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- Aug 8, 2016
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My brother had to come into town for business this week so we thought we would take adavantage and give it a go in the Uintas. We totally expected to be on snow at around 10,000 ft. We were pleasantly surprised at just how open most of the area was.
We arrived at the trailhead in the China Meadows area on Saturday where it was blue skies and 30 degreees. We were on our way at about 7:10am.
Our first look at the swollen, fast-running East Fork Smiths Fork River...
We had seen numerous deer on the drive into the trail head. Within the first mile or so we saw a cow moose with a calf and two bull elk. The moose actually surprised us crossing the trail right in front of us so we didn't have time to get pics.
Our first view of Red Castle...
So far the trail conditions were great. As one might expect this early in the season there was mud on the trail in many places and few patches of snow along the way. Definitely nothing that one could not cross or negotiate around.
Ah there she is. Red Castle at the second bridge over the river...
This mountain is so beautiful. Pictures do not do her justice...
We arrived at the switch backs that would bring us up just below the meadow below Lower Red Castle Lake at about 1:00pm. This is where we saw our first extreme snow drift still covering the river after it tumbles over the edge of the meadow. I would estimate the snow on the right was at least 12-15 feet deep...
The split between the Red Castle Lake and East Red Castle Lake trails...
We decided to call it a day and make camp in the area to the right, up in the trees a bit. We found a really good site but unfortunately wind was a real problem here. It was so gusty that we tried to get the tent set up a couple of different times with no success. I think there is natural vortex here where the two side canyons converge and the main canyon narrows. We ended up going back down about a quarter of a mile where there wind was *much* nicer. Here I finally got a chance to set up my new Tarptent StratoSpire II...
Next morning we decided to have a go for Red Castle Lake and headed out. With all the streams swollen crossing them was a bit of a challenge. This was one of the easier ones...
Passing by Lower Red Castle Lake...
Soon after this we started to hit serious snow in the trees. It was 3-4 feet deep and very slushy. Snowshoes went on once we could no longer find the trail and had to navigate using the InReach. Here's when we arrived to the west of Red Castle...
My wife had been keeping us up to date with weather forecasts. Just about this time she said the reports were saying snow down to 7,500 ft over night and into Monday. So far the clouds had been fairly friendly looking but they were definitely starting to thicken and get dark. We began to consider our options at this point but proceeded on to the small lake below the cliffs to the north of Red Castle Lake....
The snow going up to Red Castle Lake looked like more of what we had already been going through and probably was worse. This along with the deteriorating weather prompted us to make the call to head back to camp and hike out this evening.
A parting shot on our way back to camp where you can see the darkening clouds...
By the time we got back to camp it had started to rain. It was light but still I was hoping to not have to pack up a wet tent. We were packed up and on our way by 5:00pm. It was light rain for about half the way out when mother nature decided to clear out all the clouds and let the sun shine for about an hour. As is typical in the Uintas that didn't last long and we were back in the rain with thunder rumbling to the south. We arrived at the trail head at 8:30pm. Made better time that I had hoped for a couple of old guys.
All in all the trip was wonderful albeit short. We saw NO mosquitoes until one stop for water about half way down. This was the best part
Here's a video for your enjoyment...
We arrived at the trailhead in the China Meadows area on Saturday where it was blue skies and 30 degreees. We were on our way at about 7:10am.
Our first look at the swollen, fast-running East Fork Smiths Fork River...
We had seen numerous deer on the drive into the trail head. Within the first mile or so we saw a cow moose with a calf and two bull elk. The moose actually surprised us crossing the trail right in front of us so we didn't have time to get pics.
Our first view of Red Castle...
So far the trail conditions were great. As one might expect this early in the season there was mud on the trail in many places and few patches of snow along the way. Definitely nothing that one could not cross or negotiate around.
Ah there she is. Red Castle at the second bridge over the river...
This mountain is so beautiful. Pictures do not do her justice...
We arrived at the switch backs that would bring us up just below the meadow below Lower Red Castle Lake at about 1:00pm. This is where we saw our first extreme snow drift still covering the river after it tumbles over the edge of the meadow. I would estimate the snow on the right was at least 12-15 feet deep...
The split between the Red Castle Lake and East Red Castle Lake trails...
We decided to call it a day and make camp in the area to the right, up in the trees a bit. We found a really good site but unfortunately wind was a real problem here. It was so gusty that we tried to get the tent set up a couple of different times with no success. I think there is natural vortex here where the two side canyons converge and the main canyon narrows. We ended up going back down about a quarter of a mile where there wind was *much* nicer. Here I finally got a chance to set up my new Tarptent StratoSpire II...
Next morning we decided to have a go for Red Castle Lake and headed out. With all the streams swollen crossing them was a bit of a challenge. This was one of the easier ones...
Passing by Lower Red Castle Lake...
Soon after this we started to hit serious snow in the trees. It was 3-4 feet deep and very slushy. Snowshoes went on once we could no longer find the trail and had to navigate using the InReach. Here's when we arrived to the west of Red Castle...
My wife had been keeping us up to date with weather forecasts. Just about this time she said the reports were saying snow down to 7,500 ft over night and into Monday. So far the clouds had been fairly friendly looking but they were definitely starting to thicken and get dark. We began to consider our options at this point but proceeded on to the small lake below the cliffs to the north of Red Castle Lake....
The snow going up to Red Castle Lake looked like more of what we had already been going through and probably was worse. This along with the deteriorating weather prompted us to make the call to head back to camp and hike out this evening.
A parting shot on our way back to camp where you can see the darkening clouds...
By the time we got back to camp it had started to rain. It was light but still I was hoping to not have to pack up a wet tent. We were packed up and on our way by 5:00pm. It was light rain for about half the way out when mother nature decided to clear out all the clouds and let the sun shine for about an hour. As is typical in the Uintas that didn't last long and we were back in the rain with thunder rumbling to the south. We arrived at the trail head at 8:30pm. Made better time that I had hoped for a couple of old guys.
All in all the trip was wonderful albeit short. We saw NO mosquitoes until one stop for water about half way down. This was the best part
Here's a video for your enjoyment...
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