Granddaddy Lake and the Granddaddy Basin TR

[Scout Master]

I had several ideas for adventures this summer; places I wanted to go and people I wanted to have fun with. So when my youngest son Wesley age 25 and my 2nd son Donald age 27 invited me to go backpacking with them in the Uintas, I was at first less than thrilled. Then I got to thinking about it. I do love to hike and nothing beats quality time spent with your kids. So I decided to go.
What a great time. All of the Uintas are beautiful, and the Granddaddy Lakes region is no exception. The drive to the Trail head was long, but the destination was worth it. It’s just over three miles from the car to where we set up camp near Granddaddy Lake. With an elevation gain of around 850 feet at Hades pass. With so much of Utah covered with desert, it was great to be back in the pines. The Uintas remind me a lot of where I grew up in eastern Washington State.
We set up our camp the obligatory .25 miles from the lake only later to discover no one else chose to follow this rule. We enjoyed Mountain House dinners and MRE’s. If you have not tried Mountain house freeze dried meals, I strongly recommend them at around 5 ounces each they taste great and the portions are huge.
The only thing that made our trip less than perfect was the mosquitoes. Nasty little ones, and plenty of them. No amount of smoke from our campfire or repellent would save us from them. Fortunately their bite was mild and only itched for a few minutes, if you could control the urge to scratch. I recently heard the best time to hike in the Uintas was after the first frost in September. I definitely would consider that next time. Plus all those pesky boy scouts will be back in School.
On Friday morning the plan was a lazy hike somewhere to the north. So with GPS in hand we were off. Besides my two sons we had with us Ben, a close friend of my younger son. The entire Granddaddy lakes basin is spotted with beautiful lakes. Though I do not fish, it was obvious there were plenty of fish in the lakes several groups we met had caught some nice big ones. Our day hike was just over 10 miles we hiked north to Paradise Lake. Then west to Pine Island Lake then back south past Betsy Lake. All of them were beautiful. We arrived back at camp around 6pm for more MRE’s and Mountain house meals. With the Mosquitoes, our only choice was to retire early to the safety of out tents.
Saturday we were up at 6 am on the trail by 7 at the car by 10 and home around noon.
Though we were surrounded by some of the most beautiful scenery found anywhere, I can’t help but think our memories will not be the majestic mountains or the pristine beauty of the lakes and streams. My memories will be the time spent with two grown men who are also my sons.
See you on the Trail