Tcope and I planned to escape the city this weekend by car camping in the Uinta Mountains of northeastern Utah, little over an hour's drive from Salt Lake City. I wanted a lake, and there are precious few of them in the Uintas that are a) accessible by vehicle; and b) more than a half mile from an established campground, making them legal for dispersed camping. There are a few that meet these criteria off the Murdock Basin Road, but I've been there before. Another one I found I haven't been to before and seemed to fit the bill: Alexander Lake.
I re-upped my fishing license for the first time in six years. I blew $100 at Sportsman's Warehouse on tackle. I figured that Alexander Lake would be off the beaten path, but I couldn't have been more wrong. The place was mobbed. There were several narrow Jeep trails that reached the lakeshore, and I had my eye on the easternmost one. When we got there the site had just been vacated, one of the few still available at Alexander Lake. We nabbed it.
[iframe]https://www.google.com/maps/d/embed?mid=1_1KE0w02_91nE6Ehuef40sml64I[/iframe]
We had been there for a couple of hours when two guys rode into camp on a side-by-side ATV looking for an open site. Zoe and Maggie ran out to greet them when the driver looked up at me and said, "Guido?!"
In an incredibly small world scenario it was Jason Dyer, a friend from back when he worked at Snowbasin. We invited Jason, his four friends and two dogs to join us. It wasn't like they were going to find a decent spot of their own anyway.
So we all shared a wonderful weekend in the Uintas together. Wonderful, that is, except for the fishing. Or should I say, "casting." The brook trout in Alexander Lake just weren't feeding on anything -- the lures I was casting from my kayak, the flies that Jason and Alex were casting from shore, or even the dragonflies flopping and dying on the lake's surface. I was glad to have brought chicken brochettes for a "plan B."
Some of these photos were shot from Tcope's drone. Once he finishes his video I'll upload it here.
Setting up camp.
The view from our camp on the east shore of Alexander Lake.
Getting ready to cast, but not catch.
Zoe swims out to greet me in the kayak.
Alexander Lake, our little paradise for the weekend. (photo: Tcope)
Jason's ATV.
Alex and Jason try drowning flies, too. (photo: Tcope
Admin fishes from his kayak. (photo: Tcope)
An aerial view of camp. (photo: Tcope)
Nothing's hitting.
Enough firewood for a true campfire.
A hot fire.
On Saturday, Maggie was fine with me kayaking. When I went back out on Sunday morning, however, she insisted upon swimming after me. I brought her back to camp and had the guys hang onto her while I paddled back out to the middle of the lake. As soon as they released her, however, she swam out to me again. And this is a dog who seldom ventures more than six feet from shore!
Bringing Maggie back again.
I re-upped my fishing license for the first time in six years. I blew $100 at Sportsman's Warehouse on tackle. I figured that Alexander Lake would be off the beaten path, but I couldn't have been more wrong. The place was mobbed. There were several narrow Jeep trails that reached the lakeshore, and I had my eye on the easternmost one. When we got there the site had just been vacated, one of the few still available at Alexander Lake. We nabbed it.
[iframe]https://www.google.com/maps/d/embed?mid=1_1KE0w02_91nE6Ehuef40sml64I[/iframe]
We had been there for a couple of hours when two guys rode into camp on a side-by-side ATV looking for an open site. Zoe and Maggie ran out to greet them when the driver looked up at me and said, "Guido?!"
In an incredibly small world scenario it was Jason Dyer, a friend from back when he worked at Snowbasin. We invited Jason, his four friends and two dogs to join us. It wasn't like they were going to find a decent spot of their own anyway.
So we all shared a wonderful weekend in the Uintas together. Wonderful, that is, except for the fishing. Or should I say, "casting." The brook trout in Alexander Lake just weren't feeding on anything -- the lures I was casting from my kayak, the flies that Jason and Alex were casting from shore, or even the dragonflies flopping and dying on the lake's surface. I was glad to have brought chicken brochettes for a "plan B."
Some of these photos were shot from Tcope's drone. Once he finishes his video I'll upload it here.
Setting up camp.
The view from our camp on the east shore of Alexander Lake.
Getting ready to cast, but not catch.
Zoe swims out to greet me in the kayak.
Alexander Lake, our little paradise for the weekend. (photo: Tcope)
Jason's ATV.
Alex and Jason try drowning flies, too. (photo: Tcope
Admin fishes from his kayak. (photo: Tcope)
An aerial view of camp. (photo: Tcope)
Nothing's hitting.
Enough firewood for a true campfire.
A hot fire.
On Saturday, Maggie was fine with me kayaking. When I went back out on Sunday morning, however, she insisted upon swimming after me. I brought her back to camp and had the guys hang onto her while I paddled back out to the middle of the lake. As soon as they released her, however, she swam out to me again. And this is a dog who seldom ventures more than six feet from shore!
Bringing Maggie back again.
