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- Dec 23, 2013
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Every year, I grab a campsite in the Uintas for a weekend and on that Saturday I plan a day hike, hopefully one I haven't tried before. So this year I decided to hike up to the Notch. As we were leaving our campground to drive to the trailhead, we saw five moose - one bull, three females and one calf. The females ended up running the bull off.
Our route started at the Bald Mountain Trailhead and headed to Notch Lake. After arriving at the lake, we headed cross country to Hope Lake where we then picked up the trail to the Notch. On our off-trail route we ran into a rock field where we encountered seven Pikas. I had never seen more than one or two at a time before so I was a bit surprised. We encountered many people along the trails and lakes, but we saw no one on our off-trail portion. The views form the Notch were pretty terrific in all directions. Here are some shots of our hike.

Bull Moose

Bull with one of the females

Bald Mountain

Trail junction sign

You can make out the Notch through the trees

Reids Peak

Meadow shot with the southern end of Haystack Mountain visible in the distance

Rocky terrain along the trail

Clegg Lake

Notch Lake

Heading off-trail

View from our cross country route

Rock field that was full of Pikas, with Mount Watson in the distance

A Pika with his head turned from the camera

A small meadow between the lakes

Another view of Haystack Mountain

Coming down to Hope Lake

Hope Lake and Mount Watson

Getting closer to the Notch

Trail junction sign

Almost up to the Notch. The western ridge of Notch Mountain looms above

View from the Notch

View into the Weber Drainage form the Notch

Eastern ridge of Notch Mountain

On the Notch

A friendly chipmunk on the Notch

View from the Notch of Mount Watson

Bushwhacking on our way back to Notch Lake

Cross country travel

View of Reids Peak from Clegg Lake on our way back

One more shot of Bald Mountain from the trail
Our route started at the Bald Mountain Trailhead and headed to Notch Lake. After arriving at the lake, we headed cross country to Hope Lake where we then picked up the trail to the Notch. On our off-trail route we ran into a rock field where we encountered seven Pikas. I had never seen more than one or two at a time before so I was a bit surprised. We encountered many people along the trails and lakes, but we saw no one on our off-trail portion. The views form the Notch were pretty terrific in all directions. Here are some shots of our hike.

Bull Moose

Bull with one of the females

Bald Mountain

Trail junction sign

You can make out the Notch through the trees

Reids Peak

Meadow shot with the southern end of Haystack Mountain visible in the distance

Rocky terrain along the trail

Clegg Lake

Notch Lake

Heading off-trail

View from our cross country route

Rock field that was full of Pikas, with Mount Watson in the distance

A Pika with his head turned from the camera

A small meadow between the lakes

Another view of Haystack Mountain

Coming down to Hope Lake

Hope Lake and Mount Watson

Getting closer to the Notch

Trail junction sign

Almost up to the Notch. The western ridge of Notch Mountain looms above

View from the Notch

View into the Weber Drainage form the Notch

Eastern ridge of Notch Mountain

On the Notch

A friendly chipmunk on the Notch

View from the Notch of Mount Watson

Bushwhacking on our way back to Notch Lake

Cross country travel

View of Reids Peak from Clegg Lake on our way back

One more shot of Bald Mountain from the trail
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