That's a lot of SNOW

[dmMatrix]

Ok, I am less than a day away from attempting my first decent day hike in the Uintas and my Father-in-law e-mails me a couple pictures that he took of the conditions on the North slope. Apparently the lakes are all still covered in ICE. The ice covered lake in the photos is actually Lost lake and the road closed sign and the grader across the road are not very far past Lost lake.

Enjoy (photos taken 6-22-2011)

4558245583455844558545586455874558845589

[live2ride]

WOW! Wonder if any of the fish in those lakes are going to make it this year? That is a long time to go without a little spring time feeding

[ibenick]

So could he actually drive to this point right now?

[Dr. Nebz]

Yeah, it is still pretty stacked out there. Temps are going to surge this week, lets hope it makes a dent in it. I am shooting for middle to end of next month. Hopefully the snow will come off. I am dying to get out there :slobber:

[dmMatrix]

So could he actually drive to this point right now?

Yeah, he drove right up to the grader which was past the road closed sign. He said it was not too far beyond Lost lake. Although, from what he could tell the road was clear for quite a ways. They stopped in Kamas and asked the guy at the gas station how far up it was clear and he said that he thought it was just past the bald mountain pass. (don't know if he really knows though)

Im hoping it will be clear in just a couple weeks. I have 5 days off work that I have had planned for almost a year.

[sillyman]

how is it that the photos say they were taken today, but the post is from yesterday :wtf:

[dmMatrix]

Ha Ha, the photos were actually taken on 6-21-2011. I was creating this post after midnight and I used the date on my computer. Nice catch :cool2:

I should have paid closer attention.

[sillyman]

No worries, I was hoping you were going to say that they were taken a few weeks ago! BTW, another discrepancy...is it trial lake or trail lake??? I guess it depends if you're coming from the north or the south (way to go forest service!)

[Scott Card]

Heard a report on KSL radio that they are trying to get the Mirror Lake Highway cleared/opened by July 1st. We'll see.... Apparently, there are still 10 foot deep drifts to plow through.

[dmMatrix]

BTW, another discrepancy...is it trial lake or trail lake??? I guess it depends if you're coming from the north or the south (way to go forest service!)

Ha Ha yeah, my first time through that highway I got quite confused by that one too. My Mother-in-law will argue that it is "Trail" and I show her on the map and say "Trial" LOOK AT THE MAP TRIAL.... and she says, "well, I always knew it as Trail so thats what it is".

HA HA HA HA

[dmMatrix]

Heard a report on KSL radio that they are trying to get the Mirror Lake Highway cleared/opened by July 1st. We'll see.... Apparently, there are still 10 foot deep drifts to plow through.
I hope that its right, my 5 day trip will start around the 7th of July.... I am praying that the fishing is good with it so cold, I am yet to have a bust in those mountains.

[sillyman]

I'm hoping as well. My trip is the week after. I just need it to be clear around wall lake and/or twin lakes

[Scott Card]

The KSL story:

http://www.ksl.com/index.php?nid=148&sid=16081066

Popular campgrounds and highways still buried under snow
June 22nd, 2011 @ 8:10pm
By Keith McCord
UINTAS -- The wet weather and snow in the higher elevations has put a damper on camping plans in Utah's mountains so far this year, and even though the temperatures are warming up, there are still many places not open.

People are getting anxious. The good news is lower elevation camp grounds are now opening, but higher up, not so much. For example, if you go to the U.S. Forest Service reservation website and try to book a spot at the Mirror Lake campground in the Uintas, the earliest you can get in is July 14th. The road to the campground still isn't open!

"Mirror Lake, sometimes it's open for Memorial Day, but normally it's the middle of June, Kathy Jo Pollock, PIO with Uinta-Wasatch-Cache National Forest, said. "They are going to try to have Mirror Lake open by next weekend."

UDOT has a full crew with giant snow blowers, graders and snowcats trying to get Highway 150 open. In some spots, the drifts are 20 feet deep.

Jason Davis, UDOT Region 2 director, said, "Sow when we started, we had about 16 miles of snow that we had to clear off the road, and we have about 6 miles of that clear. But we still have quite a bit of work, and as you go higher, the snow gets deeper."

Utah isn't the only state dealing with an unusually wet and cold spring. Brad and Amy Herzog from California, are on a two-month, 12-state RV journey with their two boys, Luke and Jesse. We chatted with them at the KOA on North Temple.

"We've encountered not-summerly weather so far for about three weeks, and a decent amount of rain," Brad said.

The Herzogs have been taking long RV trips for 12 straight years. Brad blogs about the journeys for GORVing.com. Chilly weather or not, they've always enjoyed what Utah has to offer.

Whether you're planning a trip in an RV, camper or a tent, you'd be wise to check on the conditions before you make the drive because that favorite camping spot may still be covered.

UDOT says the Alpine Loop in American Fork Canyon and State Road 39 leading to Monte Cristo will open on Friday.

[gloo]

WOW! that's what it was like when i wen up in may last year. How high up is it actually snow free in the Uintas? I wanna do a quick trip into there sometime in the near future.

[dmMatrix]

I was up there today and I have several pictures. I will be making another thread and posting all of those tonight (hopefully tonight). Lets just say that we dug people size holes in the side wall of the snow that was next to the road and we were just a large turn away from climbing the Bald Mountain Pass. The road was closed around there and we drove around the sign to get away from all the others that were also playing in the snow. We were watching the giant snow blower clear snow right next to the overlook on the pass.

I will post a link to the thread I start in here once I get it up :)

[dmMatrix]

Ok, I didn't get the post up last night but I was finally able to get it up this morning. here is a link to the Bogley forum post: http://www.bogley.com/forum/showthread.php?56384-Uinta-Conditions-Trip-Report Although it will be more worth your time to just go to my blog @ http://ryanfreakingwood.blogspot.com since all I really did in the post was direct you to my blog anyways. I put all the photos in my blog and not on Bogley (and only because I took too long doing my blog post).

Hopefully in a two weeks it will be mostly melted... We will see.