- Joined
- Aug 9, 2007
- Messages
- 12,953
Talk about perfect timing. A couple weeks ago, @Ndheiner and I decided to do a quick overnighter in the Uintas. Thanks to the great reports on BCP, we figured we wouldn't be battling too much snow and the crowds and mosquitos might not be out yet, so we decided to check out one of the busiest hiking trails in the Mirror Lake area - The Ruth Lake Trail. It's the last little hike in this area of the Uintas that I had yet to do and for good reason. It's usually packed with cars lined up and down the road. But not this time. We arrived at the trailhead around 1pm on a Saturday afternoon and actually found a spot to park IN the lot! Minutes later we were wandering down the trail.
We didn't really know or care where we were going. There are a lot of lakes in the Ruth Lake area that beckon exploration. The lack of destination, beautiful weather and surprisingly awesome trail made for some great hiking. In less than a mile we found ourselves at Ruth Lake. The hike in to here is super easy and extremely scenic. Perfect for kids and people who might not be able to hike much but still want a taste of the Uintas.
There were a few groups fishing and hiking at Ruth Lake so we kept on going, leaving the trail and on to nearby Naomi Lake. Naomi was nice but we kept going. It's great terrain to just wander through in this area. Lots of open areas and glaciated rock.
Nikita loves snow.
Some tarns between Naomi Lake and Hayden Lake.
Hayden Lake is nestled up against the hillside and tucked down a bit from the others. Some nice campsites to be found there but not much of a view of Hayden Peak.
We stopped for a short break at Hayden Lake and decided to keep going towards Cutthroat and Teal Lake. I had camped once at Cutthroat Lake but had accessed it from the Lofty Lake Loop trail so it would all be new terrain except for the lake itself.
The hiking was a bit more challenging between Hayden and Cutthroat, both in difficulty of terrain as well as navigation.
This area looks like it got blasted with a massive avalanche 4-6 years ago. Massive trees just smashed down all over the place. Made for a challenging crossing.
Getting closer to Cutthroat. It all looked like it must have been under snow just days earlier.
We stopped at Cutthroat and debated the next move. Camp here and day hike to Teal or go camp there? I'd camped at Cutthroat before, and while it is a great place to setup camp, I wanted to put a new pin in my map so we put the packs back on and continued to Teal Lake.
There are no trails but getting to Teal from Cutthroat is easy and scenic. Just follow the drainage that runs along the base of the ridge.
Teal Lake
And more than a bit of snow. Lower elevation here but very protected north slope. We scouted around a bit and decided that Cutthroat would be a way better place to camp, so we turned around and lugged our heavy packs all the way back up the hill.
Snowcone anyone?
We just lounged around in the sun the rest of the afternoon, drinking cold beer and enjoying wilderness. I fished a bit but it wasn't very productive, especially not compared to my last trip here. The sunset that night was quite nice.
And lucky for us, the clouds drifted off and gave us a great view of the night sky.
We had a great night around the fire, although a bit of a harsh reminder that alcohol is exceedingly effective at high elevations! I guess I should pack a bit lighter next time.
We slept out on the rocks above the lake, for the first time for me in the Uintas I didn't bother with a tent. The temperature was right, the bugs weren't out for the summer yet and the monsoons had not yet arrived. Perfect.
Here's our GPS tracks from the weekend.
View larger map.
Featured image for home page:
We didn't really know or care where we were going. There are a lot of lakes in the Ruth Lake area that beckon exploration. The lack of destination, beautiful weather and surprisingly awesome trail made for some great hiking. In less than a mile we found ourselves at Ruth Lake. The hike in to here is super easy and extremely scenic. Perfect for kids and people who might not be able to hike much but still want a taste of the Uintas.
There were a few groups fishing and hiking at Ruth Lake so we kept on going, leaving the trail and on to nearby Naomi Lake. Naomi was nice but we kept going. It's great terrain to just wander through in this area. Lots of open areas and glaciated rock.
Nikita loves snow.
Some tarns between Naomi Lake and Hayden Lake.
Hayden Lake is nestled up against the hillside and tucked down a bit from the others. Some nice campsites to be found there but not much of a view of Hayden Peak.
We stopped for a short break at Hayden Lake and decided to keep going towards Cutthroat and Teal Lake. I had camped once at Cutthroat Lake but had accessed it from the Lofty Lake Loop trail so it would all be new terrain except for the lake itself.
The hiking was a bit more challenging between Hayden and Cutthroat, both in difficulty of terrain as well as navigation.
This area looks like it got blasted with a massive avalanche 4-6 years ago. Massive trees just smashed down all over the place. Made for a challenging crossing.
Getting closer to Cutthroat. It all looked like it must have been under snow just days earlier.
We stopped at Cutthroat and debated the next move. Camp here and day hike to Teal or go camp there? I'd camped at Cutthroat before, and while it is a great place to setup camp, I wanted to put a new pin in my map so we put the packs back on and continued to Teal Lake.
There are no trails but getting to Teal from Cutthroat is easy and scenic. Just follow the drainage that runs along the base of the ridge.
Teal Lake
And more than a bit of snow. Lower elevation here but very protected north slope. We scouted around a bit and decided that Cutthroat would be a way better place to camp, so we turned around and lugged our heavy packs all the way back up the hill.
Snowcone anyone?
We just lounged around in the sun the rest of the afternoon, drinking cold beer and enjoying wilderness. I fished a bit but it wasn't very productive, especially not compared to my last trip here. The sunset that night was quite nice.
And lucky for us, the clouds drifted off and gave us a great view of the night sky.
We had a great night around the fire, although a bit of a harsh reminder that alcohol is exceedingly effective at high elevations! I guess I should pack a bit lighter next time.
We slept out on the rocks above the lake, for the first time for me in the Uintas I didn't bother with a tent. The temperature was right, the bugs weren't out for the summer yet and the monsoons had not yet arrived. Perfect.
Here's our GPS tracks from the weekend.
View larger map.
Featured image for home page:
