(non-skiing) Heber Mountain, UT camping - July 21-23, 2017

Admin

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I just got back from another weekend enjoying the new RV with friends including AmyZ and Telejon. This time I returned to one of my favorite camping areas, Heber Mountain.



Heber Mountain is a 10,200-foot summit east of Heber City and southeast of Park City, Utah. However, it doesn't look like much as it's surrounded by a huge expanse of Uinta-Wasatch-Cache National Forest that sits 9,500-10,000 feet. The summit thus doesn't have much prominence above the surrounding land. It's at the northwest corner of an area of National Forest measuring over 200,000 acres that's criss-crossed by numerous Forest Service roads, nearly all of which are legal for dispersed camping.

We picked a small knoll at 9,870 feet that was about a quarter mile due south of Heber Mountain on FR-094, that had a rare amenity for this area: 4G on Verizon, two bars! If I walked 300 yards from camp I lost service completely.

With highs in the low 70s and lows in the 50s at camp, this was a perfect weekend to get out of Salt Lake, where it was in the upper 90s all weekend. I could have done without the thunderstorm with nickel-size hail upon our arrival Friday evening, however. Views were also somewhat obscured by a smoky haze thanks to some distant wildfire. Those were the only anomalies, though, in an otherwise gorgeous weekend.


Looking north from our campsite toward Duchesne Ridge and the High Peaks of the Western Uintas beyond.


Even though it was a holiday weekend in Utah, our nearest neighbor was a quarter mile away, barely visible on the ridgeline in the distance.


Dinner with a view.


Our camp is visible at photo center.


Looking down the nearby West Fork of the Duchesne River. Virtually everything you see in this photo is legal dispersed camping.


Smoke from distant wildfires makes for hazy conditions, but also glorious sunsets.
 
Just last night I camped in the exact spot that admin did and can confirm that he left it pristine;
preliminary test results on the scattered dung indicate it is of herbivore origin.

I was heading to my usual spot on Mirror Lake Hwy but changed my mind in Kamas. So I ended up taking forest rd 053 south from hwy35. It was very-well maintained gravel with minimal washboarding and quite a lovely drive.

It is all as good as he describes it. I had driven up there before but was blocked by snow in May. This write-up ended up inspiring me to try it again.

I did not get a signal on AT&T but didn't try too hard either. The only downside for people not in RVs might be the lack of shade and waking up with the first light. But there are plenty of alternatives at slightly lower elevation with less of a view that also have trees.
 
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