Uintas Conditions 2015

We went up there this weekend to Jewell lake, just past Ruth lake for a quick over nighter. There was still some snow up there and some wet swampy areas but nothing too bad and nothing we couldn't navigate around. In my opinion, it's all accessible.
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trasmuson3 said:
We went up there this weekend to Jewell lake, just past Ruth lake for a quick over nighter. There was still some snow up there and some wet swampy areas but nothing too bad and nothing we couldn't navigate around. In my opinion, it's all accessible.
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Awesome! You hit the sweet spot. I love it when there's still snow drifts around but still no bugs or people. Thanks for posting.
 
I was up there Thursday-Saturday. Snow is mostly gone, Drifts of up to a foot or two at Bald Mountain Pass. We hiked to Wall lake and encountered a couple of little snow patches, but not much. Wall Lake was still iced over, but I would be surprised if that lasted more than a few more days.
 
That sucks. If the rangers don't know, who would?

EDIT: Read the rest of the posts after that. Good! I'll be up starting the 29th, and I really didn't want to have to alter my plans just on account of the snow. I agree that some snow his highly desirable, actually. Makes the mountains much prettier. Late summer when it's just bare rock isn't as nice and constrasty for the photos.
 
Judging from the view from Christmas Meadows I would say Amethyst Basin still has some snow it, but the snow line seemed to stop at about the elevation of the basin.
 
Nick said:
The people who actually go there. This thread is about as up-to-date and accurate as you'll get other than being there yourself.
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Yeah, I meant that kind of rhetorically. Why aren't the rangers going up there more? Sigh.

The instagram search ain't a bad idea.
 
JoshuaDyal said:
Yeah, I meant that kind of rhetorically. Why aren't the rangers going up there more? Sigh.

The instagram search ain't a bad idea.
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No money, I'd bet. I've spent upwards of 80+ nights in the Uintas and I have seen exactly one ranger in that entire time. Oddly enough, it was in one of the most distant, hard-to-reach places I've been to in the range. They probably have this thread bookmarked so they can tell people conditions when they call in. Ha!
 
Nick said:
No money, I'd bet. I've spent upwards of 80+ nights in the Uintas and I have seen exactly one ranger in that entire time. Oddly enough, it was in one of the most distant, hard-to-reach places I've been to in the range. They probably have this thread bookmarked so they can tell people conditions when they call in. Ha!
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We actually saw a few wilderness rangers patrolling up Henry Fork Basin when we were up there a few years ago. I think with all the scouts and other traffic that area gets due to Kings Peak, that area probably does receive regular ranger hikes, but they probably don't start up until they themselves feel confident most of the snow has melted out. When we were up there, it was the last week of June and I think it was also the first week out for the ranger patrols up there.
 
JoshuaDyal said:
That sucks. If the rangers don't know, who would?

agree that some snow his highly desirable, actually. Makes the mountains much prettier. Late summer when it's just bare rock isn't as nice and constrasty for the photos.
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Plus they're great for keeping your beer cold. :twothumbs:
 
In a spur of the moment decision, I took a chance on the conditions and went up to Naturalist Basin for the night last night. Had the whole basin to myself! I posted some of this info the help another member with their trip planning, but I'll repeat some of it here...

The trail from Highline Trailhead to the final turn-off from the Highline trail that leads up to Naturalist basin is pretty good save a number of small stretches where it does get a bit wet and muddy, but there are plenty of rocks to step across and keep the bulk of your shoes dry. There are well over a dozen tree falls across the trail. A few were low enough to just step up and over. Most, however, required a good detour off trail to get around. Mosquitos were not a problem at all for me. I had repellant and a head net ready to go but never took either out.

Once you start nearing the basin though, the trail really starts to get bad, going well under water many times before you start post-holing through snow in places. The upper benches of the basin still have significant snow drifts across it and just about all of the lakes are still mostly frozen over. Only one of the Morat lakes was relatively free of any ice. Faxon was next closest to be fully thawed out. I predict it will take at least another week or two of continued warm and sunny weather to melt out most of the snow still up there, and perhaps even another week or two for much of the water covering so many sections of the trail to clear out and dry up.

I also went up to the ridge above the basin to have a peak over into Middle Basin. There's lots of snow left in the upper edges of Middle Basin with all of its lakes appearing to be mostly frozen over.

Here are a few pics...

Trail between Highline junction and Naturalist Basin
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Right fork of the trail leading to Jordan Lake goes well under the creek, requiring a significant river forward.
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Naturalist Basin from the ridge. Lots of snow still left across upper bench.
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Looking down off ridge into Middle Basin. Aggasiz on left, Hayden Peak to the right.
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LeConte and Jordan Lakes still frozen.
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Jordan Close-up.
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While I had Naturalist all to myself, there were a few couples doing Four Lakes Basin this week.

Stay tuned for a full TR in the next week or two.
 
Well, yikes. My big trip is still a week and a half out, and it looks like the big "low snow" year isn't panning out to clear much earlier than normal after all. Time to start getting plan B options queued up...
 
JoshuaDyal said:
Well, yikes. My big trip is still a week and a half out, and it looks like the big "low snow" year isn't panning out to clear much earlier than normal after all. Time to start getting plan B options queued up...
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Not to confuse matters too much we are under a serious high pressure with high temps 10 or more degrees above normal. This is true for most all of Utah and surrounding states and will be staying that way for at least 5 days. Snow is melting fast now.
 
Which is nice... at least for my plans... but I want to have that plan B ready to deploy if needed anyway.
 
What do people think about Amethyst/Ostler lake area this weekend? After this hot period, I bet at least Ostler is partially thawed out.
 
Nanda said:
What do people think about Amethyst/Ostler lake area this weekend? After this hot period, I bet at least Ostler is partially thawed out.
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I'd go for it. The ice comes off SO fast when the weather is like this. If you're there for the fishing, Toomset might be worth a visit. ;)
 
Nick said:
I'd go for it. The ice comes off SO fast when the weather is like this. If you're there for the fishing, Toomset might be worth a visit. ;)
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Cool, that's what I wanted to hear from a Uintas veteran. I am taking a friend along, maybe more, so have to make sure its good for them.
 
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