RED CASTLE LAKES

AUGUST 2010 & AUGUST 2016

LOWER RED CASTLE LAKE

POND BELOW RED CASTLE LAKE

OUTLET TO LOWER RED CASTLE LAKE

POND NEAR SMITH FORK PASS LAKE

EAST RED CASTLE LAKE

RED CASTLE LAKE

MOOSE NEAR THE BEGINNING OF THE HIKE

SMITHS FORK PASS LAKE

POND BELOW RED CASTLE LAKE

RED CASTLE LAKE

EAST RED CASTLE LAKE

ABOVE LOWER RED CASTLE LAKE

Red Castle Lakes is a very scenic area accessed from the China Meadows trailhead, located about twenty miles outside the town of Mountain View, Wyoming. It is unique in that the mountains have the reddish color of southern Utah, but are located in the Uinta Mountains near the Utah/Wyoming border. It is about eight miles to Lower Red Castle Lake on a mostly flat, wooded trail that follows fairly close to the East Fork Smith Fork River. This first time I hiked it in August of 2010, a storm started forming just as I reached Lower Red Castle Lake, so I quickly set up my tent a little ways off the trail in a spot with an amazing view of the lake. I had planned to hike up to Upper Red Castle Lake after setting up camp, however, just as I was leaving the drizzling rain slowly turned into a hail storm. I decided to wait it out under some trees, and after the storm blew over headed again up the trail. I was able to make it to Red Castle Lake before another storm blew in. By now the sun had already dipped behind the surrounding mountains, so playing it safe I decided to head back to my tent rather than fight my way up a boulder field in a storm to the upper lake. 

It rained all through night, but thankfully it stopped in the morning. The skies looked fairly clear when I woke up, so I decided to hike up the east side of Red Castle to Smiths Fork Pass Lake and East Red Castle Lake. This area was beautiful. There were several waterfalls and ponds in addition to the two lakes. East Red Castle Lake was my favorite of all the lakes I saw. After coming back down from this basin, I grabbed my backpack and started back down the trail to China Meadows. After about three miles another storm blew in, soaking me for the last five miles back to the trailhead. 

When I visited the area again in August of 2016 it was a bit more crowded. We had planned to camp at Lower Red Castle Lake, however when we arrived all of the good campsites appeared to be taken. So we continued on down the trail until we found a spot in some trees about a half-mile past the lake. There were signs on the trees warning us to keep our food away from our tents as there were bears in the area. However, it started snowing pretty hard while we were rushing to set up our tents, and continued to snow after we had climbed inside them with our packs and fell asleep. I awoke that night to the sounds of a bear grunting and lumbering around our site looking for food. At one point it came right up to the head of my tent to sniff a banana I had left out just above my head, its face just a couple feet from mine. Luckily it didn't like the smell and eventually moved on. 

The next day we hiked up to Red Castle Lake, and then took a short cut through the forest south of Lower Red Castle Lake to the Smiths Fork Pass area (on high alert for bears after the previous night) to check out Smiths Fork Pass Lake and East Red Castle Lake. We then took the official trail back to our campsite where we moved our packs away from our tents and tried not to think about bears. When camping in an area with bears, I like to listen to my headphones when I wake up in the middle of the night so I won't hear any animals moving around. I know it is very rare for them to attack someone sleeping in a tent, so if they are in the area, I'd rather not know about it. The next morning we woke up and made our way back to the trailhead, witnessing a large sheep-herding operation along the way down.   

ROCK CREEK BASIN

JULY 2008

POND NEAR SPREAD EAGLE PEAK

MEADOW BETWEEN BLACK LAKE AND LIGHTNING LAKE

HELEN LAKE FROM ABOVE

ROSALIE LAKE

Rock Creek Basin takes a bit of effort to reach, but it is definitely worth it. It is one of my favorite places I have ever visited, and I would love explore it further some time. I began my hike at the Highline Trailhead located along the Mirror Lake Highway, and hiked approximately seven miles before camping the first night in a meadow near Olga Lake. As I was hiking in July, the mosquitoes were horrible. While everything is greener in July, I have since decided to avoid backpacking the Uintas until late August to avoid the mosquitoes. I decided to camp near Olga Lake so that I could enter Rock Creek Basin the next day for a day hike without my backpack. I decided to hike the Lightning Lake loop trail and was blown away by the scenery. After descending Rocky Sea Pass, the trail will take you through a meadow and then slowly fade. You will need to follow some cairns before getting back on the trail which then remains strong the rest of the way to Lightning Lake.

This is a very pretty trail which begins by following a creek through the thick forest. You will pass by several picturesque ponds before and after reaching Brinkley Lake. In order to reach the next lake, Black Lake, you will need to take a marked trail about a quarter-mile off the main trail. This minor detour is worth your time. Just past Black Lake the trail will fork and you will need to decide whether to stay left and head for Gladys Lake or to stay right and head to Lightning Lake (among other destinations). The trail loops, so it doesn't really matter which way you take.

I chose to turn right and head to Lightning. This was a very pleasant trail which passed by some beautiful meadows and through thick forest. The trail then climbs steeply just before reaching Lightning Lake. This is a beautiful lake which gives you a pretty good view of the entire basin. Just above Lightning Lake is Helen Lake. From Lightning Lake the trail climbs steeply up to a long meadow above the timber line against the side of mountain. From here the view is incredible. It is now an easy walk over to Gladys Lake. When I got to Rosalie Lake there was a large moose feeding near the shore. From Rosalie it wasn't far to Marjorie Lake and Uintah Lake. This was a very beautiful area. These lakes are all located in the corner of the Rock Creek Basin and had snow melting into them from the surrounding mountain sides.

It was at Uinta Lake that I saw the only people I would see in the Rock Creek Basin that day. There were three brothers headed to Marjorie Lake with their backpacks planning to spend a couple days. They said that the Marjorie/Rosalie/Uintah Lake area was their favorite part in all the Uinta Mountain Range. They also made me aware of a primitive trail leading straight from Uintah Lake to Rocky Sea Pass, marked fairly regularly with cairns, that saved me a lot of time. 

AMETHYST LAKE

SEPTEMBER 2008 & AUGUST 2017

AMETHYST LAKE

POND ABOVE AMETHYST

AMETHYST LAKE

ABOVE AMETHYST LAKE

OSTLER FORK BELOW AMETHYST LAKE

ROCKY MEADOW ABOVE AMETHYST

LAKE BELOW AMETHYST

AMETHYST BASIN

LAKE BELOW AMETHYST

AMETHYST BASIN

AMETHYST BASIN

OSTLER LAKE

UNNAMED LAKE BELOW AMETHYST LAKE

OSTLER LAKE

OSTLER FORK

Amethyst Lake is a twelve mile round-trip hike in the Uinta Mountains accessed from Christmas Meadows Trailhead, just off the Mirror Lake Highway. The trail is level for the first three miles as it follows along Stillwater Fork. There are a lot of moose in the area, and I had to make a detour around some standing in the trail the first time I visited. After about three miles you enter the High Uintas Wilderness Area. Just after the sign welcoming you into the Wilderness Area, the trail will fork. Turn left to go to Amethyst Lake.

The trail will begin an uphill climb as it follows along Ostler Fork. You will pass a couple pleasant meadows before reaching Amethyst Lake. Amethyst Lake is a large, beautiful lake located at the top of the basin. The first time I visited in September of 2008, I decided to visit several other lakes on my way back down. I first went to a large pond located about a half-mile below Amethyst Lake. From here it is about a quarter mile over to Ostler Lake. From Ostler Lake it was about a half-mile and a steep drop to get to Toomset Lake. From Toomset I bushwacked my way to Salamander Lake. I got a little off course in the process, but I like roaming through un-trailed forest once in a while. Salamander is probably not worth going out of your way for. Sadly, I was unable to find any salamanders. As I was visiting the last week of September, I had the entire place to myself (aside from one hunter I bumped into near the trailhead). 

I visited again in August of 2017 with a backpack. There were a lot more people there in August. We set up camp along the west side of the lake, and took a hike to the very southern end of the lake where there was a small pond with snow melting into it. There was also a large grassy slope behind it. I would definitely recommend visiting this area if you have time. The next day we hiked to Ostler Lake, getting a little off course along the way. There's no clear trail to Ostler Lake, so you will need to watch your map carefully. After spending the day at Ostler, we hiked back up to Amethyst. To get some new scenery, we got off the main trail and walked into the forest to follow Ostler Fork up to Amethyst Lake. It was nice a peaceful walk. We ended up seeing a large waterfall and a nudist along the way. After one more night at Amethyst we returned to the trailhead. 

KINGS PEAK

SEPTEMBER 2015

CURT & ADAM WITH KINGS PEAK IN THE BACKGROUND

DOLLAR LAKE

LAKE BLANCHARD

SMALL LAKE NEAR LAKE BLANCHARD

SMALL LAKE BETWEEN LAKE BLANCHARD AND DOLLAR LAKE

POND NEAR LAKE BLANCHARD

THE WALK FROM LAKE BLANCHARD TO DOLLAR LAKE

CURT BETWEEN LAKE BLANCHARD AND DOLLAR LAKE

KINGS PEAK FROM BELOW

SMALL LAKE NEAR DOLLAR LAKE

SMALL LAKE NEAR CLIFF LAKE

Kings Peak is hike that had been on my bucket list for a long time before I finally hiked it in September of 2015. As I'm from Utah, I've always naturally had a desire to climb its highest point. While summitting the peak is the highlight of the hike, the trail will take you by some very impressive scenery along the way. It is a twenty-nine mile round-trip hike to reach the peak from the Henry's Fork Trailhead where we began our hike. We made the hike a two-night backpack trip and spent the first night at Dollar Lake, about seven-and-a-half miles up the trail. After setting up camp at Dollar Lake, we decided to day-hike over to some of the lakes on the other side of the basin. We found a trail to Henry's Fork Lake and then had to make our own way across some swampy meadows and brush up to Blanchard Lake. Blanchard Lake was really nice, and so we rested a while here before attempting to hike to Cliff Lake at the top of the basin. However, along the way, a strong rain storm hit. We threw on our ponchos and huddled under a large rock for a while waiting for it to pass over. When it lightened up we were able to make it a bit further up to a pond just below Cliff Lake. We decided to turn back here as it was getting late and the weather still looked a little shaky. We took an alternate cross-country hike back to our camp at Dollar Lake, trying to a avoid the marshy sections we had hiked through on our way up.   

The next morning we day-hiked the seven remaining miles to Kings Peak. There is, of course a lot of climbing involved. First you will make the climb over Gunsight Pass and drop into Painter Basin. Painter Basin is a nice walk through a flat, green basin with several ponds and streams. After you leave Painter Basin the trail begins its steep climb up the rocky mountain side. Kings Peak just looks like a massive pile of crumbled rocks from the side. It is not the most majestic mountain. Eventually you will reach Anderson Pass and from there scramble across the rocky ridge to Kings Peak. There are a lot of large loose rocks to hike over here so be careful. Kings Peak was easy for us to find, as there was a large group of hikers gathered there. Everyone was in a good mood and took turns standing on the highest rock. It was a fun celebration. The view from on top is pretty stark. You are looking down on large tree-less basins containing ponds and lakes, separated by large crumbly mountains. Its a unique area. After a short snack break, we made our way back down the mountain to our camp at Dollar Lake. 

MCCONKIE RANCH

NOVEMBER 2013 & APRIL 2018

MCCONKIE RANCH PETROGLYPHS

MCCONKIE RANCH PETROGLYPHS

MCCONKIE RANCH PETROGLYPHS

THE THREE WISE MEN PANEL

BIG FOOT

McConkie Ranch include a large number of easily accessible petroglyphs located just outside Vernal, Utah. I had no idea there were such high-quality petroglyphs located in Vernal until I researched the area just before visiting in November of 2013. The petroglyphs are located on private property, but thankfully the property owner has been kind enough to allow the public access to them. So be on your best behavior. There is a large parking lot located just below the first group of petroglyphs. To get to the next set you will cross the road, take some steps over a fence and follow a trail across a field. There are many unique human images that are very interesting to look at. Some of them are pretty intricate. Definitely a must-do hike if you are in the Vernal area. I'm not sure how crowded it gets during popular times, but when I visited on a November evening in 2013, I nearly had the entire place to myself.

KERMSUH LAKE

SEPTEMBER 2009

KERMSUH LAKE

MEADOW ALONG THE WAY TO KERMSUH LAKE

Kermsuh Lake is a twelve-mile round-trip hike accessed from the Christmas Meadows Trailhead than can be done as a day-hike or a backpack trip. When I visited, I just made a detour on my way back down from the Ryder Lake area where I had camped the night before. The first four miles of the hike from Christmas Meadows are fairly level and follow along Stillwater Creek. However, once you leave the main trail and cross Stillwater Creek to head for Kermsuh, the trail becomes very steep. After about a half-mile  of tough climbing, the trail levels out and takes you through a very pretty meadow. It is then only about a mile-and-a-half to Kermsuh Lake.

This is a very beautiful lake located in the corner of the West Basin. If you have the time and energy, there is a small lake about a half-mile past Kermsuh that looks like it would be very scenic. I was too tired from hiking in the Middle Basin the day before to want to go up to it. There is also a network of ponds showing on the other side of the Basin that might be worth exploring if you are camped in the basin. It appears to be the least visited of the three basins reached from Christmas Meadows, so it may be a nice place to get some solitude. I only saw one group of hikers in the basin while visiting over Labor Day Weekend. 

NATURALIST BASIN

JULY 2008, SEPTEMBER 2012 & AUGUST 2018

BLUE LAKE

A MORAT LAKE

A MORAT LAKE IN JULY WITH THE WATERFALL RUNNING

JORDAN LAKE

JORDAN LAKE

JORDAN LAKE FROM ABOVE

JORDAN LAKE OUTLET

LACONTE LAKE

ABOVE LACONTE LAKE

POND BELOW THE MORAT LAKES

Naturalist Basin is located about four miles from the Highline Trailhead along the Mirror Lake Highway. To get to the basin, you will need to turn off the Highline Trail after about three miles and head north. After a mile, the trail forks in front of a large meadow and stream. If you stay to the left the trail will lead you to the Morat Lakes. If you cross the stream and head right, the trail will take you to Jordan Lake. Whatever trail you don't take on the way up you can take on the way down. 

When I approached the fork in the trail I chose to head left towards the Morat Lakes. A steep climb is made just prior to reaching the lakes, but once you arrive at them you are rewarded with a stunning view. There is a waterfall cascading down into one of the lakes (if you go early enough in the year) with Mount Agassiz looming in the background. From the Morat Lakes, a short steep climb alongside the waterfall will take you to Blue Lake. This is a very picturesque lake. However, as I was unable to find any good campsites nearby, I continued on to LaConte Lake and set my tent up in a meadow just below the lake. I remember hearing a group of coyotes howling not far from my tent during the night. From LaConte it is a short, easy walk to Faxon Lake and then another short downhill walk to Shaler Lake. These three lakes are above the timber line and so the going is fairly easy between them, even without a trail. 

From Shaler it is a fairly steep decline down to Jordan Lake which is the largest of the lakes in the Naturalist Basin and offers the best camping sites. Below Jordan Lake is Evermann Lake. Evermann Lake is located in a large meadow area, that requires a long steep walk downhill to reach, so I chose to just look at it from above. When I first visited Naturalist Basin in July of 2008, I only spent one night quickly passing from lake to lake as I was ultimately heading further down the Highline Trail to other basins. I visited again in September of 2012 on a day hike which was really enjoyable as the temperature was cooler, the mosquitoes were dead and I didn't have a heavy backpack on my back. The only downside was that the waterfall above the Morat Lakes had nearly dried up. But considering I nearly had the entire basin to myself, it was worth the trade-off.