First northern-Utah backpacking trip...this week!

[backpack]

Hey friends, here's the story:
- Girl and new boyfriend planning their first backcountry trip together. Dog is optional, but would be pretty sweet if he could come.

We're both experienced desert-rats hikers and long-time backcountry enthusiasts, but thanks to a lazy winter we're a little out-of-shape so want to do something easy/moderate, max 10 miles total.

We have THIS Wed-Thurs-Fri off and are coming from southern Utah, so 4-5 hours from Zion is ideal, but we'll go 6 hours if needed. Getting hot this week here, so we're looking for a pre-season trip up north to see some mountains and maybe a lake would be nice.

This forum and trip reports are fantastic, but I'm just feeling a little overwhelmed with info. Any advice would be great...right now I'm leaning toward White Pine Lake via Tony Grove since it looks super-pretty and won't have snow? Thanks in advance...will try to pay back all advice with southern Utah beta in the future!

 

[Bill]

The cottonwoods are off limits to dogs and I would be shocked to hear that white pine is free of snwo right now. Lower Uintas may be your best bet but all the best stuff is still going to be snowy... but maybe that's not an issue for you

 

[Nick]

Welcome to backcountrypost, backpack!

Yeah, this week is just a bit early for getting into a lake. White Pine up in the Tony Grove area might be better off though, HomerJ lives up that way, maybe he has a more recent report on conditions in the mountains above Logan?

 

[FourisTheNewOne]

I think you might be a bit early for snow free conditions - but given the heat and the lack of snow in the first place, you may still be able to make it up there successfully. I've seen quite a few trip reports in the mid-late June time frame in bigger snow years, and they spoke of fairly patchy snow and still iced over lake, but this year has been quite different.

 

[Dave]

The latest NOAA info shows there's still a good amount of snow on the eastern Bear River Mountains. You might be able to hike into the western Uintas from Smith and Morehouse.

 

[Deadeye008]

I think you would still run into snow at White Pine Lake. The Tony Grove Snotel site is reportin 6" of snow left today. On the West side of the Bear River Range is a lake called High Creek Lake. The lake sits at about 8800ft. I was up there(at the creek, not the lake) about a month ago and was surprised at the lack of snow even at the higher elevations on the West side of the range. I bet you could get back into High Creek Lake and not be too troubled by snow. You might want to call the local FS office and check for sure though. Another option might be the Fish Lake are in the Uintas. Fish Lake sits at about 10,000ft which is the same altitude as Trial Lake. The TH is located East of the turnoff to Smith & Morehouse and takes you up Dry Fork. It's about a 4.5 mile hike.

 

[Nick]

Great idea, Deadeye008. High Creek Lake is an awesome hike! No fish in it but the scenery is A+ and if Tony Grove is reporting 6", you'd probably good to go there. I have a couple trip reports in the area on BCP. Here they are:

http://backcountrypost.com/forum/index.php?threads/high-creek-to-cherry-creek.577/
http://backcountrypost.com/forum/index.php?threads/high-creek-mount-naomi-wilderness.406/

And this one from HomerJ
http://backcountrypost.com/forum/index.php?threads/cherry-peak-via-high-creek-july-2010.342/

 

[HomerJ]

HomerJ lives up that way, maybe he has a more recent report on conditions in the mountains above Logan?

Hiked Logan Dry canyon about 1.5 weeks ago and hit snow at 8000'. Last week I hiked to Jardine Juniper (high point 7200') and only saw a few tiny patches of snow on the shady side at the top. The meadow below High Creek Lake is around 7300-7400' so that is probably clear, but I'd bet above that is still covered in snow...

 

[Nick]

How'd it go backpack?