Four Lakes Basin. After coming down from the pass you go northeast for a mile crossing boulder fields. One guide books hints that there could be giant Easter Brook trout in its waters that have never seen a lure.
94a - Even more remote SEA LION LAKE, found to the southeast of Cyclone Pass.
95 - CHRISTMAS MEADOWS on the North Slope, viewing Ostler and Spread Eagle Peaks across Stillwater Creek, tributary of the Bear River. The BEAR RIVER is the longest river in Northamerica that doesn't flow into an ocean--flowing north through Wyoming, then swings through Idaho, and back into Utah emptying into the Great Salt Lake, 500 miles from its source in the High Uintas Wilderness.
96 - OSTLER PEAK guards the trails to 3 of the most spectacular basins in the Uintas--Amethyst, West, and Middle Basins
97 - OSTLER CREEK cascading down the mountain.
98 - OSTLER PEAK, 12,718 ft. seen over SALAMANDER LAKE. This view of Ostler Peak (12,718 ft.) is from the north, reflected in off-trail Salamander Lake, accessed from the Amethyst Basin Trail.
99 - The morning sun warming Salamander Lake and its mirror image of Ostler Peak
100 - A zoom lens helps Ostler Peak loom over Salamander Lake
101 - TOOMSET LAKE, off-trail, next up the mountain from Salamander lake
102 - OSTLER PEAK reflected in OSTLER LAKE, off-trail up the mountain from Toomset Lake, and above B-24 lake that is on the Amethyst Basin trail
103 - OSTLER PEAK to the west of Amethyst Lake. The Ostler saddle is seen on the left, from which we will view this scene in a couple of pictures
104 - Mirror image of OSTLER PEAK in Amethyst Lake
105 - AMETHYST LAKE guarded by Ostler Peak
106 - AMETHYST LAKE viewed from the Ostler saddle, with 12,720 ft. Lamotte Peak on the right. This basin is on the North Slope, 7.5 miles from the Christmas Meadows Trailhead. To get to this saddle I climbed up from the upper reaches of the Rock Creek drainage on the South Slope.
107 - OSTLER PEAK reflected in BRINKLEY LAKE located in the Rock Creek drainage on the South Slope. Best access is from the Highline Trailhead near Mirror Lake. One follows the Highline Trail to the east, over Rocky Sea Pass to the Rock Creek drainage, and then north to Brinkley Lake, a total distance of about 12 miles.
108 - HINKLEY PONDS, just south of Brinkley Lake.
109 - Back to the North Slope in West Basin viewing HAYDEN PEAK reflected in KERMSUH LAKE
110 - Middle Basin and RYDER LAKE rimmed by HAYDEN PEAK on the right, and THE THRONES to the left. This is one of the most pictueresque areas in the High Uintas. Access is from the Christmas Meadows Trailhead on the North Slope, a hike of about 8.5 miles.
111a - Here we are climbing up the slopes of Hayden Peak from Ryder Lake, with Mt. Agassiz in the background.
111 - RYDER LAKE with MT. AGASSIZ in the background, viewed early in the season when I was the first into the basin. We are climbing up to McPheeters Lake near timberline on the slopes of Hayden Peak.
112 - The main body of McPHEETERS LAKE with Ostler and Spread Eagle Peaks in the background. This lake is about a mile above Ryder Lake in Middle Basin. We can just barely see a long finger of the lake in the background. We will go to the other end to get a view of the entire lake.
113 - 11,000 ft. McPHEETERS LAKE, with, from the left, Mount Agassiz, The Thrones, and Hayden Peak. "The Thrones" is my name as from a certain angle they reminded me of The Great White Throne in Zions National Park.
114 East Fork of Bear River on the North Slope--east from the Amethyst Basin
115. Mt. Beulah on the Left Fork of the East Fork of the Bear River
116. 12,557 ft. Mt. Beulah viewed from the North
117. 12,720 ft. Lamotte Peak on the Right Fork of the East Fork of the Bear River
118. Priord Lake and Lamotte Peak from the headwaters of the Right Fork of the East Fork of the Bear River. This photograph was taken from the saddle climbing up from the upper Rock Creek Drainage.
118a. East Fork of Bear River
118b We view here a section of the East Fork of Bear River which made it impossible for native cutthroat trout to swim upstream to populate the alpine basins.
118c. East Fork of Bear River falls.
119. Back to the Left Fk of the East Fk. of the Bear River--4-5 miles from the Trailhead the river gushes down the canyon in a series of waterfalls
119a. East Fork of Bear River falls.
119b. East Fork of Bear River falls.
120. Approaching the box canyon where this fork of the Bear River is born. THE CATHEDRAL looms on the right.
121. This fork of the Bear River is THE LARGEST RIVER IN NORTH AMERICA THAT DOESN'T EMPTY INTO AN OCEAN. Triangle Mt. peeks over the saddle in the dead center. In a couple of photos you will see a picture of this scene taken from that saddle. Triangle Mountain guards remote Reconnaissance Lake on the South Slope's Rock Creek Drainage. Yard Peak is beginning to appear on the right.
122. 12,706 ft. Yard Peak overseeing a meadow with Elephant heads flowers
123. Allsop Lake at the head of the box canyon
124. Allsop Lake guarded by Yard Peak
125. High flying Allsop Lake native cutthroat trout with the 12,274 ft. high Cathedral looking on.
126. This Fork of the Bear River is born in these snow fields, joins other forks, flows north into Wyoming, turns west flowing through Idaho, and then south back into Utah and the Great Salt Lake--500 miles long.
127. Allsop Lake & canyon from the saddle to the south. Photo taken by friend Doug Perry and his sons. Doug and his sons climbed up to the saddle from their camp on remote Reconnaissance Lake found in the upper reaches of the Rock Creek Drainage on the South Slope.
128. One drainage to the east--we look into the canyon of the West Fork of Blacks Fork guarded by 13,165 ft. high Tokewanna Peak. Tokewanna Peak is one of the 9 named 13,000+ ft. peaks in the Wilderness. We are now in the Green River Drainage, rather than the Great Basin Drainage.
129. The West Fork of Blacks Fork (of the Green River), looking to the south viewing a hillside scarred by a forest fire, and Mt. Beulah in the distance.
130. The forest fire & Mr. Beulah on the West Fork of Black's Fork.
131. Morning on the West Fork of Blacks Fork.
132. Again we view Tokewanna Peak, looking up a small and little visited drainage--the Middle Fork of Black's Fork.
133. Eventually the trail disappears, but just follow the stream and it will lead you to Bob's Lake.
134. Tokewanna Peak and the headwaters of Middle Fork of Black's Fork-- Bob's Lake is just over the hill in the right middle of the photograph.
135 - BOB'S LAKE camp on the slopes of Tokewanna Peak. The guidebooks say there are no campsites in such places--in fact the guidebooks don't even list Bob's Lake, but there it was anyway doing just fine. Fishing produced some very hard hits, and heavy fighters that had me excited, but they were trout I had never seen before--TIGER TROUT, a Brook/Brown hybrid, resulting in stronger than usual trout (but sterile). See them in the "Fishing the Uintas" album.
136 - BOB'S LAKE guarded by Tokewanna Peak. For information on this remote and little visited lake, see an old Fish & Game Pamphlet (1986) on LAKES OF THE HIGH UINTAS--BEAR RIVER & BLACKS FORK DRAINAGES. The Fish & Game is now named Division of Wildlife Resources.
137 - The next drainage to the east is East Fork of Blakcs Fork. Here we look up this drainage at three 13,000+ mountains--see the comment. This shot is from the switchbacks of the Bald Mt. Trail, looking at Mount Lovenia (13,219 ft.), Wasatch Peak (13,156 ft.), and Tokewanna Peak (13,165 ft.).
138 - Backpacker (Ted Packard) climbing East Fork Pass, with 13,219 ft. high Mt. Lovenia to the left. Here we are more than 10 miles from the Trailhead climbing what I have dubbed "East Fork Pass" with 13,219 ft. high Mt. Lovenia to the left.
139 - 12,300 ft. EAST FORK PASS, with Mt. Lovenia on the right. The trail comes up to the pass from East Fork of Blacks Fork, on the North Slope. Here is one of the best areas for observing the arctic tunda-above timberline area that in the Uintas is the most continuous such area in the Continental U.S., next to the San Juan Mountains of Colorado.
140 - MOUNT LOVENIA, 13,219 ft. high seen from the East Fork/Red Knob Pass Trail. To the left (north) is East Fork of Blacks Fork (about 12 miles to the Trailhead) and in the background one of the 17 no name 13,000+ peaks in the Uintas. In the center is Mt. Lovenia, and to the right (south) is the Lake Fork Basin and drainage that begins at Moon Lake (about 24 miles to the Trailhead).
141 - Surrounded by a wonderful storm on East Fork Pass. This pass doesn't have an official name, but in my opinion it is more than worthy of one as it is the 2nd highest in the Uintas- -thus I have named it EAST FORK PASS. The reasoning is that you hike up East Fork to get to it from the north. NOTE: The highest pass is Anderson Pass at 12,600 ft. The 3rd is Porcupine Pass at 12,236 ft.
142 - Panorama looking west from East Fork/Red Knob Trail with Red Knob on the left, Mt. Beulah in the middle and 13,156 ft Wasatch Peak on the right, with the backside of 13,165 ft. Tokewanna Peak next down the ridge.
143 - Mid-August High UIntas panorama of the West Fork of Blacks Fork, from Red Knob to Mt. Beulah
144 - Mid-September panorama of the West Fork of Blacks Fork--showing a great contrast with the previous panorama
145. Mt. Beulah from the other side of the mountain to the northwest.
146. Mt. Beulah from the north looking up West Fork of Black's Fork.
121 - Zooming in on 12,557 ft. high MOUNT BEULAH.
148 - We're back on the East Fork-Red Knob Trail going west.
149 - Jorge, Peruvian sheepherder, on Red Knob Pass heading down the West Fork for provisions and salt. He was coming from the Ottoson Basin, way to the south where he and a Peruvian companion herder had their 1,200 sheep.
150 - From Red Knob Pass we are looking west towards the Deadhorse Lake and Pass area, surrounded by beautiful no-name mountains. On the right we see Ejod Lake. In this basin is born the West Fork of Blacks Fork, along which a friend claims to have seen two wolves.
151 - DEAD HORSE LAKE backdropped by a great no-name mountain. Dead Horse Lake is where the West Fork of Blacks Fork is born. Access is from the West Fork Trailhead on the North Slope, or the long several day hike on the Highline Trailhead near Mirror Lake. This beautiful area is seen from the east in the panoramas, and photographs from 118-124. This where a Wilderness Ranger friend claims two sightings of wolves. Wolves and grizzly bears disappeared from Utah many years ago.
152 - DEAD HORSE LAKE and DEAD HORSE PASS, surrounded by beautiful no-name mountains. My experience in the area was coming over Dead Horse Pass on the Highline Trail from the west--3 times, once in 1954, again on my 27 day expedition in 2003, and on a goat pack trip in 2005 when my adopted daughter, Mahana, became the first Guatemalan to traverse the High Uintas Wilderness.
153. Mule deer buck jumped while stalking off-trail near Deadhorse Lake
154 - Looking towards Explorer Peak and Crater Lake across the Lake Fork basin from Red Knob Pass
155 - Sheep grazing on arctic tundra in the upper Lake Fork drainage, with Explorer Peak in the background. I had come down from Red Knob Pass and was crossing arctic tundra towards Explorer Peak and Crater Lake where lightning was attacking. Within minutes the storm was upon me and I quickly set up my tent and crawled in just as the rain and hail hit--see the next image.
156 - The morning after surviving a terrific lightning storm.
157 - Crossing the upper Lake Fork Basin with Explorer Peak in the background. This was the morning after the storm. I was on my way to Explorer Peak, and Crater Lake, nestled in a glacial cirque at the Peak's base. Here I'm about 10 days into my 27 day expedition in 2003. My initial 83 lbs of food & equipment was down to around 68 lbs. and by this time I was in good shape and friskily rolling along about as good as a 67 year old could do. A famous marathon backpacker at an REI presentation was horrified on hearing about my 83 lbs. In his backpacks he gets re-supplied every 3 or 4 days. My 27 days were with no re-supply. I was carrying items such as: 15 lbs of photo equipment (including a whole sack full of film), my Colt .45 Defender, satellite phone & extra battery, lightweight fishing equipment, blood pressure gauge and other emergency items, etc. The first few days were tough, but then it became unbelievably invigorating. Even at 74 I'm working on being able to do it again.
158 - Zooming in on Crater Lake from Red Knob Pass. Regarding my comments with the last image, about carrying 83 lbs. I must explain how a 5'5", 67 year older could do such. While living and working for 37 years in Guatemala I literally worked alongside my Indian employees, and for years previous to returning to the U.S. in 2002 would hike around my farm 2 or 3 times a week with a 100 lb. bag of fertilizer on my shoulders, eventually being able to do 4 miles non-stop. So when crunch time came, I survived and got stronger each day. On my first trip to the area in 2003 my base camp was made in the pines in the left bottom, and from there I climbed up to the lake on a day hike the next day.
159 - Glimpsing CRATER LAKE, the deepest in the Uintas. On my 27 day expedition, Crater lake was a prime objective. Somehow it had escaped us in 1954 when with Ted Packard and Charlie Petersen we passed through this area in our crossing of the High Uintas Primitive Area. It is the deepest in the High Uintas at 147 feet.
160 - Sunrise on EXPLORER PEAK and CRATER LAKE. This photograph was taken on my 2nd trip to Crater Lake, just with a bivouac bag. I wanted to get some moon shots, but it rained all night and I awoke late--at this moment, jumped up and took a quick shot that turned out to be a keeper.
161 - Explorer Peak and beautiful CRATER LAKE--147 feet deep
162 - Another panorama of the whole beautiful scene--CRATER LAKE and EXPLORER PEAK. My objective on this 2nd trip to the area was to go up the chute in the right quarter and get up on the ridge to take some spectacular photographs from a unique vantage point.
163 - Another shot of CRATER LAKE and EXPLORER PEAK as I worked towards the chute
164 - Gorgeous CRATER LAKE and EXPLORER PEAK as I worked up the chute
165 - Admiring the Uintas deepest lake--CRATER LAKE, at 147 ft. deep
166 - Coming down the chute--that was choked with an impassable wall of snow--I'll do it next time, later in the season. A real alpinist could have climbed the wall of snow, but I didn't have crampons, or an ice axe. I'll eventually get the task accomplished.
167 - EXPLORER PEAK from the south across the Ottoson Basin
168 - UPPER OTTOSON LAKE guarded by Explorer Peak, and fed by a waterfall coming from the peak
169 - Waterfall feeding Upper Ottoson Lake, full of nice Native cutthroat trout
169a - Sunrise in the Ottoson Basin
170 - Explorer Peak over Ameba Lake. This is of 3 lakes in the Ottoson Basin. In 30 minutes I caught 3 native cutthroat trout, each with different coloration.
171 - CLEMENTS LAKE overshadowed by a dramatic sky. This medium sized lake is in the upper Brown Duck Basin (South Slope) between Atwine Lake and East Basin Pass in the Lake Fork Drainage. The trailhead is at Moon Lake. The lake has been enlarged with a dike turning it into a reservoir with a headgate to control water flow for irrigation in the Uintah Basin to the south. This was done with quite a few lakes years ago, before the establishment of the High Uintas Wilderness. The Forest Service is working on returning such to their natural state.
172. Mill Park at the head of Hell's Canyon across the canyon east from the Clement's Lake area.
173 - TUNGSTEN LAKE located in arctic tundra of the upper Garfield Basin--Porcupine Pass in the background. The Garfield Basin is in the upper Yellowstone Creek drainage of the South Slope. The table-top mountain is 13,040 ft. Wilson Peak, one of the 9 named 13,000+ ft peaks in the Uintas. In the dead center is 12,236 ft. high Porcupine Pass, 3rd highest in the Uintas. The photograph was taken from the Tungsten Pass, the easiest pass in the mountains.
174 - No-name lakes between Porcupine Pass and North Star Lake--connected by Garfield Creek--the shortest creek in the Uintas. The last in the distance is Tungsten Lake, seen in the previous image. This remote alpine tundra area is on the South Slope's Yellowstone Creek Drainage, traversed by the Highline Trail that continues on to Kings Peak seen in the distance. This is a unique little basin that doesn't drain into the other Garfield Creek that begins a bit to the south and drains into Yellowstone Creek. Fishing in these remote lakes is on my list of "to do still." I have passed by them 5 times without ever wetting a line, which likely others have done too. Just maybe a record is waiting.
175 - Mahana observing Bald Lake from up on Bald Mountain with 6 13,000+ ft. peaks in the distance. The mountains are, from the left: Gilbert Peak (13,442 ft.), no-name 13,100 ft., Kings Peak (13,528 ft.), South Kings Peak (13,512 ft.), Mount Powell (13,139 ft.), and en edge of Red Castle Peak, and the beginnings of Wilson Peak (13,040 ft.).
176 - BALD LAKE found on the West Fork of Smiths Fork drainage--one of the smaller drainages on the North Slope, about 10 miles from a very simple Trailhead.
177 - BALD LAKE is full of self-sustaining Eastern brook trout
178 - Beautiful BALD LAKE
179 - 90% of Utah's water comes from the High Uintas
179a. This is the front of Flat Top Mt., but worthy of having a name all of its own--let's call it CASTLE PEAK. We are in the Henry's Fork Basin, looking west from the King's Peak Trail.
180 - Beautiful and little recognized CASTLE PEAK--in fact by name it officially doesn't exist, but is the front portion of Flat Top Mountain. The name is my creation. Castle Lake lies on its southern flank, or to its left in this shot. This is part of the Henrys Fork drainage on the North Slope.
181 - CASTLE LAKE, guarded by Castle Peak, a remote portion of the Henrys Fork drainage. Guide books describe this remote lake this way: ". . . probably receives the least amount of attention in the Henrys Fork Basin. Nobody really knows too much about it. We've heard conflicting stories." I found no mystery, just sassy brook trout & solitude with no sign humans have been there (undoubtedly some have, but gratefully they "LEFT NO TRACE!"
182 - HENRYS FORK LAKE with 13,442 ft. high Gilbert Peak, 3rd highest in the Uintas. On my way to Cliff Lake. Gun Sight Pass is in the left background. Kings Peak peeks over the mountains in the dead center.
183 - Henrys Fork Lake and Basin, near outlet to Blanchard lake.
184 - Water gushing out of Blanchard Lake in the Henrys Fork Basin
185 - CLIFF LAKE, the most remote lake in the Henrys Fork Basin--see "Fishing the Uintas" for more information.
186 - DAYNES LAKE, in the Four Lakes Basin, from Cyclone Pass, looking towards Bald Mt.
187 - Lightning storm over Bald Mt. from Cyclone Pass and the Four Lakes Basin
188 Bald Mt. sunset
165a Bald Mt. camp
190 - Sunrise over the High Uintas from the top of Bald Mt. with Mirror Lake at our feet. The sun is rising over Mt Agassiz, with Hayden & A-1 Peaks to the left. A spectacular 360 degree view of the High Uintas is all around you. Mt Baldy, or Bald Mt is 11,943 feet high. From the Trailhead at the Bald Mt Pass on the Mirror Lake Scenic Byway, it is just 2 miles to the summit making possible a great day hike. Take a lunch & your camera, and enjoy the High Uintas. Everyone should do it--old & young.
191 - Jack Newel, Ted and Mike Packard on top of Bald Mt. with Hayden Peak in the center, and Mirror Lake at their feet. This is a wonderful day hike of 4 miles from the Bald Mt. Trailhead on the Mirror Lake Scenic Byway. Everyone should take this hike where you are surrounded by wonderful sights of the High Uintas.
192 - Upper Provo River Falls along the Mirror Lake Scenic Byway.
193 - Admiring what I call "The Gorge of the Duchesne" near the outlet of Packard Lake, about 5 miles from the Highline Trailhead
194 - Looking into the Gorge of the Duchesne--at the far hilltop begins the Grandaddy Basin
195 - The Packard Lake outlet cascades down to the Duchesne River
196 - Packard Lake with Mt. Agassiz in the background
197 - Packard Lake at dawn
198 - Packard Lake is about 5 miles from the Highline Trailhead.
199 - I wanted to visit Packard Lake in honor of my life-long backpacking brother Ted Packard and family. From here I bushwhacked my way straight up to the Naturalist Basin.
200 - The Morat Lakes waterfall in the Naturalist Basin
201 - The Morat Lakes Waterfal
202 - The Blue Lake Waterfall, above the Morat Lakes
203 - The Blue Lake Waterfall
204. The Blue Lake Waterfall & glacier lilies
205 - MORAT LAKE I on the way to Blue Lake
206 - BLUE LAKE in the bosom of Mt. Agassiz
207 - Ice on Blue Lake July 5, 2008
208 - Autumn coming on
209 - Cold nights, colorful days in September
210 - Colorful canyons leading to the Uintas in September
211 - Maples in the lower canyons
212 -
213 - Getting up into the evergreens
214 - Autumn on the Wolf Creek Pass
215. Sunset over the High Uintas from the summit of Bald Mt.
215. Focusing on the North Star through Quaking Aspens. This was about a 30 minute time exposure. The location is along the Blind Stream Road that takes off from Hanna and is a shortcut to the Rock Creek Drainage. I was on the elk hunt when taking this photograph.
216. A full moon along the Blind Stream Road near Hanna. The Blind Stream Road is a short-cut from 5 miles north of Hanna to the Rock Creek Drainage--a 17 mile drive over a 10,300 foot pass and then 17 switch-backs down to the South Fork of Rock Creek. Any car can do it, if you're careful.
217. -- Moon over the aspens along the Blind Stream Road from Hanna north to Rock Creek, climbing over 10,300 ft. Blind Stream Pass, and then 17 SPECTACULAR switch-backs down to the West Fork of Rock Creek. The 17 mile drive on the Blind Stream Road is one of "the musts" in scenic Utah--and saves you about 80 miles on the pavement.
218 - Beautiful autumn along the MIrror Lake Scenic Byway
218a WINTER COMES TO THE UINTAS' NORTH SLOPE--with a whole string of 13,000+ foot peaks--from the left, Gilbert Peak, a no-namer, Kings Peak, South Kings Peak, no-namers, Mount Powell and Wilson Peak--then lowly Red Castle Peak--12,566 ft.
219 - Sunset at Island Lake on the North Slope
220 - NONE OF THE 1,327 MILES CAME EASY! The challenge of finishing what I started keeps me alive. About 500 miles to go to explore, photograph & share with all God's incredibly beautiful swath of beauty we call The HIGH UINTAS WILDERNESS.
