It is time once again for an annual contribution from Eric. Back in July Corey and I went on a backpacking trip in the Uintas. We had a difficult time deciding where to go and ended up heading for Amethyst Basin from the Christmas Meadows trailhead.
The short version of this lengthy post is: steep hike, beautiful scenery, poor fishing.
This picture is from the road leading to the Christmas Meadows trailhead. Definitely a beautiful area. We headed up into the first basin in the middle of the picture.
Boulder field on along the trail. Glacial deposit, I assume.
The trail was relatively flat for about the first 3 miles and we made great time. The final 3.5 miles not so much. The trail changes from flat to very steep and the pace slowed down considerably. The trail follows a stream (Ostler Fork I think) and the steep terrain with the rushing water from the high snowmelt made for some fantastic views.
After several thousand feet of elevation gain, we made it to Amethyst Basin.
We decided to hike off-trail to Ostler Lake to make camp. We were lucky to find a nice backcountry bridge so we didn’t have to take our shoes off or get them wet.
View of Ostler Lake
View from the tent. Because of the heavy snowpack and the cool spring, there was water everywhere even though it was late July. We had a difficult time finding a dry spot for the tent.
We took a quick dip in the lake, filtered some water, and cooked dinner. We were both beat and ready for bed early. We slept in late and woke late when some other backpackers/fishermen trekked through our camp. We decided to do a day hike up to Amethyst Lake, passing unnamed lake (BR-24) on the way.
Getting to Amethyst Lake from Ostler Lake required us to descend from 10,800 feet down to Lake BR-24 ~10,000 feet, and then climb up to Amethyst Lake above 11,000 feet. In hindsight, this trip was a lot of climbing. As we approached Amethyst Lake, the trees thinned out (no oxygen at this elevation) and there were little flowers everywhere. Notice the water running down the trail. Water everywhere.
Amethyst Lake ice. July 2011.
After a slow day of fishing, we headed back to camp at Ostler Lake. Dinner is always dehydrated food. Beef Stroganoff (Before & After) for this meal.
That evening Corey caught a nice Cutthroat. It was the only fish we caught on Ostler Lake.
Heading out.
I’m hoping next years annual post is “Wind Rivers 2012”.
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