Duchesne Ridge (UT) camping 7/26-27/2014

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AmyZ, Skidog and his 6-year-old daughter, and I got out again this weekend for some relaxed car camping. I wanted to try yet another place I haven't been, and this time settled on the Duchesne Ridge in the extreme southwestern corner of the Uintas due east of Heber.

This isn't what most folks think of when they think of the Uintas. Instead of jagged high peaks of little more than rubble and scree, these mountains are more rolling, and certainly more green. Mixed fir and aspen forests are speckled with lush alpine meadows (lush by Utah standards, anyway) at elevations ranging from around 7500 feet in the river valleys to over 10,000 feet at the summits. Forest Road 091 runs west from UT-35 at Wolf Creek Summit along southern edge of the 10,000-foot Duchesne Ridge.

Our original plan was to drop just below the ridge to Heart Lake via FR-097, a double-track, but when the water there turned out to be murkier than I expected we returned to the ridge to camp instead at a spot along the edge of the ridge overlooking the lake.

The scenery was spectacular. We did next to nothing other than cook dinner and relax around the campfire, and relaxing felt good. The area was wonderfully quiet as no OHVs are permitted in this sector, and we saw few other people drive by.

Here's a full Google Photo Sphere taken from our campsite: https://www.google.com/maps/views/view/ ... 3014288146

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Camp

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A panoramic view, including our camp at far left

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Cooking dinner

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The late afternoon view from camp down to Heart Lake and the west fork of the Duchesne River beyond.

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Sunrise from camp

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The view north from Duchesne Ridge towards the high peaks of the western Uintas
 
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