Aldaron
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- Joined
- Jun 16, 2012
- Messages
- 1,487
Over the weekend of August 23, 2013, my wife and I took a trip to Leidy Peak in the eastern
Uintas. We had tried a couple of times before to head up to Gabbro Pass, but we had always hit snow on the back side of Leidy Peak that kept us from making it because the snow slope ran straight off of a cliff. This time I wanted to try later in the summer so that hopefully there would not be any snow. Unfortunately, the forecast for the day and night called for lots of rain. Not really feeling like dealing with the weather, we unpacked our backpacks at the trailhead and headed out for a dayhike.
Mountain Goat in the distance
Once around the back side of Leidy, we found that the snow field we usually ran into was gone, so that was good.
Near here we usually run into snow
We continued towards Gabbro Pass, climbing down on a small plateau below the pass. On the way down, my wife fell and broke another one of my hiking poles, but luckily she wasn't hurt. This wasn't the first hiking pole she's broken, but it would be nice if it could be the last.
We got to just above Lake Wilde, where we were able to see up the Pass. What we saw was snow. It looked like there was a snowfield blocking the route up to the Pass. We could probably have found a way around it, but as we were contemplating it, the wind picked up and it looked like a storm was coming over the pass. That settled it.
Lake Wilde and Gabbro Pass
Trail sign
So we decided to make a circle, and dropped down into Lakeshore Basin on the South Fork Ashley Creek. This trail was really nice, running along the base of the plateau surrounding Leidy Peak. The trail was very flat and very pretty with several large meadows and lakes. We had looked over this basin several times from the plateau, and it was nice to get down into it.
Lakeshore Basin
Once we reached the trail that cut back up to the trailhead, we turned left and began a steep ascent back on to the plateau. The climb was steep, and the trail was very narrow, but it wasn't too long. Soon we made it to another large meadow and had to search for the trail, but then had no problems making it back up to Leidy Peak and back to the car.
I really love Leidy Peak. The area is unique for the Uintas, and it's very pretty and very uncrowded. Lakeshore Basin was also really pretty and relaxing. All in all, this is a great hike, and I look forward to doing more trips out there.
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Uintas. We had tried a couple of times before to head up to Gabbro Pass, but we had always hit snow on the back side of Leidy Peak that kept us from making it because the snow slope ran straight off of a cliff. This time I wanted to try later in the summer so that hopefully there would not be any snow. Unfortunately, the forecast for the day and night called for lots of rain. Not really feeling like dealing with the weather, we unpacked our backpacks at the trailhead and headed out for a dayhike.
Mountain Goat in the distance
Once around the back side of Leidy, we found that the snow field we usually ran into was gone, so that was good.
Near here we usually run into snow
We continued towards Gabbro Pass, climbing down on a small plateau below the pass. On the way down, my wife fell and broke another one of my hiking poles, but luckily she wasn't hurt. This wasn't the first hiking pole she's broken, but it would be nice if it could be the last.
We got to just above Lake Wilde, where we were able to see up the Pass. What we saw was snow. It looked like there was a snowfield blocking the route up to the Pass. We could probably have found a way around it, but as we were contemplating it, the wind picked up and it looked like a storm was coming over the pass. That settled it.
Lake Wilde and Gabbro Pass
Trail sign
So we decided to make a circle, and dropped down into Lakeshore Basin on the South Fork Ashley Creek. This trail was really nice, running along the base of the plateau surrounding Leidy Peak. The trail was very flat and very pretty with several large meadows and lakes. We had looked over this basin several times from the plateau, and it was nice to get down into it.
Lakeshore Basin
Once we reached the trail that cut back up to the trailhead, we turned left and began a steep ascent back on to the plateau. The climb was steep, and the trail was very narrow, but it wasn't too long. Soon we made it to another large meadow and had to search for the trail, but then had no problems making it back up to Leidy Peak and back to the car.
I really love Leidy Peak. The area is unique for the Uintas, and it's very pretty and very uncrowded. Lakeshore Basin was also really pretty and relaxing. All in all, this is a great hike, and I look forward to doing more trips out there.
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