Uintas - Middle Basin - Naturalist Basin - July 23, 2011

Had a nice overnight adventure around Mt. Agassiz over the weekend. Started at the Highline Trailhead, went up and over the shortcut to Middle Basin, tagged the summit of Hayden, and camped at Ryder Lake. Up and over another saddle the next morning, bagged Spread Eagle, then bailed on Agassiz, and returned through Naturalist Basin to the Highline Trail and back to the car.

Hot as hell, lots of snow, a few bugs, and a nice sunburn. Good times :2thumbs:

More photos and story here - http://www.danransom.com/TripReports/?p=800

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Sunset on Bald Mountain, looking west towards the Wasatch

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Summit of Hayden

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Ryder Lake.

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Ryder Lake.

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First light on Agassiz

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The route.

wow man you got some great shots! I was up there the same time, and it looks like you didn't camp too far from where we were at all, probably within 500 yards! We thought we were the only ones up there. There was so much snow and mud up there and the trail from Christmas meadows looked liked it got very little traffic up to Ryder...some of the snow over the trail looked untouched for a long time. I agree, the lack of clouds gave us both little to work with lol. though on Sunday we did have some great afternoon fluffies and I was at BR-17 and got a couple looking out towards the basin. How many miles did you log total?

Nice TR! That looks like it was one hell of a hike to do in two days. Pics are awesome! What are you shooting with? Any fish sightings? Still a lot of snow in middle basin. Crazy!:crazy:

approve :2thumbs:

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Originally Posted by gloo

wow man you got some great shots! I was up there the same time, and it looks like you didn't camp too far from where we were at all, probably within 500 yards! We thought we were the only ones up there. There was so much snow and mud up there and the trail from Christmas meadows looked liked it got very little traffic up to Ryder...some of the snow over the trail looked untouched for a long time. I agree, the lack of clouds gave us both little to work with lol. though on Sunday we did have some great afternoon fluffies and I was at BR-17 and got a couple looking out towards the basin. How many miles did you log total?

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i think i heard y'all come up to ryder lake on saturday night. you have a dog with ya? saw some sweet velvety bucks around camp too, one that nearly walked up to my white tarp, since it looked like snow. i was out pretty early the next morning though, didn't head back towards the trail. saw that system of clouds move in on sunday, even got a little rain before the car. nice time to be up in middle though, the bugs weren't bad at all yet. that'll change soon.

the mileage isn't much. maybe 15 total? lots of off trail and boulder hopping and snow though, so slower going until back on trail at blue lake.

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Originally Posted by Dr. Nebz

What are you shooting with? Any fish sightings? Still a lot of snow in middle basin. Crazy!:crazy:

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thanks nebz. shooting with a panasonic gh2. fish were boiling at ryder, but i didn't pack my rod since i didn't want any extra weight. tried to keep it at about 15 pounds total. i was amazed how much snow there was, way more than i saw in amethyst last weekend. i bet that basin gets the most snow of anywhere in the uintas though, since it is farther west and hides it's slopes well...

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Originally Posted by CarpeyBiggs

i think i heard y'all come up to ryder lake on saturday night. you have a dog with ya? saw some sweet velvety bucks around camp too, one that nearly walked up to my white tarp, since it looked like snow. i was out pretty early the next morning though, didn't head back towards the trail. saw that system of clouds move in on sunday, even got a little rain before the car. nice time to be up in middle though, the bugs weren't bad at all yet. that'll change soon.

the mileage isn't much. maybe 15 total? lots of off trail and boulder hopping and snow though, so slower going until back on trail at blue lake.

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Yep, we had a dog with us. we got up later evening on Saturday, we were probably pretty loud lol. The bugs weren't bad compared to what I have seen in Uinta's before but they definitely were still everywhere. I got plenty of bites despite the heavy coating of spray on me. I like that route you did, I might have to try that some time, it looks like a fun light overnighter. Nebz..the fish were in no short supply. My group caught 4 within an hour the same weekend and we did basically everything possible not to catch any :lol8:

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Originally Posted by gloo

we got up later evening on Saturday, we were probably pretty loud lol. The bugs weren't bad compared to what I have seen in Uinta's before but they definitely were still everywhere.

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:lol8:
i heard a nice sequence of hootin' and hollerin' about 30 minutes before sunset. i think you guys finally made it to the lake or something. then i heard some chick at about 10pm. hard to tell if it was a good scream or a bad scream... :roflol:

surprised the bugs were bad, i didn't see any basically until the last few miles on the highline trail, and then they were ferocious.

Nice! You got some beautiful shots while you were oot n aboot.:nod:

Nice report and great pics as usual :2thumbs:

Agreed. Nice report and pics. It's a beautiful area...too bad we have to share it with the bugs. =)