With summer nearing its end we decided to take our dogs Zach (chocolate lab, age 11) and Buddy (golden retriever, age 10) up to the Uintas for an overnight.
With Buddy being so overweight (thyroid issue), and Mrs. Admin (who's not terribly inclined towards the outdoors) both coming along we had to keep this one easy, yet I wanted to escape the Labor Day Weekend crowds as much as possible. Tcope and I settled on Jewel Lake, el. 10,319 feet, which is accessed from the same busy trailhead as Ruth Lake but requires some bushwhacking and orienteering to reach as there's no established trail that reaches it. It's also easy -- less than two miles from the car with only a couple of hundred feet of elevation gain. This was perfect for Mrs. Admin, who insisted upon bringing everything but the kitchen sink. She just doesn't understand going light.
Being a holiday and all I was concerned about getting a parking spot at the trailhead, and my fears were borne out. I eased the car as far off UT-150, a.k.a the Mirror Lake Highway as possible. Ruth Lake is less than a mile from the trailhead and a relatively flat hike, and is thus popular with families, causal fishermen and those looking more for a stroll in the woods than a legitimate hike.
Midway along the lake's north shore, however, we turned right 90 degrees and left the established trail to bushwhack northwest toward Jewel Lake.
After passing Naomi Lake and another small pond or two the terrain dropped over numerous small ledges that gave Buddy pause on more than one occasion. We arrived at Jewel Lake and were thrilled to find only one other overnight party there, three generations of a family from Utah County. Better still, they were leaving. We quickly commandeered their campsite as it seemed to be the best at the lake, and pitched camp.
While doing so, though, one other group arrived with numerous small children. They were out of sight, but not out of mind as the screaming of the kids frequently wafted into our camp on the stiff breeze. I really can't complain too loudly, though, for over Labor Day Weekend and less than two miles from the road we nearly had Jewel Lake to ourselves.
Buddy and Zach spent the remainder of the day fishing sticks out of the lake.
We ate dinner and got Tcope got a blazing campfire going, dedicated to Marc_C:
The boys were beat. Zach did little wandering, never getting more than 50 yards from camp.
Buddy, well...Buddy called it an early night:
And so did Mrs. Admin, who retired around 8 p.m. Tcope and I stayed up a few more hours, marveling at the stars that stretched from horizon to horizon on a moonless Saturday night without the effect of any light pollution whatsoever.
It wasn't that cold when we went to bed, and Zach was asleep almost instantly. A few hours later, though, temps dipped into the 40s and Zach was freezing. He just laid there, trying to get comfortable and shivering profusely all night in the tent. I reached over and pulled him to my other side, hoping that by laying next to Buddy he'd get some warmth off of him, but no such luck. Zach was still shivering by the time we got back out of the tent at close to 9 a.m.
But he was still back in the lake first thing to swim some more and retrieve sticks. Go figure.
Today was a lazy morning. We broke camp slowly and had breakfast before heading back out.
A few daytrippers arrived while we were breaking camp. We figured that rounding the west side of the lake and ascending a short but steep ridge to its southwest might be an easier return to Ruth Lake.
In retrospect I think that crossing that scree field was tougher than scrambling back up the ledges that we descended yesterday, but it did give us the benefit of passing numerous other small lakes that we had yet to see.
Back at Ruth Lake, the boys swam some more before returning to the car, stopping at Dick's Drive-In on the way home for burgers and shakes in Kamas.
These dogs aren't moving at all this evening.
With Buddy being so overweight (thyroid issue), and Mrs. Admin (who's not terribly inclined towards the outdoors) both coming along we had to keep this one easy, yet I wanted to escape the Labor Day Weekend crowds as much as possible. Tcope and I settled on Jewel Lake, el. 10,319 feet, which is accessed from the same busy trailhead as Ruth Lake but requires some bushwhacking and orienteering to reach as there's no established trail that reaches it. It's also easy -- less than two miles from the car with only a couple of hundred feet of elevation gain. This was perfect for Mrs. Admin, who insisted upon bringing everything but the kitchen sink. She just doesn't understand going light.
Being a holiday and all I was concerned about getting a parking spot at the trailhead, and my fears were borne out. I eased the car as far off UT-150, a.k.a the Mirror Lake Highway as possible. Ruth Lake is less than a mile from the trailhead and a relatively flat hike, and is thus popular with families, causal fishermen and those looking more for a stroll in the woods than a legitimate hike.
Midway along the lake's north shore, however, we turned right 90 degrees and left the established trail to bushwhack northwest toward Jewel Lake.
After passing Naomi Lake and another small pond or two the terrain dropped over numerous small ledges that gave Buddy pause on more than one occasion. We arrived at Jewel Lake and were thrilled to find only one other overnight party there, three generations of a family from Utah County. Better still, they were leaving. We quickly commandeered their campsite as it seemed to be the best at the lake, and pitched camp.
While doing so, though, one other group arrived with numerous small children. They were out of sight, but not out of mind as the screaming of the kids frequently wafted into our camp on the stiff breeze. I really can't complain too loudly, though, for over Labor Day Weekend and less than two miles from the road we nearly had Jewel Lake to ourselves.
Buddy and Zach spent the remainder of the day fishing sticks out of the lake.
We ate dinner and got Tcope got a blazing campfire going, dedicated to Marc_C:
The boys were beat. Zach did little wandering, never getting more than 50 yards from camp.
Buddy, well...Buddy called it an early night:
And so did Mrs. Admin, who retired around 8 p.m. Tcope and I stayed up a few more hours, marveling at the stars that stretched from horizon to horizon on a moonless Saturday night without the effect of any light pollution whatsoever.
It wasn't that cold when we went to bed, and Zach was asleep almost instantly. A few hours later, though, temps dipped into the 40s and Zach was freezing. He just laid there, trying to get comfortable and shivering profusely all night in the tent. I reached over and pulled him to my other side, hoping that by laying next to Buddy he'd get some warmth off of him, but no such luck. Zach was still shivering by the time we got back out of the tent at close to 9 a.m.
But he was still back in the lake first thing to swim some more and retrieve sticks. Go figure.
Today was a lazy morning. We broke camp slowly and had breakfast before heading back out.
A few daytrippers arrived while we were breaking camp. We figured that rounding the west side of the lake and ascending a short but steep ridge to its southwest might be an easier return to Ruth Lake.
In retrospect I think that crossing that scree field was tougher than scrambling back up the ledges that we descended yesterday, but it did give us the benefit of passing numerous other small lakes that we had yet to see.
Back at Ruth Lake, the boys swam some more before returning to the car, stopping at Dick's Drive-In on the way home for burgers and shakes in Kamas.
These dogs aren't moving at all this evening.
