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Here's another trip report from the archives, this one is from back in 2007, long before the days of packing around a fancy camera. This was the second time I did this awesome route, the first time I did it solo and forgot my camera in the truck that dropped me off! It was the most amazing trip I'd ever done so I had to go back and do it again with a camera, and luckily I also had a few friends on this one including my wife, audraiam and good friend Smokey.
This trip was the big one for 2007 and finished off our backpacking season at 122 miles. What a great year. Audra started the season as totally new to backpacking and by the end she was was pretty experienced. This trip is a point-to-point route that involves a car spot at one end or the other. I did this hike solo in 2005 by getting dropped off at the West Fork Black's Fork (WFBF) trailhead. On that trip I had allocated five days but I ended up doing it in three. I hadn't really done much solo backpacking, I enjoyed that trip but I didn't feel like sitting around like I do when I have people around. I also forgot my camera on that trip so I had been dying to redo it ever since.
This time around we hiked the route in the opposite direction so we started at Highline and ended at WFBF. Here is a very approximate map of our route. Keep in mind that this is not an actual GPS track, just me drawing a line on Google Maps.
[parsehtml]
<iframe width="640" height="640" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" marginheight="0" marginwidth="0" src="http://www.mappingsupport.com/p/gmap4.php?q=mymap,214533597045798101523.00049cba5f5955a77beb5&t=t4"></iframe><br /><small>View <a href="http://www.mappingsupport.com/p/gmap4.php?q=mymap,214533597045798101523.00049cba5f5955a77beb5&t=t4" target="_blank">Four Lakes Basin Map</a> full sized in a new window.</small></br></br>
[/parsehtml]
The day before we started hiking Taylor and I made the drive over to West Fork Black's Fork to drop off my truck. Crossing the river was fun as usual.
We camped along the Mirror Lake Highway that night and the next morning we all loaded up into Taylor's truck and headed off to the Highline Trailhead.
The first 9 miles of the trip follows the Highline Trail through one of the busiest areas of the Uintas. The trail is rocky with a lot of ups and downs.
Pigeon Milk Springs marks the point where the trail turns uphill and starts to ascent Rocky Sea Pass
Almost to the top of the not-so-rocky side of Rocky Sea Pass.
Seconds earlier I nearly ate it scrambling over the rocks to get into the frame.
Audra rests her legs on Rocky Sea Pass.
Nikita and Taylor
This is a pano looking into Rock Creek from Rocky Sea Pass. Over the next couple of days we will head north (left) higher into the basin and then out over Dead Horse Pass on the far northeast side. The pointed peak in the distant center is Explorer Peak. This will be a good reference point for upcoming shots.
Descending Rocky Sea Pass into Rock Creek
A small unnamed lake near the base of Rocky Sea Pass
After a long 13-miles on the trail we reached our destination for the night, Black Lake. I camped here two years earlier when I did this trip solo.
Black Lake
Taylor and I taking a swim in Black Lake. Photo by Audra W.
The next morning we were back on the trail heading north towards Lightning Lake. We weren't totally sure where we would camp next but we picked a small lake called Jodie Lake off the map as a good area to aim for.
The first half of the day was on and off rain so we spent a fair amount of time hiding in the trees.
Lightning Lake from below.
Lightning Lake from above.
Cows grazing at 10,800’, don’t get me started...
Helen Lake
Navigating through the upper reaches of the Rock Creek drainage.
There is no trail to Jodie Lake so we spent some time hiking overland with the GPS as our guide. It was BEAUTIFUL!
Nikita loved the open grass. When she gets happy she rolls over and rubs her back on the ground while making a funny groaning noise.
So it turned out that Jodie Lake was something less than a real lake. Perhaps during wet years it actually fills up but this year it was about an inch of water in grass.
Due to Jodie Lake’s absence we decided to hike a few extra miles to Ledge Lake to spend the night
Ledge Lake is beautiful, there is a nice waterfall that pours off the ledge behind the lake. I love having the white noise of a river to sleep to. I was going to stay here on my solo trip two years earlier but I got here so fast from Dead Horse Lake that I decided to keep hiking until Black Lake.
The next day we hiked above Ledge Lake. The plan was to spend some time at Continent Lake doing some fishing followed by a hike over Dead Horse Pass over to Dead Horse Lake. It was a dark overcast day with the occasional light ran storm.
Continent Lake. You can see the results of the dryer than normal year we have had. The lake was down at least 6 feet below normal.
Fishing at Continent Lake
A strong storm moved in just after our arrival at Continent Lake. We hid in Taylor’s circus tent. There isn’t much protection at 11,300’
I wouldn't want to camp here.
Explorer Peak on the left and Squaw Peak on the right as seen from Upper Rock Creek.
Audra making her way up the realtively safe and easy side of Dead Horse Pass. In the far distant center of the picture you can almost see Rocky Sea Pass that we crossed two days earlier.
Dead Horse Pass
Looking north into West Fork Black's Fork
Selfie with Dead Horse Peak in the background
West Fork Black's Fork
Dead Horse Lake and EJOD Lake
This is NOT the trail. Instead of veering north towards WFBF we should have veered south towards Rock Creek. The trail would have then curved back around to the north side of the pass.
My wrong turn became more and more treacherous. The penalty for a slip here would have likely been fatal.
Back on the trail. You can see our very scary diversion in the background.
A few minutes later a large, fast moving storm rolled in and caught us before we could make it back down to tree line. I had to put away the camera and make the mad dash for shelter. I was raining so hard that the trail coming down Dead Horse Pass turned into a bit of a waterfall. The lighting was hitting all of the surrounding peaks so we ran right past Dead Horse Lake and on to an area where we could legally have a fire. This picture was taken as the rain was letting up.
Cold and wet.
The storm cleared out and we had a nice last evening in camp.
The next day we were dry, the skies were blue and we were ready for the 10 mile hike out to the car and the cold drinks inside of it.
West Fork Black's Fork is a non-stop, jaw-dropping hike. Every where you look is picture perfect. This is one of my favorite sections of trail that I have ever hiked.
There are a lot of sheep in WFBF. I'm not a fan but this was a pretty cool scene watching the roundup.
Nikita exhausted after 30+ miles of hiking. Buck Pasture is in the background.
Buck Pasture is so nice.
After Buck Pasture it was a few more miles through the trees to get to the truck. Odometer for this trip came to 35 miles. I would do this route again in a heartbeat.
Trip details:
See all of my trip reports to the Uintas.
This trip was the big one for 2007 and finished off our backpacking season at 122 miles. What a great year. Audra started the season as totally new to backpacking and by the end she was was pretty experienced. This trip is a point-to-point route that involves a car spot at one end or the other. I did this hike solo in 2005 by getting dropped off at the West Fork Black's Fork (WFBF) trailhead. On that trip I had allocated five days but I ended up doing it in three. I hadn't really done much solo backpacking, I enjoyed that trip but I didn't feel like sitting around like I do when I have people around. I also forgot my camera on that trip so I had been dying to redo it ever since.
This time around we hiked the route in the opposite direction so we started at Highline and ended at WFBF. Here is a very approximate map of our route. Keep in mind that this is not an actual GPS track, just me drawing a line on Google Maps.
[parsehtml]
<iframe width="640" height="640" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" marginheight="0" marginwidth="0" src="http://www.mappingsupport.com/p/gmap4.php?q=mymap,214533597045798101523.00049cba5f5955a77beb5&t=t4"></iframe><br /><small>View <a href="http://www.mappingsupport.com/p/gmap4.php?q=mymap,214533597045798101523.00049cba5f5955a77beb5&t=t4" target="_blank">Four Lakes Basin Map</a> full sized in a new window.</small></br></br>
[/parsehtml]
The day before we started hiking Taylor and I made the drive over to West Fork Black's Fork to drop off my truck. Crossing the river was fun as usual.
We camped along the Mirror Lake Highway that night and the next morning we all loaded up into Taylor's truck and headed off to the Highline Trailhead.
The first 9 miles of the trip follows the Highline Trail through one of the busiest areas of the Uintas. The trail is rocky with a lot of ups and downs.
Pigeon Milk Springs marks the point where the trail turns uphill and starts to ascent Rocky Sea Pass
Almost to the top of the not-so-rocky side of Rocky Sea Pass.
Seconds earlier I nearly ate it scrambling over the rocks to get into the frame.
Audra rests her legs on Rocky Sea Pass.
Nikita and Taylor
This is a pano looking into Rock Creek from Rocky Sea Pass. Over the next couple of days we will head north (left) higher into the basin and then out over Dead Horse Pass on the far northeast side. The pointed peak in the distant center is Explorer Peak. This will be a good reference point for upcoming shots.
Descending Rocky Sea Pass into Rock Creek
A small unnamed lake near the base of Rocky Sea Pass
After a long 13-miles on the trail we reached our destination for the night, Black Lake. I camped here two years earlier when I did this trip solo.
Black Lake
Taylor and I taking a swim in Black Lake. Photo by Audra W.
The next morning we were back on the trail heading north towards Lightning Lake. We weren't totally sure where we would camp next but we picked a small lake called Jodie Lake off the map as a good area to aim for.
The first half of the day was on and off rain so we spent a fair amount of time hiding in the trees.
Lightning Lake from below.
Lightning Lake from above.
Cows grazing at 10,800’, don’t get me started...
Helen Lake
Navigating through the upper reaches of the Rock Creek drainage.
There is no trail to Jodie Lake so we spent some time hiking overland with the GPS as our guide. It was BEAUTIFUL!
Nikita loved the open grass. When she gets happy she rolls over and rubs her back on the ground while making a funny groaning noise.
So it turned out that Jodie Lake was something less than a real lake. Perhaps during wet years it actually fills up but this year it was about an inch of water in grass.
Due to Jodie Lake’s absence we decided to hike a few extra miles to Ledge Lake to spend the night
Ledge Lake is beautiful, there is a nice waterfall that pours off the ledge behind the lake. I love having the white noise of a river to sleep to. I was going to stay here on my solo trip two years earlier but I got here so fast from Dead Horse Lake that I decided to keep hiking until Black Lake.
The next day we hiked above Ledge Lake. The plan was to spend some time at Continent Lake doing some fishing followed by a hike over Dead Horse Pass over to Dead Horse Lake. It was a dark overcast day with the occasional light ran storm.
Continent Lake. You can see the results of the dryer than normal year we have had. The lake was down at least 6 feet below normal.
Fishing at Continent Lake
A strong storm moved in just after our arrival at Continent Lake. We hid in Taylor’s circus tent. There isn’t much protection at 11,300’
I wouldn't want to camp here.
Explorer Peak on the left and Squaw Peak on the right as seen from Upper Rock Creek.
Audra making her way up the realtively safe and easy side of Dead Horse Pass. In the far distant center of the picture you can almost see Rocky Sea Pass that we crossed two days earlier.
Dead Horse Pass
Looking north into West Fork Black's Fork
Selfie with Dead Horse Peak in the background
West Fork Black's Fork
Dead Horse Lake and EJOD Lake
This is NOT the trail. Instead of veering north towards WFBF we should have veered south towards Rock Creek. The trail would have then curved back around to the north side of the pass.
My wrong turn became more and more treacherous. The penalty for a slip here would have likely been fatal.
Back on the trail. You can see our very scary diversion in the background.
A few minutes later a large, fast moving storm rolled in and caught us before we could make it back down to tree line. I had to put away the camera and make the mad dash for shelter. I was raining so hard that the trail coming down Dead Horse Pass turned into a bit of a waterfall. The lighting was hitting all of the surrounding peaks so we ran right past Dead Horse Lake and on to an area where we could legally have a fire. This picture was taken as the rain was letting up.
Cold and wet.
The storm cleared out and we had a nice last evening in camp.
The next day we were dry, the skies were blue and we were ready for the 10 mile hike out to the car and the cold drinks inside of it.
West Fork Black's Fork is a non-stop, jaw-dropping hike. Every where you look is picture perfect. This is one of my favorite sections of trail that I have ever hiked.
There are a lot of sheep in WFBF. I'm not a fan but this was a pretty cool scene watching the roundup.
Nikita exhausted after 30+ miles of hiking. Buck Pasture is in the background.
Buck Pasture is so nice.
After Buck Pasture it was a few more miles through the trees to get to the truck. Odometer for this trip came to 35 miles. I would do this route again in a heartbeat.
Trip details:
- trip date: 8/15 thru 8/19/07
- distance: 35 Miles</li>
- starting point: Highline Trailhead on the Mirror Lake Highway
- ending point: West Fork Black's Fork Trailhead
- peak elevation: 11,581' on top of Dead Horse Pass
See all of my trip reports to the Uintas.