Uintas Conditions 2019

Parma said:
@Perry how was the trailhead/river crossing and the hike to Dead Horse Lake?
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River crossings were pretty sketchy, main river was up to my crotch. Not counting smaller streams that I could have crossed with a fallen log or rock hopping I counted thirteen crossings to get back to the truck. On my way in I decided to stay on the east of the river rather than cross. It wasn't too bad if you don't mind the meadows being all flooded. Definitely a wet shoes walk in and out. On the way out I decided to go ahead and attempt a crossing at Buck Pasture (where the bridge is out BTW). I was pretty anxious crossing on the deep side but did okay. My trekking poles were vibrating from the force of the water. Just was hoping the return back to the east would be about the same. This turned out not to be the case. It was way too fast and deep so I went down the west side for a bit where I found a better place to cross.

The final mile or so up to the junction with the Highline Trail and on up to Dead Horse had water flowing everywhere. Snow still covered the trail in a few places but not bad. Trails were streams pretty much. Snow has receded around Dead Horse Lake and the usual camp sites looked pretty good where I had my lunch enjoying the view. Still a bit of ice in the water. Mosquitoes were not out at the lake just yet so it was pretty nice up there. By comparison by evening on the way out they got pretty annoying to the point I relented and put on my head net.
 
Hiker46 said:
Will do.
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We ended up just doing a loop around south of Naturalist Basin down to Pinto Lake and back out to the Hayden TH. We talked with some folks who got to the top of Rocky Sea Pass and the east side was still very snowy. They were doing an out and back, and figured post-holing up the east side would be too much effort. I see an earlier post found Dead Horse Pass was a bit sketchy on the north side too.
 
Perry said:
Let's play "Find the Trail" up Dead Horse Pass. Won't catch me on that just yet. @DrNed

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My Highline is scheduled for last week of August. Is 31 days enough to melt all that?
Even at the first of July I wouldn't have questioned that. Now Im not so sure.
 
I wouldn’t be surprised if there were still small patches then . Negotiable? That’s the big question. I would be bringing my ice axe if I knew there was still snow then.


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DrNed said:
My Highline is scheduled for last week of August. Is 31 days enough to melt all that?
Even at the first of July I wouldn't have questioned that. Now Im not so sure.
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I would not bring an ice axe for the last week of August based on everything I'm seeing and hearing right now. People have already been crossing Dead Horse.
 
That really is wild. Driving back from the Winds a week and a half ago, the Uintas looked much snowier than the Winds. I guess all the warm weather between then and now made a difference, and I probably perceived there to be more snow than there actually was.
 
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