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2011 Report and Trip Maps

For 9 years this has been a public service that apparently has helped hundreds and maybe thousands.  Find out how you can help it to continue going to:
FOR TOPOGRAPHICAL TRIP MAPS and ELEVATION PROFILES--SCROLL DOWN

2011 SEASON BACKPACKING REPORT

This season was unlike any in my memory, at least being 3-4 weeks behind normal in warming up to create the thaw and open up the high country for backpacking.  Streams ran high, bridges were washed away, fording the creeks and rivers was dangerous or impossible.  Some access roads were impassable as were the high mountain passes.  I was  unable for a month to dedicate myself to my schedule outlined below and so went to work helping the Forest Service report on accessibility by creating 3 YouTube videos:
#1:  High Uintas Wilderness Backpacking Conditions
#2:  Uintas Backpacking Report for Hades Canyon-Highline Trailhead
#3: Uintas Backpacking Conditions--South Slope

Another one was created describing the usefulness of using a waterproof camera:
Why Buy a Waterproof Camera

When I finally got around to making my first backpack I had apparently lost the conditioning I worked so hard to acquire over the previous year.  For us older guys it takes a long time to get it, but it can be lost quickly as I discovered.  I tried to make up for lost time by heading out on a fairly long backpack.  It turned into a very important survival experience that I decided to share with all in hopes it would even save a few lives.  It was:
#4:  Survival at Swasey Hole in the High Uintas Wilderness

I was forced to conclude that for my High Uintas Wilderness Project I didn't really need to go back to so many areas on my schedule I had already been to, but rather concentrate on the areas of research and exploration so critical to eventually publish my efforts. So my next trip was what I called my Tie Hack Tour of the North Slope, Southern Wyoming, and ending in the Public Library in Evanston to do research.  I produced two videos in that effort, as sort of a summary of the other 7 photographic reports already produced in previous years. The overall title of the effort was: 
 WITHOUT THESE GUYS THE WEST WOULDN'T HAVE BEEN WON!
#5:  The Tie Hack Tour, Part 1
#6:  The Tie Hack Tour, Part 2

Last of all I decided I had to make a big effort to get to the one drainage in the Uintas I'd never been to--The Dry Gulch Drainage and the Crow Basin.  So on my Trip #6 I made a first attempt to get to the remote, little visited area, and fell short.  A few days later I made another attempt determined to at least see the area and report on accessibility for others in case I didn't make it. I ended up having a very important survival experience and produced a YouTube video slide show that I was convinced would save lives.  It is:
#7:  Jackson Park/Crow Basin:  SAW IT, SURVIVED IT! Had the Forest Gump Moment.

With that trip I finished my backpacking for the 2011 season.  I just had to get back to work, and in my spare time work on critical research  for the project.  This season brought my total backpacking since 2003 to around 1,500 miles.

In this last backpacking experience I learned that when in good shape I can do better than I thought possible for a 75 year old guy with a titanium knee, and 3 screws and a tendon transplant holding the right ankle together.    I'm already back to the job at REAMS Supermarket that will have me in shape to get to Crow Basin next summer--but I'll work right up to early August and head for the high country when in great shape.  Then I'll likely  tack on another trip or two to my favorite places--and get that "perfect photograph" and catch the record brookie and cut that have been waiting for me all these years.  If you are curious about what are the "favorite places" for me I'll insert below 3 of them:
Remote Crater Lake, the deepest in the Uintas at 147 ft. deep, guarded by Explorer Peak
Off-trail Reconnaissance Lake at the foot of beautiful Triangle Mountain
Rugged 13,387 ft. high Mount Jedediah protects two no-name lakes that have produced 6 and 10 lb. Eastern brook trout.  This no-name mountain, which is the 5th highest peak in Utah, was unofficially named by me in honor of  the greatest (for me) of all explorers and mountain men, Jedediah Smith.  Smiths Fork that flows north from the Red Castle area was  named in his honor many years ago.  He and his men were the first to trap beaver on the North Slope where also the first mountain-man Rendezvous was held in the summer of 1825  on the High Uintas Henry's Fork of the Green River in southern Wyoming.

Keeping alive and strong enough to get back to these 3 incredible magical spots in the next year or two will give Big Foot one more chance to have me get the "family portrait" he's been wanting me to take of them, and also another couple of opportunities  to find the legendary "Uinta gold" in addition to
   the gold I found at sunset once.

 My upcoming book on the Uintas will begin with Jedediah Smith, be enlivened by the exploits of  "unsung American tie hack heroes," given wonderful excitement with stories of Big Foot, infused with enticing legends of buried gold, and down to earth life saving stories of survival--all tailored to guide you to unparalleled outdoor adventure and awe inspiring experience. 

I'll leave below the schedule I was a little too enthusiastic  putting together.  Maybe some of you young bucks out there can use one or two of them, with accompanying topo maps, for your own adventures.  Just send me a good report along with a few good photos that I can post on my website.

Click on image to enlarge
Click on the trip and area of your interest below to see topographical trail maps with routes, distances and elevation profiles




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