Getting Away From it All...

[rockgremlin]

Over the weekend, we loaded up the fam and drove up to the Uintahs just past Kamas. Exited the main road onto some dirt Forest Service road that drives past several small lakes en route to Trial Lake and Washington Lake.

We started with high hopes of probably seeing a few people here and there, but what we got instead was a very frustrating and disappointing experience. People....EVERYWHERE. With their dogs, ATVs, Side-by-Sides, boats, monster trucks, campers, RVs....and it wasn't even a holiday weekend! Everywhere we turned there was somebody there. And as far as fishing anywhere near the Mirror Lake Loop -- forget it. May as well be fishing at the community fishing pond. We would've seen less people if we'd have just went down to Sugarhouse Park. WTF?

I don't think I'll ever revisit that stretch of road again. It's gotten way too crowded. Way too popular. It's really kind of sad in a way. I grew up camping out there with my dad. Now it's just another destination sticker on the back of someone's RV.

So the question is...is it still possible to get away from it all, so to speak? And if so, where do you go to fulfill that? I'm all ears. I'm all PMs too if you wanna keep it secret. :mrgreen:

[Scott Card]

The desert.....many, many places that are still unscathed. Oh, and it helps to leave the car parked and then go away with your pack. In the Uintas, I'd recommend anything over 10 miles from a road. Most people want to backpack somewhere less than 10 miles from the car. More than that really thins the crowds.

[jman]

Over the weekend, we loaded up the fam and drove up to the Uintahs just past Kamas. Exited the main road onto some dirt Forest Service road that drives past several small lakes en route to Trial Lake and Washington Lake.

We started with high hopes of probably seeing a few people here and there, but what we got instead was a very frustrating and disappointing experience. People....EVERYWHERE. With their dogs, ATVs, Side-by-Sides, boats, monster trucks, campers, RVs....and it wasn't even a holiday weekend! Everywhere we turned there was somebody there. And as far as fishing anywhere near the Mirror Lake Loop -- forget it. May as well be fishing at the community fishing pond. We would've seen less people if we'd have just went down to Sugarhouse Park. WTF?

I don't think I'll ever revisit that stretch of road again. It's gotten way too crowded. Way too popular. It's really kind of sad in a way. I grew up camping out there with my dad. Now it's just another destination sticker on the back of someone's RV.

So the question is...is it still possible to get away from it all, so to speak? And if so, where do you go to fulfill that? I'm all ears. I'm all PMs too if you wanna keep it secret. :mrgreen:

Here is an actual pic of the crowds at Mirror Lake.
https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20180814/a7eb811c26a9fe93fe9d5d828255866b.jpeg


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[Iceaxe]

Yup... got to get away from the car. Fat people don't venture far from the road. Last time I checked just over 70% of the American population is either overweight or obese and unable to waddle any great distance.

[twotimer]

I'm a backpacker, so I agree with Scott that if you want solitude, you can still get it. In a month I'll be at Zion, which is like a circus, then a backpack off the North Rim of the Grand Canyon where we're unlikely to see another human being for 6 days. Then onto Cedar Mesa for a week. A nice mix.

However, it is distressing to see SO many more people around. Places that I used to get to and camp at late at night are all gobbled up. Now it's picking spots a bit further down another road. When the day comes that you can't find a decent spot down the HRR, then it'll get depressing. If it keeps going like this, I think that day will actually come.

People have been venturing out into the country forever...but it seems to me that it really started to light up in the middle of the 90s.

[accadacca]

Mirror Lake area on a summer weekend? Near the highway? What the hell did you expect? Go up there during the week and you won’t have that problem. Totally agree on the backpack comment. Load up the kids and wife and hike to Wall or Long Lake or any above them. The herd gets trimmed substantially for every mile you hike.

The Salt Lake Valley in general though is getting SUPER crowded. They can’t build houses fast enough for these skinny jean California tech nerds and hipsters to move in.

[oldno7]

So the question is...is it still possible to get away from it all, so to speak? And if so, where do you go to fulfill that? I'm all ears. I'm all PMs too if you wanna keep it secret. :mrgreen:

Got a boat I'll sell ya and some top secret info included in the price...:naughty:

[twotimer]

Now that's friggin funny!

[middlefork]

29 years ago I bought 80 acres of Recreation property, never worry about the crowds.

When I want to be irritated I'll join the masses at name your place. I will second the motion that mid week is better than weekends.

Any hope you have of recreating within 2 hours of the Wasatch front by yourself is a pipe dream.

[Iceaxe]

Got a boat I'll sell ya and some top secret info included in the price...:naughty:
https://youtu.be/SUqKUQhJ6sk

[BruteForce]

You went the wrong way. Want to get away from folks, head South and West. Blue Lake near Wendover, mostly 100% devoid of humans. Head toward Circleville (HWY89 South) or Koosharem or Otter Creek.

[tallsteve]

I try to be patient and wait until public school is back in session. The hordes disappear. Even in the evenings up our local canyons. It's like a light switch has been turned off.

[qedcook]

How was the smoke up there?

[rockgremlin]

How was the smoke up there?

It was still in the air. Not quite as bad as down in SL valley, but still present. I was surprised that it wasn't thicker, considering the Coal Hollow fire is just south of there.

[Iceaxe]

The San Rafael Swell is desolate this time of year :-)

[rockgremlin]

The San Rafael Swell is desolate this time of year :-)

I agree -- and that's one of the reasons why I love that place so much. But unfortunately the fishing isn't too great anywhere in the Swell.

[Rob L]

...Here is an actual pic of the crowds at Mirror Lake....

(My heavy snip of jman's post)

Despite the UK being more densely populated than the US, here's our Mirror Lake: No crowds.


http://www.taylorcraft.org.uk/Dscf0619.jpg

[rockgremlin]

So, yesterday we decided to give fishing at Willard Bay a try.....Big mistake.

We drove out to the southwest corner of the Willard causeway at dusk. There was nobody around for miles. Once we stepped out of our car we discovered why there was nobody out there. The mosquito populations out there are legendary. Like Biblical-plague-type swarms of mosquitoes in all directions. It was so bad you could hear a constant low buzz in the air. In denial, we somehow managed to make the short walk from our car to the top of the causeway to get a look at the water. In that 5 minutes we were surrounded by a frantic buzzing swarm that was so thick that it was hard not to get them in your nose just from breathing. I've scarcely seen anything like it. Did the mosquito abatement efforts get their budget cut or something?

[Iceaxe]

So, yesterday we decided to give fishing at Willard Bay a try.....Big mistake.

We drove out to the southwest corner of the Willard causeway at dusk. There was nobody around for miles. Once we stepped out of our car we discovered why there was nobody out there. The mosquito populations out there are legendary. Like Biblical-plague-type swarms of mosquitoes in all directions. It was so bad you could hear a constant low buzz in the air. In denial, we somehow managed to make the short walk from our car to the top of the causeway to get a look at the water. In that 5 minutes we were surrounded by a frantic buzzing swarm that was so thick that it was hard not to get them in your nose just from breathing. I've scarcely seen anything like it. Did the mosquito abatement efforts get their budget cut or something?

It's always been that way anywhere around the shore of Great Salt Lake. The minute the sun goes down the mosquito's attach in squadron strength. You probably couldn't have arrive at a worse time if you had of tried.

[middlefork]

"NOTICE: Recently, health officials discovered that mosquito samples from Willard Bay State Park North Marina have tested positive for West Nile Virus. Enjoy your time outside, but remember to take proper precautions when recreating in the area. Wear long sleeve shirts and pants and use mosquito repellent with DEET or Picaridin."

Are you sure they weren't nats? That's what I see the most out there. Noisy, irritating but they don't bite.

[rockgremlin]

"NOTICE: Recently, health officials discovered that mosquito samples from Willard Bay State Park North Marina have tested positive for West Nile Virus. Enjoy your time outside, but remember to take proper precautions when recreating in the area. Wear long sleeve shirts and pants and use mosquito repellent with DEET or Picaridin."

Are you sure they weren't nats? That's what I see the most out there. Noisy, irritating but they don't bite.


Most of the ones I was able to single out and identify were mosquitoes, although they were males. As I understand it, the males have two fluffy looking appendages on their face as opposed to the one single proboscis that the females have for the purpose of sucking blood. But there were definitely females in the swarm because I'm scratching mosquito bites on my arms today. Hopefully I don't come down with the West Nile Virus...