Uinta Highline Trail Part II Planning

[ridings82]

Oh and BTW... We managed to reschedule to the last week of August. Hopefully things will be golden by then.


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It'll be a piece of cake by then!!

 

[Perry]

I took this picture of Dead Horse Pass yesterday a few feet above the lake as I lost the tree line. I hiked about halfway up the pass; it was a 21-mile day hike so the entire thing wasn't in the deck of cards. I crossed one small snowfield that was low in difficulty and danger. I did the Highline last year and know exactly what that trail is like. If I'm in your shoes, I probably wouldn't be carrying any extra gear to get over the pass. At best, microspikes only, to feel more comfortable. I suppose there could be some snow at the tippy top but that's about it. I could also see Red Knob Pass from the trail and that was clear of snow.

That is awesome intel! Thank you for that!


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[Artemus]

I took this picture of Dead Horse Pass yesterday a few feet above the lake as I lost the tree line. I hiked about halfway up the pass; it was a 21-mile day hike so the entire thing wasn't in the deck of cards. I crossed one small snowfield that was low in difficulty and danger. I did the Highline last year and know exactly what that trail is like. If I'm in your shoes, I probably wouldn't be carrying any extra gear to get over the pass. At best, microspikes only, to feel more comfortable. I suppose there could be some snow at the tippy top but that's about it. I could also see Red Knob Pass from the trail and that was clear of snow.

Great report - I see it is snow-free mostly and easy-peasy, relatively. Thanks. Heading up to climb Hayden Peak tomorrow, also snow-free.

 

[andyjaggy]

I went over deadhorse pass this week into rock creek, and then back again. I had packed microspikes but they turned out to be totally unnecessary. One patch of snow near the bottom of the pass that posed no problems. I was kind of surprised since this past winter was crazy with snow, and it was still easily passable at the end of July. I'm starting to think on a normal year mid July is totally doable.

 

[Nick]

There must be more in play to how the drifts pile up on the north side of Dead Horse than just sheer snowfall. Maybe wind loading plays a role. I know for a fact that it's been snowier in August on some years that we had less snow in the winter.

 

[LarryBoy]

There must be more in play to how the drifts pile up on the north side of Dead Horse than just sheer snowfall. Maybe wind loading plays a role. I know for a fact that it's been snowier in August on some years that we had less snow in the winter.

Interestingly, we had a bunch of storms approach from the south this winter. That's why Brighton got slammed so much more than the other Cottonwoods resorts. Dead Horse, being north facing, should have gotten all of that wind loading on the lee side of the ridge. Perhaps the ridge is too sheer and steep for storms to wind load effectively? Maybe storms that blow in from the W/NW are better for loading Dead Horse?

 

[ridings82]

There must be more in play to how the drifts pile up on the north side of Dead Horse than just sheer snowfall. Maybe wind loading plays a role. I know for a fact that it's been snowier in August on some years that we had less snow in the winter.

I'm not sure what the temps in the Uintas were like, but in there were more 100 degree days in the SLC valley than I ever remember. There's usually a few of those each year and there was a streak of eight days in a row with 100+. I did some hiking in late June in the Uintas and snow was everywhere. I went over Cleveland Pass on July 1st and it was practically clear of snow. It was amazing what happened in just a few weeks.

 

[Dave]

It was amazing what happened in just a few weeks.

Yep. This has everything to do with the prevailing weather during most of June and July. Take a look at the hydrographs for the Bear, Weber or Provo Rivers. Here's the Provo. As of March, it was flirting with record high territory. Not much happened through April, aside from a minor melt. Then, around about the start of May, the melt started and the basin flushed itself out in the space of a few weeks.



Had the weather remained cool in March and April, the melt would have started later. Had it been less hot and dry through May and June, the rate of decrease might not have been quite so great. As it was, we ended the snowmelt right on average.

Watch the snow water equivalent animation from NWS below and note how the long pattern of activity essentially stopped in May across the west.

https://www.nohrsc.noaa.gov/nsa/js_...7&month=7&day=30&type=nsm_swe&region=National