Amethyst Basin July 2011

[gloo]

So for my my brothers birthday my entire family was going to be gone so me and my bro decided to go on a backpacking trip. I was home for 2 days from my last trip to Ryder before I headed out on this trip, sweet.

I had already decided I wanted to go to Amethyst basin for this trip before I headed to Ryder last week, but after talking with people on the way up to and from Ryder I heard that the meadows and then ostler were the places to camp, not at amethyst lake itself. Toss in Nick's TR from last week and I was stoked.

The trail was shorter than going to Ryder, but it was noticeably steeper. The original plan was to camp at the meadows below Amethyst basin. But alas, the solitude I had at Ryder lake definitely (though not unexpectedly) was not there. A large group had basically laid claim to the meadows already.



So on the fly we decided to head up to Amethyst lake itself to see if there is any camping and if not we were gonna head to Ostler lake. Amethyst lake is very pretty and there is a solid area in the middle that is still frozen, but the camping is sub par as others have said. So we hung out there for a little while and then headed down to Ostler.


The dog taking a dip in Amethyst

We figured we would probably share it with another group or two still..but a small group like ours so it would still feel like we were basically alone. Alas, that was not to be either. There was a large scout troup who had beaten us to Ostler and had made camp just far enough into off the lake where we didn't see them at first. But they came out of the wood works at night for some fishing and boy were they loud haha. Not that it was annoying beyond the fact we had 14 year old boys wandering through our camp a couple times. Made me miss the days of scouting actually. I got my eagle way back when I was 14 and basically dropped it right then. Side note: I feel bad for the leaders or whoever hauled their gear in. they brought some big and serious tents out there you think they meant to head over to camp Steiner but just got lost so set up camp by this lake lol.

I snapped a couple of nice sunset shots. If you look really closely at them you can see some of the scouts fishing along the lake and did some fishing. Our camp was perfect. There was a rock that was rigged to be the perfect back rest and a flat rock that made it into a custom lazy boy. It was very comfy.


We had a good sized fire into the night and I took a couple of night shots that I have always wanted to get right.


Ostler Lake Glow by Gareth Loosle, on Flickr


Star Power by Gareth Loosle, on Flickr


Ostler Lake Star Circle by Gareth Loosle, on Flickr

We went to bed, had a very good nights sleep. Even though I reduced my pack weight by almost 20lbs this time, I luxeried up and took my prolite plus with me (my bro used the ole thermarest foam I used last week). Sure does make a difference. Did some nice relaxing fishing in the morning. I didn't have any luck, and my pole acted up on me multiple times, but my little bro caught a nice fish

[accadacca]

Excellent report...jealous.

[Dr. Nebz]

Nice TR. We were up there last year. If you want solitude camping up there, do the bushwhack to Toomset Lake next time. It is just below Ostler, has great fishing, and the campsite is one of the best I have ever had. Check my report from last year up there.

http://www.bogley.com/forum/showthread.php?40425-Amethyst-Basin-High-Uinta-Wilderness-Aug-2010

[ibenick]

Clouds man... so jealous. Both sunsets up there were totally clear for me.