Uintas Conditions 2021

[Upgrayedd]

Figured now is as good a time as any to start a new conditions thread. Anyone been up recently?

 

[WasatchWill]

I know of others who've been camping along the lower trails on the western end of MLH over the last month. That said, here's satellite shot from Thursday (2 days ago) of the Mirror Lake and Bald Mountain/Hayden Pass areas. I imagine most of the snow visible within treeline in this image will certainly melt out, if not already, then through the rest of the weekend, leaving only the sections above tree line known to hold snow further into the season where the deeper snow drifts accumulate. Regardless, it's probably a cray zoo up there right now and I can only imagine how much mud is being encountered by those among the impatient masses who just can't wait another week or two for much of the area to dry some more.


Going further east, here's a shot of Kings Peak and Red Castle area, also from Thursday...



And for good measure...here's the eastern end of the high range, with Chapeta and Leidy Peak therein...



Another couple weeks of warm sunny weather and I think you'll be able to declare most of those basins open for the summer season.

 

[LarryBoy]

Went fishing at Lost Lake this morning. Road plowing ends about halfway between Lost Lake and Bald Mtn Pass. Per UDOT, plowing should finish this week.

Snow is pretty well gone below about 10k, with the exception of shady and/or north-facing stuff.

 

[Jon Carbaugh]

Camped down on the north side near Beaver View Sunday night. We were able to make it as far as the Ruth Lake Trailhead yesterday without much trouble.

 

[Mike K]

Anyone have updates? Surprisingly quiet Uintas thread this year.

 

[Ugly]

Anyone have updates? Surprisingly quiet Uintas thread this year.

That's true it has been.
I saw MLH is open, but the earliest I am going up is probably next weekend.
I will probably be there with everyone else who is not adding to this thread.

 

[Mike K]

Thanks. Yeah, we were thinking about heading up for some backpacking. I'll be curious to see how it turns out. Good luck with your outing!

 

[WasatchWill]

Anyone have updates? Surprisingly quiet Uintas thread this year.

Maybe a lot of us are holding back waiting for the crowds to stabilize? It's kind of a stressor to drive MLH these days with any intent to hike or camp with how hard it can be to find any parking now. I just don't foresee the Covid crowds thinning out much from how they erupted last year. Even weekdays can pose challenging crowds now. I'm reaching a point where it's going to be worth the extra hour or two of driving to use lesser used trailheads and avoid MLH altogether unless I'm just passing through for a more scenic drive to or from Evanston.

That all said, looking at sat pics for this week, all the basins in the Uintas now look free and clear of snow, save the upper most benches right below the big ridges dividing all the big basins. I imagine bugs and flowers will both be emerging in full force within another week or two and hold steady for another month thereafter.

 

[Mike K]

That bad up there huh? I guess I've seen the crowds down here locally on the trails and such, so I shouldn't be surprised.

I did finally see the satellite images showing little snow. Crazy. Very curious about the mosquito situation.

Thanks Will.

 

[Artemus]

I was up at Bald Mountain Pass and hiked the Lakes trail under Bald Mountain completely snow free two days ago. The skeets were there but wind kept them at bay. They are not yet at full force. Thinking of hiking over Rocky Sea Pass this week and wonder if the snow cornice is now gone or easily bypass. Also wondering about the condition and safety of Dead Horse Pass. The snow model is not that helpful at that level of detail but it shows everything snow free (globally) The purple is an elevation layer change I believe. MLH on left.