It’s that time of year again...Planning for the Scouts High Adventure

[elkaholic]

Once again the ground is starting to thaw here in Utah and the local scouts are itching to go burn some energy. This is the time of the year that we begin planning what we will be doing for our big summer week long activity. Last year I took the boys white water rafting on the Snake River in Wyoming but this year I am thinking that we need to do a 50 miller in the Uinta’s. I am curious if there are any other leaders of youth groups or parents of teenagers that are planning to take their young people out into the wilderness and pass on a love for the outdoors. What are your plans? Where are you going? Do you have any advice that might be helpful from another trip? Any ideas for outfitting a bunch of kids?
Our Troop is going to be leaving from the highline trailhead just north of Mirror Lake in the Uinta’s. Our first stop will be Pinto Lake about 8 miles from the TH. Here we will be setting up a “Base Camp”. Day 2 will consist of a loop from Pinto Lake, Past Pine Island and over to Granddaddy then back past Lost Lake and home to Pinto Lake. I have figured this loop to be about 12 miles. Day 3 will consist of a make shift loop from Pinto Lake to Allen Lake. There is no trail to Allen Lake but I really want to catch a Grayling this year and I have read that Allen is the place to do it. About 1.5 miles of bushwhacking past Allen up to 4 lakes basin shouldn’t be too bad. While up there we will visit Jean and Dean Lakes and return to Pinto Lake via the trail. I have figured this day to be about 11 miles. Day 4 we will move camp over to Naturalist Basin and stay at Morat Lake or Jordan Lake. We are a little undecided at this point. Has anyone been there or have an option on the matter? That will be a 6 to 7 mile hike that I think we can complete by early afternoon and still have time to do a 5 mile loop around Naturalist Basin. Day 5 we will pack up and head back to the trail head. Of course no scout trip to the Uinta’s would be complete without stopping at Dicks for a shake.
I would love to hear from you all on your plans and places that would be fun for a younger generation.

 

[Blake Merrell]

Hey there @elkaholic

Your trips sounds wonderful! I took my VS Scouts on a 50 miler (a first for all of us leaders and scouts) last year and we all loved it! My TR can be found here.

Your trip around the Granddaddy and Naturalist basins sound way fun. We visited most of those on our trip last year and loved them all. Of all the places you list, we loved the 4 Lakes basin area, and Naturalist Basin the most. We found some really neat campsites near Jordan Lake. I would have loved to spend more time hiking around in that whole basin!

As far as outfitting.... good luck! I had 3-4 gear planning meetings where we talked about what the boys needed to pack. I provided extensive gear lists and threatened to box their nose if they wore cotton! haha Surprisingly enough, Even with my "lightweight" gear setup, I still had the heaviest pack of all the boys and leaders (I blame my camera gear, and nightly desserts for that!)

Have fun! I LOVE this time of year. So fun to start planning and preparing for summer camps.

Our troop will be heading to the San Rafael Swell this summer for a ROCKIN' week of Kayaking, Mtn Biking, Canyoneering, Mtn Climbing and Backpacking! can't wait!

 

[elkaholic]

Blake,
Thank you for the response. I have previously read your TR several times and have used the insights that you have provided in planning our trip. I have wanted to go to Dead Horse Lake for years. Are there any fish in Dead Horse Lake? I know that the river is loaded with bookie’s and cuts but I have never made it up the trail all the way to the lake. I would love to do a thorough hike like what you did. Depending on how well my boys do during some prep hikes we may change plan and almost follow your path exactly. The problem that I am facing is that I have 14 boys that may be going and I have to cater (to a degree) to the lowest common denominator. I am also curious as to what back country lakes you found with good fishing. I saw in your TR that you were fishing but there was not much mention of your successes and where they were at.

 

[Blake Merrell]

Blake,
Thank you for the response. I have previously read your TR several times and have used the insights that you have provided in planning our trip. I have wanted to go to Dead Horse Lake for years. Are there any fish in Dead Horse Lake? I know that the river is loaded with bookie’s and cuts but I have never made it up the trail all the way to the lake. I would love to do a thorough hike like what you did. Depending on how well my boys do during some prep hikes we may change plan and almost follow your path exactly. The problem that I am facing is that I have 14 boys that may be going and I have to cater (to a degree) to the lowest common denominator. I am also curious as to what back country lakes you found with good fishing. I saw in your TR that you were fishing but there was not much mention of your successes and where they were at.

Fishing was OK, some of the boys caught some at most lakes we stopped at. Dead Horse lake definitely had fish, but we didn't have any luck catching them at that lake.

The lakes we stopped at were:

Dead Horse
Lightning
Dean
Pine Island
Pinto
Jordan

Fishing in mid July last year was pretty slow for us. The bugs were BAD and it seemed that the fish were not very hungry....but some of my scouts did have success fishing. Especially in the Grandaddy and Naturalist Basin.