Uintas Conditions 2018

Great thanks all, probably giving it another few weeks as I will be trying to run the majority of whatever im heading out to do. Will be doing the hi-line trail in august this year for the first time
 
Johnpaulj said:
Great thanks all, probably giving it another few weeks as I will be trying to run the majority of whatever im heading out to do. Will be doing the hi-line trail in august this year for the first time
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Right there with you in being anxious to get up there! I think a couple weeks and it's all it will take. Look at this day last year, big difference!

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Perry said:
Being that Gunsight Pass is at almost 12,000 ft and it is north facing I'd feel pretty confident its still deep in snow. Even as far up Henrys Fork as Dollar lake is at 10,000 ft I'd bet there is still a lot of snow considering there is 3-4 feet on Hayden Pass which is at 10,000 ft. One additional factor is that generally the further east you go in the Uintas the less snow but at those elevations I'm sure its still snowshoe and ice ax territory.

As far as trails from the Crystal Lake trail head... Id bet they are still in snow yet. The road from MLH to Trial lake still had some snow on it as of last weekend. Probably passable to Trial but up higher I would say its a no-go unless you want to hoof it on snowshoes.
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Since I'm a teacher, I'll need to be back back home before the second week of August. If I start a Highline trip around July 25, will the mosquitoes have abated at all by then?
 
Eric Z said:
Since I'm a teacher, I'll need to be back back home before the second week of August. If I start a Highline trip around July 25, will the mosquitoes have abated at all by then?
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Since I've only been up there in late August I'll defer to others on late July. However I did to an overnighter in Naturalist basin in mid July and the mosquitoes were around in places. Of course most of those places were around water which is where we all like to make camp :/
 
Eric Z said:
Since I'm a teacher, I'll need to be back back home before the second week of August. If I start a Highline trip around July 25, will the mosquitoes have abated at all by then?
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Every year seems to kind of have its own timeline, August is usually a good bet for them to have calmed down and by the end they are usually gone. Though I distinctly remember going mid August 2011 and it being the absolute worst they have ever been. That year the high country was covered in snow into July. I think their life cycle greatly depends on the snow melt. Given the low snow year I would guess they will be thinning out earlier then normal years and end of July shouldn't be too bad.
 
It's all about the water year and the melt. It takes a huge water year for them to be really bad in August in my experience. This year they won't be very bad at all and by mid-late July they'll be a non-issue. I'd still pack some deet but nothing major.
 
@Eric Z checkout the Friends of Kings Peak facebook page. They typically post photos of their trip up to Kings Peak/Henrys Fork basin area each year in June when they go clean stuff up/cut away trees and stuff. That'll give you the best idea of what it's like up there.
 
snotel.jpg I don't know where it is in the basin, but if I'm reading this right, the Henry's Fork Snotel is reporting 0" inches of snow since Saturday.
Please correct me if I'm reading it wrong.
 
This is really great information. Will be hitting the UHT around July 22. Very much looking forward to seeing this unknown gem of LD trails
 
anyone been up east fork of the bear yet? looking to go up in 2 weeks wondering about snow
 
Mullet said:
anyone been up east fork of the bear yet? looking to go up in 2 weeks wondering about snow
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I was up there over Memorial Day weekend. Trailhead area looks great.

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Didn't go up the canyon but there was still a good amount of snow. Here's Mount Beulah.

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Hiked a bit around Crystal Lake.

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Still a lot of snow present above 10k feet, most of it very soft. Postholing was a problem. Another two weeks will make a lot of difference.

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thanks! ya hopefully it will warm up soon up there! sweet pictures
 
Devo said:
Did you get a look at Trail? Curious if it is still iced over?
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I did not, but there is no snow present at the trailhead elevation. Snow is probable in the Allsop and Priord areas currently but with warm and clear weather, they should be clear within a couple of weeks.
 
Dave said:
I did not, but there is no snow present at the trailhead elevation. Snow is probable in the Allsop and Priord areas currently but with warm and clear weather, they should be clear within a couple of weeks.
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:facepalm: lol I totally meant "Trial" as in Trial Lake, I wish I could blame it on auto-correct or something....
 
Devo said:
:facepalm: lol I totally meant "Trial" as in Trial Lake, I wish I could blame it on auto-correct or something....
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I should have picked up on what you meant, seeing as how you capitalized T and didn't use "the" in front of trail.

Trial is just slightly lower that Crystal and Washington, it looked about the same: patchy snow drifts and very soggy ground.
 
Hey guys/gals

, I’m new to the forum and an out of towner planning to make a trip to Utah next week. I’m a highpointer , so my question is ; how feasible and / or what would it take to make a summit next week on Kings peak via the henry fork trail? I understand that this winter was more mild but I’m sure there is still plenty up snow up high. I’m experienced with making winter ascents but am curious for some of y’alls nuanced opinions for this particular time/place.

Thanks in advance
 
payton1515 said:
Hey guys/gals

, I’m new to the forum and an out of towner planning to make a trip to Utah next week. I’m a highpointer , so my question is ; how feasible and / or what would it take to make a summit next week on Kings peak via the henry fork trail? I understand that this winter was more mild but I’m sure there is still plenty up snow up high. I’m experienced with making winter ascents but am curious for some of y’alls nuanced opinions for this particular time/place.

Thanks in advance
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Expect very wet/muddy conditions in the Henry’s Fork basin. I imagine everything from Gunsight Pass on up will be partially snowbound.
 
@payton1515 it can be done. You just need to be prepared for hiking in snow and mud. There are videos on YouTube of people who have summitted Kings Peak in the winter.
 
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