The next day, we made pretty good time. \u00a0Headed up over North Pole Pass, then down into the valley below. \u00a0 We hiked until we were pretty tired, and made camp that night on the shores of the South Kidney Lake. \u00a0 Sadly, the area around Kidney Lakes has been seriously trashed by horse packers and big groups. \u00a0 It was difficult to find a decent camp spot that didn’t have big mounds of stinking horse dung, tons of horse packer trash and other signs of “high impact” users. \u00a0 I fished a little bit in Kidney Lakes, but didn’t catch anything.<\/p>\n The next day was perhaps our hardest of the trip. \u00a0We left our camp at Kidney Lakes and hiked West up Painter Basin to Anderson Pass.<\/p>\n By the time we got to Anderson Pass, we \u00a0were pretty tired, and the rocky trail and altitude (about 12,600 feet) really took their toll on us. \u00a0 We had originally thought of taking off from Anderson Pass to climb King’s Peak (at 13,528 feet the highest point in Utah) but our fatigue and threatening weather convinced us to just keep on moving West along the trail rather than take a peak bagging detour.<\/p>\n We’d originally thought we might make it to Tungston Pass by the end of the day, but we figured that a camp in the Yellowstone Creek drainage was good enough. \u00a0We made camp in the midst of a thunderstorm, with rain, lightning, and other excitement. \u00a0Because of the haste to get our tents up, I somehow overlooked a football sized stone right in the center of my tent (that I didn’t discover until I went to sleep later that evening.) \u00a0 Luckily, the thunderstorm was short lived, and we had time to relax. \u00a0I went fishing in Yellowstone Creek, but saw\/caught no fish. \u00a0I also took advantage of a nice bath spot to get myself clean. \u00a0 \u00a0Camp site coordinates were: \u00a0Lat 40.767528 Lon -110.412318<\/p>\n It rained heavily that night for about 4 hours. \u00a0 We woke up early and packed our wet tents and other gear and headed off again. \u00a0Tungsten Pass was easy, and Porcupine not so bad either. \u00a0 We had lunch on the West side of Porcupine Pass and took advantage of the bright sunshine to dry our wet gear.<\/p>\n After a nice rest, we made very good time along the easy trail that headed West along the wide open valley. \u00a0We made camp that night in a beautiful spot at Lambert Meadows. ( Lat 40.735502 Lon -110.589043 \u00a0 )<\/p>\n Having carried a bunch of fishing gear all this way without catching any fish at all, I was anxious to catch some fish. \u00a0So, I headed down the trail to where it met the Lake Fork River and did some fishing. \u00a0 The river was full of brook trout. \u00a0As with most wild backcountry trout, they were very\u00a0aggressive\u00a0and not at all suspicious of my dry flies I was using. \u00a0 I’d catch one about every 20 feet of wading or so. \u00a0None of them were big, but many were beautiful.<\/p>\n The next day was one we had been dreading the whole trip. \u00a0We were going to tackle two big passes in one day. \u00a0The day began with Red Knob Pass, then we had to get over Dead Horse Pass. \u00a0From the maps, they both looked steep.<\/p>\n As it turned out, we managed to get over both passes and still had some energy left in the tank. \u00a0The weather was hot, but we’d had enough hiking that we were getting into a good\u00a0rhythm and made good time.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Dead Horse Pass was the steepest of the passes on the trip. \u00a0Approaching the pass, it was difficult to even see where the trail ran. \u00a0Once on the pass, however, it wasn’t too difficult (just steep.)<\/p>\n After we got over both passes, we still had a surprising amount of energy. \u00a0After a short rest (and nap) at the base of Dead Horse Pass, we kept on going, and eventually made camp at the spot where the trail met up with Rock Creek, not too far from Rocky Sea Pass. \u00a0 \u00a0Rock Creek was also full of Uinta Brook Trout, and I had a fun time catching them.<\/p>\n Another thing the Rock Creek drainage was full of was cow manure. \u00a0Clearly, this area is used for cattle grazing. \u00a0I have to say that I’m not a big fan of cattle grazing in wilderness areas. \u00a0Seeing cattle damage and cow pies everywhere seems incompatible with wilderness.<\/p>\n At this point, we were within easy striking distance of the end of the trail. \u00a0It was Thursday night, and we were not scheduled to be picked up until Saturday at noon. \u00a0 It seemed likely that we were going to be done with the trip quite a bit sooner than Saturday at noon.<\/p>\n The next day, we made short work of Rocky Sea Pass, the last pass on the trail. \u00a0It looked like we could reach the trail head by the early afternoon. \u00a0 Luckily, I had my Delorme inReach<\/a> with me, which allowed me to use satellites to send a text message to our wives asking to be picked up a day earlier than planned. \u00a0It worked out well, and we got picked up about 15 minutes after we reached the trailhead on mirror lake highway, next to Butterfly Lake.<\/p>\n We were tired but happy. \u00a0The trip had been a bit of a grind at times, but the scenery had been beautiful and we’d had excellent weather (and no\u00a0mosquitoes.) \u00a0 \u00a0All in all, it was a terrific outing.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n \u00a0A word on gear: \u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n In spite of the fact that I knew that this was a long hike with a lot of vertical, I somehow brought way too much stuff on the trip, and as a result I carried a pack that was significantly heavier than it should have been for a trip like this one.<\/p>\n I own a lot of really lightweight gear. \u00a0However, having a lot of lightweight gear doesn’t help reduce your pack weight if you bring too much of it, which is exactly what I did. \u00a0When packing for the trip, I thought, “fishing will be great up there.” \u00a0So, I added about 5 pounds of fishing gear (rod, reel, waders, wading shoes, tackle, even an extra fly box) to my gear pile. \u00a0Thinking about the scenic beauties I would see along the route convinced me to add another several pounds of camera gear (Olympus OMD camera with 3 lenses.) \u00a0Similarly, I tossed on extra food and brought the entire first aid\/repair kit instead of just the essentials. \u00a0I didn’t coordinate group gear with my partner particularly well either. \u00a0As a result, we had duplicate water purification stuff, two tents, and other overlapping items.<\/p>\n I brought too much food too. \u00a0When I finished the trek, I still had over a pound of food left over. \u00a0 \u00a0My pack weighed about 40 pounds, and I estimate that if I had been a little more rational and careful, that I probably could have cut 10-15 pounds from that total. \u00a0When you’re doing 15k of vertical, a 25 pound pack is very different than a 40 pound pack. \u00a0It’s the difference between being tired and hammered at the end of the day and feeling good.<\/p>\n I should have known better than to carry so much extra stuff. \u00a0I know how to go ultra light. \u00a0I guess I just got confused and made some stupid decisions. \u00a0I forgot the primary purpose of the trip. \u00a0If I’m going on a casual backcountry fishing trip, there’s nothing wrong with carrying an extra 5 pounds of fishing gear. \u00a0(If the purpose is fishing, then it’s dumb not to bring enough gear to fish efficiently.) \u00a0Likewise, it often makes sense to bring a bunch of camera gear if you think that the photography opportunities will be terrific.<\/p>\n However, this trip involved hitting the trail every morning at 7:00 and hiking pretty much non-stop every day until 4:00 in the afternoon. \u00a0There was too much ground to cover to stop and fish or take long breaks for photography. \u00a0This trip was about covering distance and altitude. \u00a0A lighter pack would have been much better. \u00a0 \u00a0If I were doing this trail again, I’d ditch most of the fishing gear, and take only a Tenkara rod and minimal fishing gear with a total weight of less than 8 ounces. \u00a0 Likewise, I’d leave the interchangeable lens camera system at home and just bring a single high-quality pocket camera such as my Lumix LX-5 or Canon S100.<\/p>\n To show just how much stuff I had, below is a list of things I brought. \u00a0 Items in red are things I could have done without.<\/p>\n Clothing<\/strong><\/p>\n Outdoor Research Sunrunner hat Personal gear<\/strong> Camera Gear <\/strong>\u00a0(should have brought a single pocket camera like the Lumix LX-5) Group Gear (shared with one other person)<\/p>\n T-Tri Caldera Cone stove kit with Pot Group Gear (shared among whole group) \u00a0Food<\/strong><\/p>\n Monday: Breakfast: 2 packets Oatmeal (at car) Tuesday: Breakfast: 2 packets Oatmeal Wednesday: Breakfast: 2 packets Oatmeal Thursday: Breakfast: 2 packets Oatmeal Friday: Breakfast: 2 packets Oatmeal Saturday: Breakfast: 2 packets Oatmeal Fish; pepper, BBQ seasoning; olive oil<\/span><\/p>\n \n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" I just got back from the Uinta Highline Trail. \u00a0This trail follows the spine of Utah’s Uinta Wilderness Area. \u00a0It traverses about 70 miles, and requires a bit over 15,000 feet of vertical gain (and corresponding vertical loss.) \u00a0 The route pretty much stays above 10,000 feet altitude, with multiple 12,000+ foot passes. \u00a0 Scenery […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[3,59],"tags":[161,207,162,160],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/larsonweb.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/458"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/larsonweb.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/larsonweb.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/larsonweb.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/larsonweb.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=458"}],"version-history":[{"count":16,"href":"http:\/\/larsonweb.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/458\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":479,"href":"http:\/\/larsonweb.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/458\/revisions\/479"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/larsonweb.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=458"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/larsonweb.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=458"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/larsonweb.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=458"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}![\"\"](\"http:\/\/larsonweb.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/08\/weeds-1-of-1.jpg\" "\\"Kidney")
<\/a><\/a><\/a><\/a><\/a><\/a><\/a><\/a><\/a><\/a><\/a><\/a><\/a><\/a>
\nHoorag headband
\nLoki fleece balaclava
\nHeat resistant mechanics gloves<\/span>
\n2 pair merino hiking socks
\nScarpa trail running shoes
\nMarmot pre-cip rain jacket
\nMarmot pre-cip rain pants
\nREI Hiking pants with zip-off legs
\n2 pair dryluxe underwear
\nFishing shirt
\nMidweight long john bottoms<\/span>
\nMontbell Thermawrap jacket<\/p>\n
\nKaenon Polarized \u201cKore\u201d Sunglasses
\nPetzl \u201cZipka\u201d Headlamp
\nSuunto Vector Altimeter watch
\nCasio Commando Android cell phone
\nToothbrush
\nSmall tube of toothpaste
\nDiaper Wipes
\nWater purifier chemicals (Micropur tablets, 3 per day)
\n3 liter Platypus Hoser water container
\nLighter
\nTitanium cup
\nTitanium spoon
\nOricaso folding bowl<\/span>
\nMcHale Backpack
\nSleeping bag (Marmot Hydrogen 30 degree down)
\nExped Synmat UL sleeping pad.
\nMontbell inflatable pillow<\/span>
\nFizan hiking poles
\nSun screen
\nMosquito repellant
\nSebenza folding knife
\n\u00bd ounce bottle of camp soap
\n\u00bd ounce bottle of hand sanitizer
\nHyperlite Mountain Gear Echo II shelter
\n12 Tent stakes
\nSawyer Squeeze water filter
\n2 One gallon ziplocks (1 for fish, 1 for trash.)\u00a0(didn’t need the one for fish.)<\/span><\/span>
\nFishing Gear<\/strong>
\nColumbia Drainmaker water\/wading shoes<\/span>
\nTenkara rod and cloth bag (no case)
\nTenkara fishing kit with tippet, floatant, etc.
\nExtra fly box with flies <\/span>
\nSimms travel waders with wading belt <\/span>
\nTitanium\/carbon fiber net with magnetic tether<\/span>
\nFishing License
\nUinta bamboo fly rod and reel<\/span>
\nFrontier Pro water filter<\/span><\/p>\n
\nOlympus OMD camera<\/span>
\nOlympus 9-18mm zoom<\/span>
\nPanasonic 20mm prime lens<\/span>
\nOlympus 45mm prime lens<\/span>
\nBag with extra battery, lens wipes, lens brush<\/span>
\nClik camera case<\/span><\/p>\n
\n14 oz alcohol fuel<\/span>\u00a0 (9 ounces would have been enough)
\n8 tinder tabs<\/p>\n
\nMap
\nFirst aid\/repair kit<\/span>\u00a0(brought too much stuff.)
\nTitanium wire grill (for cooking fish)<\/span>
\ninReach satellite beacon<\/p>\n
\nLunch: Bagels, cream cheese; apple
\nDinner: Brats, mustard, buns, hot cider<\/p>\n
\nLunch: Bagels, peanut butter, dried fruit.
\nDinner: Freeze dried meal, hot cider<\/p>\n
\nLunch: smoked salmon, crackers; Dried apricots
\nDinner: Freeze dried meal, hot cider<\/p>\n
\nLunch: cheese; crackers; nutella
\nDinner: Freeze dried meal, hot cider<\/p>\n
\nLunch: Fritos, bean dip; Dried coconut
\nDinner: Freeze dried, hot cider<\/p>\n
\nLunch: energy bars<\/p>\n