Uintas Conditions 2020

Curious what things look like today. Last night's storm must have dumped a decent amount of snow judging by what I've seen at the resorts.
 
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It's just a modeled estimate, but it looks like they just got a dusting and maybe even little to none farther east.

The UDOT camera up at the pass seems to indicate the same.
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Got 4 fresh inches at about 8k on the north slope. Higher peaks look like a bit more. It'll melt quick though.
 
Weather Fri/Sat was perfect. Decent amount of bugs out but even though they landed on us a bit (it was windy) nobody in our group was bit. At first I didn't think they were mosquitos but confirmed they were, but for some reason weren't biting. Essentially no snow from 10-11k other than a few small patches. I'll likely be avoiding the Uintas until August since I absolutely hate bugs.
 
Went to Packard Lake for an overnighter last night and had the same experience. No mosquitoes except at the lakes but low in number and not all that eager to feed [emoji2]


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I hiked into Ryder Lake this weekend and there were NO bugs, I never even saw a mosquito on the entire 18 mile trip. It was probably the most pleasant experience I've ever had in the Uintas. Water was everywhere and there was only really snow on the last climb in the gully up to the bench that Ryder sits on. All around the lake there was a lot of snow but melting fast.
 
Hiked the crest from Gilbert to Divide Pass. Skeeters are out below 11,500 - getting worse by the day. 4 days ago they were fine, yesterday they'd moved into "moderately annoying" territory.

Snow-wise, everything except north-facing passes are a go.
 
LarryBoy said:
Hiked the crest from Gilbert to Divide Pass. Skeeters are out below 11,500 - getting worse by the day. 4 days ago they were fine, yesterday they'd moved into "moderately annoying" territory.

Snow-wise, everything except north-facing passes are a go.
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Trip report coming?
 
LarryBoy said:
Maybe this fall when I have something to type on other than a phone.Short version: highly scenic but tough on the ankles. Imagine 14 miles of that tedious talus you encountered on Coffin :)
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Kinda figured that. How many days did it take? Did you come down each night?
 
Spent last night up at Wall Lake with my 10 year old son. Weather was amazing, but the ole skeeters were thick as @Nick...haha.
We decided against a fire because the mosquitoes were too thick to really enjoy it. But it was still fun to get out, and my son's first backpacking trip was still a success!
 
Perry said:
Kinda figured that. How many days did it take? Did you come down each night?
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4 days, with the first day being just a couple hrs in the afternoon from Henry's Fork to a little campsite above Dollar. I did the ridge section itself (from Dollar Lake to Divide Pass/Island Lake) in a day - 14 mi in about 13 hrs, not easy at all - and then looped back on the Northside Highline, which is mostly below treeline, so camping was easy. Took me two days to get back because my ankle was complaining bitterly after the talus.

Couple of low end class III moves west of Gilbert but really quite straightforward. This completes a project I've been working on for a couple years - walking the whole crest from Leidy to Gilbert. If somehow folks get a super stable weather window, I'd recommend walking as much if the crest as possible as part of their Highline hikes.
 
FYI: A nice window of opportunity will be coming up beginning midweek next week (July 1st) in the Uintas: A cold front on Monday will cause the lows to drop below freezing for 2, possibly 3 days in a row in the high Alpine elevations, and three consecutive nights of freezing temps tend to "thin the heard" for mosquitoes! Looks like I'll be celebrating July 4th in that mountain range next week. :cool: Will definitely still bring bug spray and a head net!
 
The first wave of that cold front started blowing in before midnight last night... That cold front may come at a great time.
Because, as @Parma said, skeeters are in thick. Spent Friday to Sunday in Amethyst. Friday was perfectly still, wonderful, and only a handful of mosquitoes. Saturday was perfectly still and the mosquito bloom exploded before our eyes. I had never prayed for a good breeze until Saturday. The breeze came at midnight and did not stop.
It was a little too late for all the welts that Saturday gave me.
 
Anyone have a recent update on bugs? I'm sure they are bad, just wondering how bad. This week looks like there may be some storms and I'm tempted to get out and about.
 
Eric O said:
Anyone have a recent update on bugs? I'm sure they are bad, just wondering how bad. This week looks like there may be some storms and I'm tempted to get out and about.
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I was up there Friday morning dayhiking around the Clyde Lake area and they weren't bad. We wore bug spray and saw a few when we would stop, but it wasn't bad at all.

Not the most helpful update though because evening is when they start getting bad.
 
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