Hayden Peak TH to Chepeta TH in 3 days

[Ogden Andy]

Day 1: Hayden Peak TH to Ottoson Basin
Day 2: Ottoson Basin to Painter Basin
Day 3: Painter Basin to Chepeta Lake

The 24th of July weekend Jacoby, Peter and myself set out to hike from Hayden Peak TH to Chepeta lake in 3 days. Eventually Jacoby and I would like to do the entire highline trail, but for now this would have to do.

We started the trail Friday early in the morning. My pack weighed in at 19 lbs, Jacoby's at 17 lbs, and Peter's at 35 lbs. We quickly made our way to the top of Rocky Sea Pass and Peter was only a couple of minutes behind us, a number which would grow as the trip wore on. We stopped and ate lunch at Ledge Lake at the base of Dead Horse Pass.
Headed up over Dead Horse Pass Sitting at Dead Horse Lake Peter tending to blisters on his feet at Dead Horse Pass
We made our way from Dead Horse Lake to the top of Red Knob Pass. While waiting for Peter we watched a storm roll in that we thought was going to miss us, but we were wrong. When Peter joined us at the top of Dead Horse Pass it was clear that we would need to hurry down and find cover. About 200 feet from the tree line we were getting pelted with hail and ran to the nearest group of trees we could find and pulled out our rain jackets and foam pad and waited out the storm. Lightening was striking within 50 yards of us and took about 30 minutes for it to pass. As we waited were exhausted and were deciding whether or not we would be able to finish the trip by Sunday. We camped where the Lake Fork trail and Highline trail meet up and waited until the morning to make our decision. We woke up in the morning and decided to finish what we started. Here is Jacoby heading towards Porcupine Pass. Starting up Porcupine Pass Looking back towards Garfield Basin from Porcupine Pass Garfield Basin from Porcupine Pass Heading towards Anderson Pass after eating lunch at the base of Tungsten Pass ( Can we really count Tungsten Pass as a pass?)
Anderson pass ( the saddle in the middle of the picture) After a small climb, almost to the base of Anderson Pass Kings Peak, headed up Anderson Pass Headed down the other side of Anderson Pass into Painter Basin Looking back at Kings Peak Headed to Painter Basin

At this point we had waited for Peter for over 7 hours on the trip. His blisters were killing his feet and he had packed poorly compared to me and Jacoby. (Jacoby and I had the tent, stove and water purifier, so he was only carrying his "own" stuff) Also, at this point I was having stomach cramps and was having an upset stomach and had used up all of my TP. Would we be able to make it from Painter Basin to Chepeta the next day?
Waking up in Painter Basin looking back at Kings We fast forward a bit here and this picture is at Fox Quant, this is where we had lunch and waited for an hour for Peter. (after we waited an hour at Kidney Lakes) Top of North Pole Pass. Honestly, North Pole Pass was the hardest pass of them all. It may have been that I only a thing of Ramen Noodles that day because I didn't feel well , but it was A LOT tougher than I had thought it was going to be. We made it to Chepeta that night and caught a ride home with Jacoby's dad. All in all we waited 12 hours for Peter and so I really think we might have been able to do it in two days, but its hard to really know! In a couple years Jacoby and I will be back for the full Highline trail, but for 2017 we've already planned a trip to do the Teton Crest.

 

[Parma]

Did you guys jog, or just a steady hike the whole way? Because that's quite a pace for 3 days.
Going the opposite direction, Red Knob Pass was the most difficult for me.

 

[Ogden Andy]

Did you guys jog, or just a steady hike the whole way? Because that's quite a pace for 3 days.
Going the opposite direction, Red Knob Pass was the most difficult for me.

We just steady hiked the whole way. Jacoby and I are pretty much the same person when it comes to hiking, we just pick a pace and stick to it the whole time.

 

[DaveW]

I'm impressed! But then, as an "old school" backpacker, I don't do fast or ultra-light.

I enjoyed your report, but you may want to change some of the place names:

• Hayden Pass trailhead instead of Hayden Peak
• Lake Fork instead of Ottoson Basin (the Basin a couple of miles cross-country and an 1100 ft. climb from your camp, or >7 miles by trail
• Fox Lake instead of "Fox Quant" ( Queant lake is about 4 miles from your lunch spot, over Fox Queant Pass).

I'm looking forward to more of your trip reports!

 

[bentley]

It's always amazes me that guys like you will walk that far and pack that light but never bring a rod or reel. You can always catch fish to eat if you don't have enough food. You passed some of the best fishing lakes in the Uintas.

 

[Artemus]

Nice! Whoa, what was your daily mileage do you figure?