Uintas Conditions 2015

Family, and I took a driver over the pass last night. Teapot lake,and Lily lake are about half way open with ice. Lost lake still has a lot of ice on it. The trail head for fehr lake still has a couple feet of snow. Ruth lake still has Quit a bit as well, but not as much as fehr. I'd say Whitney is all good, and has very little snow if at all. We didn't driver to it.
 
I went up and hiked 6 miles up the China Meadows trail. I was hoping to make it to the 2nd bridge before the switchbacks, but it was too sloppy, and with all the post holing and mud crawling, I got wore out. I got to the 10K mark and ran out of time. There was a lot of snow on the trail from the first trail junction. I have a feeling that this year the bugs are going to be terrible, as the May rain has really left a mark. The eastern half of the Uintas is now over 100% moisture for the year. For this time of year, the lower elevations are very wet. There was a group that backpacked up there for the weekend, but it sounded like they didn't make it up into the basin.
 
uintawanderer said:
I went up and hiked 6 miles up the China Meadows trail. I was hoping to make it to the 2nd bridge before the switchbacks, but it was too sloppy, and with all the post holing and mud crawling, I got wore out. I got to the 10K mark and ran out of time. There was a lot of snow on the trail from the first trail junction. I have a feeling that this year the bugs are going to be terrible, as the May rain has really left a mark. The eastern half of the Uintas is now over 100% moisture for the year. For this time of year, the lower elevations are very wet. There was a group that backpacked up there for the weekend, but it sounded like they didn't make it up into the basin.
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Thanks for the update. I had hoped to do a daddy-daughter trip with my 4 year old up around Fehr Lake just off MLH tomorrow. Then I was thinking somewhere around Beth Lake just south of Trial Lake. Then I was thinking of down around the PRF. As of this weekend I've started to look more seriously at just staying closer and lower and taking her up AF Canyon. We want to get a little fishing in but don't want to be navigating mud pots all the time.
 
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Thought I would post this one last time for those interested in how it ended. Trial lake is still showing 4 inches of snow for 6/3 but based on hourly it looks like it should be 1 inch if not zero by end of day. The first day of no snow at trial last year was actually 6/3. So this year actually outlasted the last as far as that goes. What a crazy May... Anyway higher elevations I am sure will still have snow probably for a couple weeks. Last year I did Wall lake on 6/8 and there were still a decent amount of snow drifts to navigate as well as ice on the lake. I would think that drifts will not be as large this year though, given how little snow the Unitas had over all. Peaking at around 75 inches in March where as last year 80+ still into April. I could certainly be wrong though. :)
 
I'm planning a short one nighter up there this coming weekend. I want to either get in the cubberant basin or up around cutthroat lake past Ruth lake. Any thoughts on whether that is doable with the weather we've been having and how much snow is up there still?
 
I'm seriously considering doing a recon drive up there with my family this afternoon. I too was hoping to get up around Ruth Lake or Kamas Lake this week with a daughter of mine, but I have a feeling there will still be some decent snow drifts in the area and I'm sure that whatever parts of the trail aren't rock or still under snow will be very muddy and soggy. I was also hoping to hike Bald Mountain with her on the way back home, but I'm sure that's still a no-go despite the sunnier warmer weather of late. If Ruth Lake area doesn't look great, then plan B is Haystack Lake. Otherwise we'll be sticking closer to home, perhaps doing Pittsburgh Lake or something.
 
I'm planning on a 2-3 nighter up there this weekend and I'm curious about the conditions as well. Thanks for all those who have kept us updated thus far. Curious to see if anyone has more recent reports.
 
If you didn't make it up there @WasatchWill there are definitely snow drifts around the Ruth Lake area, but there were a few cars parked at the trailhead anyway. This photo was near Christmas Meadows yesterday.

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Great pic @Yellowstone 1 ! A climbing friend climbed above Ruth Lake today. There was about 1/2 snow around the lake and he had to posthole up to the crag.
 
langutah said:
Great pic @Yellowstone 1 ! A climbing friend climbed above Ruth Lake today. There was about 1/2 snow around the lake and he had to posthole up to the crag.
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Thanks Art! Amazing how far cell phone cameras have come. haha... It was great weather up there yesterday and open water mixed with ice on all the lakes along the highway.
 
We made the drive up MLH up and over to Ruth Lake and back. For those considering any trips up in that area, I'd personally give it another week or two. If you go this week, you may be post-holing through a good number of snow patches when you can't get around them, and when you aren't on snow, you could be collecting a lot of mud on your boots or shoes making for some heavy feet. While the snow appears to be melting out pretty quick, the ground all around is very soggy and saturated with water and mud all over the place. It was kind of cool to see all the little waterfalls flowing all over from all the snowmelt though. I also noticed, just from the car, that there was a considerable number of tree falls from the winter, especially around Pass Lake TH and up around Crystal Lake TH. Looks like there could be quite a bit for trail workers to clear out. Much of Mirror Lake was still frozen over as well as Moosehorn.

I was hoping to take a daughter just out around Haystack Lake from Crystal Lake TH this week, but again we'll probably be holding off for a couple weeks at which point we'll shoot for doing the 17 Lakes loop. My other daughter and I are now making plans for a local trip here just out of the valley for this week.

Anyway, here's some pics from our drive...all but the last were taken on my HTC One phone's crappy camera. It does great with close up subjects, but no matter what settings I use, I've never been able to capture a crisp looking landscape photo, so apologies for the fuzziness. For all the talk of how far cell phone cameras have come, HTC is way behind. But then again, I was willing to trade that out for true stereo speakers with great audio quality for music and video. I'm thinking I'll go back to something that can take better pics. Just a few more months before it is upgrade time. :dance:

But I digress...

Ruth Lake TH
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Hayden Peak from Ruth Lake TH
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Highline TH (Still covered in a few inches of snow)
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Pass Lake TH (Bald Mtn and Reids in the background)
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I think my kids were the first to use that toilet this season. Never have I seen a vault toilet look and smell so clean. :twothumbs:

Cuberant trail at Pass Lake TH...the water all across the trail doesn't show up well here.
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Lofty Lake trail at Pass Lake TH...this one looked more promising, but I imagine it wouldn't be long before you were trudging through snow and I'll bet Lofty Lake itself is still iced over and probably Kamas Lake as well.
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Bald Mountain and Reids Peak
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Hayden Peak Overlook (Hayden Peak in the distance and Moosehorn Lake below)
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Murdock Mountain
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Bald Mountain from Bald Mountain TH
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Looking west across Provo River drainage from Bald Mountain Overlook
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Trial Lake & Notch Mountain
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Crystal Lake TH
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Obligatory Provo River Falls pic
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So again, while the snow is clearing out quick, I imagine it'll take a week or two more of good sunshine to dry things out a bit and make the trails a bit more enjoyable.
 
I was up there a week before you, and what a difference a week makes! There was probably about 4 feet of snow around the pass, but from your pictures it looks like it's mostly down to snow drifts now.
 
Good picture update @Stapley ! Thanks. Our group is on the fence about heading up there this weekend. The following weekend would probably be ideal.
 
Yeah me and one of the guys in the picture are planning to do the same, should be perfect up there if the temps stay up.
 
Anyone heading up this weekend? I'd love to see how much another week has changed. Based on some vague discussions with the rangers, they're saying not too much has melted yet this week and that snowline is still somewhere below 11,000 ft.
 
In my experience the rangers rarely have any kind of good up-to-date information when it comes to snow conditions up there in the spring/early summer. But with the weather finally shifting from cold and wet to hot and dry, it'll start melting fast. Based on the current weather outlook, I bet next weekend will be good for shorter trips with snow around but enough dry ground to make it fun and the following weekend to be good all around backpacking with the exception of passes.
 
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