Colby and I wanted to go on another backpacking trip at the end of September. This time we set our sights on another area in the Uintas and we thought it would be fun to go with a few other people. Fortunately Daniel and Corey have the right gear, so they came with us. They met up with us near Heber and followed us up the mountain until we found a parking lot where we could leave Corey's car and drive to the trailhead together.
Within an hour we got to the trailhead and Colby set up his tripod to get a decent picture of us. Turns out it takes more than a tripod to get a decent picture, but eventually all of us managed to look fairly normal.
The guys had a great time scouting out the way, pointing out interesting landscapes, and throwing rocks and logs into bodies of water that we passed. Surprise, surprise.
It didn't take us long to get to the spot where we'd decided to camp. The sun was still up so a couple of people (I won't name names) thought it would be fun to keep going and hike with our headlamps. I'm pretty confident that my eyes bugged out of my face at that comment. I'm not the most coordinated person when there are rocks and branches on the ground and I can't imagine how much worse off I'd be without daylight. Luckily we opted to stay and it was a good thing we did, both for my sake and everyone else's. The sun went down extremely fast and the temperature immediately dropped. The next day we'd also find out that the terrain up ahead was extremely rocky and rarely flat. That could have been interesting.
the mostly dried up lake bed surrounding our campsite
We chose where we wanted to set up our tents and I immediately started adding every layer of clothing that I had brought with me. Thanks to Colby I can prove that backpacking outfits can be almost as sexy as fishing outfits.
We set up our tents and then headed into the nearby trees to make dinner. Bear safety tip: Don't cook within a certain number of yards of your campsite. You'll have to ask Colby the magic measurement because I don't remember, but it seemed like a decent walk away.
After a few cups of hot chocolate, a variety of dehydrated meals, and some of Corey's crackers, cheese, and giant salami stick (carved skillfully, piece-by-piece with a pocket knife), we were ready to whip out the cards and get the real party started.
Corey taught us how to play Hearts and that kept us busy for a few hours before we figured we should get some sleep, so Dan and Corey got booted out of our tent.
During the night I was so cold that I kept waking up to my body shivering. I had all of my clothes on, a few pairs of socks, some jackets, gloves, and a couple of hand warmers, but it still wasn't enough. Turns out by sleeping bag is a summer sleeping bag and isn't recommended for temperatures below 30 degrees. Colby estimated that it was probably in the 20s and once I factor in the part where I get cold very easily, I couldn't be surprised by my constant chill.
At one point around 2 or 3am, Colby woke up to me rustling and my teeth chattering and graciously switched me sleeping bags. That meant that he didn't sleep very well because the one I used initially was shorter and too much of his body was left out of the sleeping bag. While I warmed up and my misery melted away, Colby was stuck with a decent amount of misery. Who said chivalry was dead?
Not surprisingly, Colby woke up early and needed to get up and moving. He hiked around the lake and up the cliff on the opposite side from our tents and snapped a few photos of the incredible view.
the direction Colby went
(the beginnings of the cliff he hiked is visible on the left end of the picture)
our campsite
(our tiny-looking tents are slightly to the right of the three trees in the center of the photo)
the beginning of a sunrise
I woke up to the sound of a gunshot and my heart about stopped when I realized that Colby wasn't in the sleeping bag next to me and he wasn't anywhere near the tent. I frantically put on my shoes and got out of the tent to find him. Thank heavens for his bright orange jacket. If he hadn't been wearing that, I probably wouldn't have been able to see him across the lake. After watching him for a couple of minutes I realized that the gunshot sound was coming from him. Every time he threw a rock into the lake, the cliff made it sound like a gun was going off. It was a lot more interesting and less upsetting when I wasn't worried about someone I loved getting shot in the middle of nowhere.
Once I spotted him, I didn't feel the need to stand outside of the tent and wait for him. I went to climb back into my sleeping bag and that's when I noticed that the tent poles, which are inside the tent, were completely covered in ice. Upon further inspection, I saw that our entire tent was covered in ice.
Can you see the white tint of the ice covering Daniel and Corey's tent?
Needless to say, we didn't particularly want to get up and be out in the cold, but luckily the sun was coming up and we could feel it getting warmer.
Sure enough, by the time we had eaten breakfast and packed up our things, the boys were in shorts.
We hid our packs (we didn't want to haul so many unnecessary things during our day hike) and took smaller ones with our lunches and other essentials in them. Not too long after we'd started on the trail toward our final destination, we ran into a lake surrounded by decent skipping rocks, so we had to take a moment to skip them.
And naturally Daniel had to balance on a precarious branch. What else can you expect when you hike with a ninja?
About 40 minutes into our hike, the sides of my feet started to get really hot in spots, but I tried to ignore it and kept going. Along the trail we found some pretty interesting terrain including, but not limited to, Pride Rock from The Lion King. Of course a reenactment was in order.
When we got to our final destination, Ibantik Lake, Corey thought it would be a great idea to take a swim. Very logical in the High Uintas on a chilly fall day. While Corey was pitching his proposal, the wind picked up a little and if it had even occurred to me to join them in the first place--which it didn't--I definitely wasn't interested once the breeze was in full swing. Corey, however, was determined to get his buddies in the water. I was more than happy to be sitting on the sidelines as the official photographer. After a lot of whooping and hollering, a rousing motivational speech by Corey, and an enthusiastic "one, two, THREE!" they jumped in.
Bless their hearts.
Thankfully no one got hypothermia or injured themselves on the rocks and once they dried out we took a few photos and were on our way back.
We got going at a pretty quick pace and my feet started to burn again. After hiking down and around one side of the mountain and up the other I was about done and we still had a few miles to go. When we got to our packs about 20 minutes later, I took advantage of the short break to inspect my feet and found the beginnings of blisters on the outer side of each of my heels.
blister seeds
I managed to make it the rest of the way without anyone else having to drag me, although the menfolk did get ahead of me, which was less than ideal. I probably spent the last 15 minutes looking at my feet and mentally urging one to move in front of the other. I'm not sure what was causing so much friction on my feet (I had other small blisters in different places), but the poor things just didn't want to go anywhere in those darn shoes.
We made it back to our car in the middle of the afternoon and drove back down the mountain toward home. What a beautiful drive!
Fall was in full swing in the mountains and the leaves were turning red, orange, and yellow.
When we got home my blisters looked like this and stayed that way for weeks.
Colby's hands suffered last, so I guess it was my turn this time around.
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