Zep
09-06-2011, 08:00 AM
We made a backpacking trip into the Chain Lakes and Atwood Basin of the Uintas 8/24-8/27/11. Our goal was Beard Lake and U-75, but that was curtailed due to some routine Uinta downpours and hailstorms.
We started our trip at the Uinta trailhead about 3/4 mile below U-Bar ranch. For the first stretch the trail parallels the closed road till you reach U-Bar ranch. We made a note to just follow the road on the way back since it was more level and groomed than the trail.
The trail was damp in places, but in relatively good condition. After about 4 miles we reached our turnoff at the sheepbridge to climb into the Chain Lakes area.http://www.bogley.com/forum/attachment.php?attachmentid=47726&stc=1&d=1315318038
There was a lot of water coming down the Uinta River.http://www.bogley.com/forum/attachment.php?attachmentid=47727&stc=1&d=1315318038
It's a pretty good climb into the Chain Lakes area over 4 or so miles of switchbacks. The switchbacks seem to be groomed more for horses - long and winding. A more direct route, without being that much steeper, seems like it would cut off a mile or so of trail.
The first lake we reached that could be seen from the trail was Lily Pad Lake. We made a lunchtime stop at this lake to try some fishing. It obliged with some smaller brook and rainbow trout.http://www.bogley.com/forum/attachment.php?attachmentid=47728&stc=1&d=1315318038
http://www.bogley.com/forum/attachment.php?attachmentid=47729&stc=1&d=1315318111
http://www.bogley.com/forum/attachment.php?attachmentid=47730&stc=1&d=1315318111
We then continued our hike, leapfrogging a couple of times a group of packhorses heading into the Uinta Basin. Our destination for our first camp was somewhere around the 4th Chain Lake or Lower Atwood Basin. We briefly fished Lower, Middle, and Upper Chain Lakes as we continued our hike. Each gave up brook trout up to about 14 inches.
We ultimately decided to camp around the 4th Chain Lake (about 11 miles in and at about 10,900ft) after ascending the switchbacks from Upper Chain Lake. The view from just below the 4th Chain Lake looking back at the others was pretty nifty.http://www.bogley.com/forum/attachment.php?attachmentid=47731&stc=1&d=1315318111
The next morning, due to one member of our camp not feeling too great, we decided to maintain our base camp where it was and day hike into Atwood Basin. We ascended Roberts Pass and then descended into Atwood Basin. The descent from Roberts Pass is a rocky, switchback laden trail. We felt for the horses that had to make this descent. There were the skeletal remains of one dead horse among the rocks, with another not far into the basin.
After a few miles the trail opens up into a meadow where Atwood creek descends from the lakes above.http://www.bogley.com/forum/attachment.php?attachmentid=47732&stc=1&d=1315318221
We ended up fishing the creek for a while, fishing up to where it flows out of Atwood Lake.http://www.bogley.com/forum/attachment.php?attachmentid=47733&stc=1&d=1315318221
We decided to make a "leisurely" return to Roberts pass by visiting the other lakes in the lower basin rather than follow the trail back. We fished in succession Allred, Mt. Emmons, Carrot and B-29 Lakes. They were all loaded with brook trout, 14-15 inches being the largest. By 3-4pm the normal Uinta thunderstorms were rolling in. We had to live with rain and a pretty good hailstorm the rest of the day. We had to hunker down at Carrot Lake for about an hour as up to 2-inches of pea-marble sized hail fell. The hail was actually a nice cushion for part of the hike back to base camp. In other places, however, we ended hiking throught pools of muddy standing water mixed with pine needles and piles of horse manure. We ended up ascending the rocky Roberts Pass switchbacks in the rain and near darkness.
The next day we made a quick day hike up to Oke Doke Lake. It's a beautiful cirque lake at the base of Mount Emmons that is approached by a neat meadow paralleling the talus slopes. It held some small cutthroats.http://www.bogley.com/forum/attachment.php?attachmentid=47734&stc=1&d=1315318221
http://www.bogley.com/forum/attachment.php?attachmentid=47735&stc=1&d=1315318256
It ended up raining a good part of the afternoon, so we took naps and fished Upper and 4th Chain Lakes the rest of the day. 4th Chain Lake held some nice cutthroats.
http://www.bogley.com/forum/attachment.php?attachmentid=47736&stc=1&d=1315318256
We hiked out the next morning, arriving at the trailhead around 3pm.
A stop at Granny's in Heber finished off our trip.
We started our trip at the Uinta trailhead about 3/4 mile below U-Bar ranch. For the first stretch the trail parallels the closed road till you reach U-Bar ranch. We made a note to just follow the road on the way back since it was more level and groomed than the trail.
The trail was damp in places, but in relatively good condition. After about 4 miles we reached our turnoff at the sheepbridge to climb into the Chain Lakes area.http://www.bogley.com/forum/attachment.php?attachmentid=47726&stc=1&d=1315318038
There was a lot of water coming down the Uinta River.http://www.bogley.com/forum/attachment.php?attachmentid=47727&stc=1&d=1315318038
It's a pretty good climb into the Chain Lakes area over 4 or so miles of switchbacks. The switchbacks seem to be groomed more for horses - long and winding. A more direct route, without being that much steeper, seems like it would cut off a mile or so of trail.
The first lake we reached that could be seen from the trail was Lily Pad Lake. We made a lunchtime stop at this lake to try some fishing. It obliged with some smaller brook and rainbow trout.http://www.bogley.com/forum/attachment.php?attachmentid=47728&stc=1&d=1315318038
http://www.bogley.com/forum/attachment.php?attachmentid=47729&stc=1&d=1315318111
http://www.bogley.com/forum/attachment.php?attachmentid=47730&stc=1&d=1315318111
We then continued our hike, leapfrogging a couple of times a group of packhorses heading into the Uinta Basin. Our destination for our first camp was somewhere around the 4th Chain Lake or Lower Atwood Basin. We briefly fished Lower, Middle, and Upper Chain Lakes as we continued our hike. Each gave up brook trout up to about 14 inches.
We ultimately decided to camp around the 4th Chain Lake (about 11 miles in and at about 10,900ft) after ascending the switchbacks from Upper Chain Lake. The view from just below the 4th Chain Lake looking back at the others was pretty nifty.http://www.bogley.com/forum/attachment.php?attachmentid=47731&stc=1&d=1315318111
The next morning, due to one member of our camp not feeling too great, we decided to maintain our base camp where it was and day hike into Atwood Basin. We ascended Roberts Pass and then descended into Atwood Basin. The descent from Roberts Pass is a rocky, switchback laden trail. We felt for the horses that had to make this descent. There were the skeletal remains of one dead horse among the rocks, with another not far into the basin.
After a few miles the trail opens up into a meadow where Atwood creek descends from the lakes above.http://www.bogley.com/forum/attachment.php?attachmentid=47732&stc=1&d=1315318221
We ended up fishing the creek for a while, fishing up to where it flows out of Atwood Lake.http://www.bogley.com/forum/attachment.php?attachmentid=47733&stc=1&d=1315318221
We decided to make a "leisurely" return to Roberts pass by visiting the other lakes in the lower basin rather than follow the trail back. We fished in succession Allred, Mt. Emmons, Carrot and B-29 Lakes. They were all loaded with brook trout, 14-15 inches being the largest. By 3-4pm the normal Uinta thunderstorms were rolling in. We had to live with rain and a pretty good hailstorm the rest of the day. We had to hunker down at Carrot Lake for about an hour as up to 2-inches of pea-marble sized hail fell. The hail was actually a nice cushion for part of the hike back to base camp. In other places, however, we ended hiking throught pools of muddy standing water mixed with pine needles and piles of horse manure. We ended up ascending the rocky Roberts Pass switchbacks in the rain and near darkness.
The next day we made a quick day hike up to Oke Doke Lake. It's a beautiful cirque lake at the base of Mount Emmons that is approached by a neat meadow paralleling the talus slopes. It held some small cutthroats.http://www.bogley.com/forum/attachment.php?attachmentid=47734&stc=1&d=1315318221
http://www.bogley.com/forum/attachment.php?attachmentid=47735&stc=1&d=1315318256
It ended up raining a good part of the afternoon, so we took naps and fished Upper and 4th Chain Lakes the rest of the day. 4th Chain Lake held some nice cutthroats.
http://www.bogley.com/forum/attachment.php?attachmentid=47736&stc=1&d=1315318256
We hiked out the next morning, arriving at the trailhead around 3pm.
A stop at Granny's in Heber finished off our trip.