More Uintas: Backpacking to 3 Divide Lakes 7/7-8/12

[Admin]

Mrgskier was in town from Vermont with his 18-year-old daughter Jenny. They just finished a weeklong bicycling tour through southwestern Utah and had a weekend in SLC before flying home. We've talked for years about a summer overnight in the Uintas and this time we had the opportunity to make it happen.

I brought Jake along, and AmyZ and tcope joined us. Bobby Danger had to work Saturday morning but was going to hike separately in to our camp by dinnertime.

After our Friday night planning meeting over sushi at Suerhiro in Cottonwood Heights to dish out loaner gear for mrgskier and Jenny, we were ready to go. We stopped in Kamas for mrgskier's fishing license, and at the Samak Smoke House for sandwiches and parking permits before pulling into the Crystal Lake trailhead, where temperatures were in the low 50s after a thunder shower had pushed through much earlier in the day than is normal for the western Uinta Mountains. Jake's backpack was filled with his dog food, bowls, a liter of water and poop bags. Mine felt like it had everything in it but the kitchen sink.

Regardless, reaching the Three Divide Lakes is an easy hike, under three miles each way up past Cliff Lake, Petit Lake, Watson Lake and Clyde Lake before a short trail-less route westward along the north side of Mount Watson to reach the Three Divide Lakes at ~10,700 feet. It remained overcast and cool in the wake of Saturday's thunderstorms, and the rainfall seemed to prompt every mosquito in eastern Utah to hatch. They were relentless.

We set up camp on the west side of the furthest Divide Lake. Tcope went fishing in the Divide Lakes and Booker Lake, and mrgskier and Jenny did the same at Clyde Lake. I filtered water for the evening, then AmyZ and I went to take Jake swimming.

Tcope came back with two cutthroat trout. Mrgskier came back empty-handed.

By 7:30 p.m., though, it became clear that Bobby Danger wasn't showing up. We cooked dinner, which consisted of freeze dried backpacking food accompanied by tcope's fresh trout, which were wonderful. I much preferred mrgskier's and Jenny's chicken fettucine alfredo to my thai chicken that I shared with AmyZ.

I didn't bother taking any photos in the dull overcast, but skies finally cleared around sunset, which provided some phenomenal photo opportunities at the Divide Lakes.

Sunset over the Divide Lake, with Notch Mountain and Bald Mountain forming a backdrop

The north face of Mount Watson reflecting in Divide Lake

The sky filled with stars from horizon to horizon after the sun disappeared but before the moon rose overnight. We all laid out on a flat area of bedrock and stared at the sky. Others saw multiple shooting stars. I saw none, but we all caught several satellites streaking across the night sky before calling it a night at 11.

It was chilly overnight. I'm guessing that temps dipped into the upper 40s.

Lounging in the hammock at camp

After some hot coffee this morning we decided to scramble up the scree field on Mount Watson to reach the top of the lower snowfield.

Breakfast at camp

The snowfield

A pissed-off marmot

Mrgskier and AmyZ climb above the Three Divide Lakes. Our camp is just to the left of the leftmost lake.

After descending we broke camp and headed home. Jake had depleted much of his dog food supply so he carried out all of our trash for us, too. AmyZ got separated, and tcope and I backtracked a mile to find her while mrgskier again fished, this time in Watson Lake. Skunked again.

[Bobby Danger]

ute indians call that the enchanted land .

[Marc_C]

Mrgskier was in town from Vermont with his 18-year-old daughter Jenny. They just finished a weeklong bicycling tour through southwestern Utah ...

With that heat and fires? Vermonters truly are crazed.

Mine felt like it had everything in it but the kitchen sink.

And this is somehow different?
Probably really doesn't matter for this kind of glorified car camping, but on an actual backpacking trip.....

...and the rainfall seemed to prompt every mosquito in eastern Utah to hatch. They were relentless.

The primary reason I haven't been overly eager to head up to Ruth Lake for climbing. I've heard stories on of viciousness on the climbing fora.

After some hot coffee this morning we decided to scramble up the scree field on Mount Watson to reach the top of the lower snowfield.

The Uintas = rubble without a cause!

[Admin]

Mine felt like it had everything in it but the kitchen sink.

And this is somehow different?
Probably really doesn't matter for this kind of glorified car camping, but on an actual backpacking trip.....

And smarta$$, just how much camping have you done in the past decade-plus that didn't involve a car?

[mrgskier]

Once again, much thanks to Admin for making this happen!! Jenny and I had a great trip and we will post pix as soon as I get home to download the camera. We were truly blessed to have such an opportunity to enjoy the "enchanted land"!

[Admin]

we will post pix as soon as I get home to download the camera.

Looking forward to that. Safe travels!

[Marc_C]

And smarta$$, just how much camping have you done in the past decade-plus that didn't involve a car?

None. I never go camping for the sake of camping - it's always in service for some other activity. Come to think of it, I've never gone camping just to go camping in my life.

[Tony Crocker]

I never go camping for the sake of camping - it's always in service for some other activity.

MarcC and I have had our differences, but this is one topic on which we agree! I've backpacked camped twice lifetime, Mt. Whitney and Mt. Shasta. You have to be an ironman to do either of those in one day, thus the necessity of camping. The multiday treks where overnight services are provided (Inca Trail, the "W" in Torres del Paine), those are different.

[Marc_C]

I never go camping for the sake of camping - it's always in service for some other activity.

MarcC and I have had our differences, but this is one topic on which we agree! I've backpacked camped twice lifetime, Mt. Whitney and Mt. Shasta. You have to be an ironman to do either of those in one day, thus the necessity of camping. The multiday treks where overnight services are provided (Inca Trail, the "W" in Torres del Paine), those are different.

I used to do a reasonable amount of backpacking when I was in college, anywhere from 2 nights out to 2.5 weeks, including winter traverses of the Presidentials, Franconia Ridge, and Marcy/Colden and environs. But over 90% of my lifetime camping nights were directly for rock climbing. Sure, the vast majority of that was car camping (you're there to climb, not to camp), mostly because motels didn't seem worth the expense or simply weren't available (eg: Courtright Reservoir, the Sierra Needles).

BTW, we did do Whitney in a day, via the usual herd path from Lone Pine. The big problem with that side of Whitney is that the highest legal campsite is still really too low and too far from the summit to make it worth the effort of carrying in camping gear. Fast and light is the way to do it. We left the trailhead at 6am and returned to the car at 7pm - about 25 miles round trip and ~5K elevation gain/loss. Our two advantages were 1) having spent a week sleeping at 8700' / climbing at 9K-10K and 2) being in our early 30's.

Long's Peak in RMNP was a similar deal, but since there are mutants from Boulder who run up (literally) and down in 4 hrs car-to-car, it seems too trivivial to mention.

[Tony Crocker]

BTW, we did do Whitney in a day....Our two advantages were 1) having spent a week sleeping at 8700' / climbing at 9K-10K and 2) being in our early 30's.

There are 2 campsites, one at 10,300 and one at 12,000 (trailhead is 8,300). If you have 3 days you use the 10,300 site 2 nights, for 2 days you need to get all that gear up to 12,000. The hike fully loaded from 11,000 to 12,000 was tougher than the summit climb with a day pack IMHO. I was 47 and Adam was 14. We were popping Diamox for the altitude because we only had 2 nights in Mammoth first and Adam still threw up his dinner at 12,000 and I got no sleep overnight.

I'm inclined to agree that the lightly packed dayhike is reasonable, but most of us flatlanders should have a minimum of one week sleeping at 8,000+ beforehand.

about 25 miles round trip and ~5K elevation gain/loss

Except for the altitude this is what I'm signing up for in September with my friend Kirk's family tradition of north-to-south-rim of the Grand Canyon. The heat may make it as challenging as Whitney's altitude.

since there are mutants from Boulder...

No surprise several of Kirk's relatives who do this every year are from Boulder.

[EMSC]

Long's Peak in RMNP was a similar deal, but since there are mutants from Boulder who run up (literally) and down in 4 hrs car-to-car, it seems too trivivial to mention.

Pick a 14er out here and you'll find at least a couple of running freaks at any of them. Frequently while wearing sandals and holding a single small water bottle for the whole trip...

In addition to Long's there are several other very long but doable in a day hikes of similar nature to Long's and apparently Whitney. Mt of the Holy Cross quickly comes to mind. I seem to recall starting that one ~4:30am. Snowmass (not the ski resort, but the nearby 14'er) requires a couple of days to do is my understanding. Just too long to day trip it in there. Etc...

[Marc_C]

In addition to Long's there are several other very long but doable in a day hikes of similar nature to Long's and apparently Whitney.

I found Long's significantly easier than Whitney, primarily because of less elevation delta (~9600 -> 14255 vs 8300 -> 14500) and only about a 16 mile round trip. Although well acclimatized, in good physical shape, and 25 or so years younger, Whitney was still pretty grueling and close to the limit of what I would (willingly*) do as a day trip.

*: there's the Petit Grepon semi-epic, but that's a whole different scenario and a much longer story. The sort version is day 1 we hike in to Sky Pond late afternoon and bivi in the boulders above the lake. Day two we rope up at the base of the route ~300' above our bivi and start up the first pitch at 6:30a - we finally get back to our car at ~1:45a the following morning, thanks to multiple tactical errors.

Petit Grepon in RMNP