Lake Hardy 7.26.13

[sixstringsteve]

Even though I've been car camping quite a bit lately, it's been years since I've been backpacking. My wife and I decided to start small and backpack up to Lake Hardy.

The hike is 4.8 miles long, with an elevation gain of 5000'. Lake hardy sits at 9,900'. It's a quad-burner for sure.


We'd both been backpacking in our younger days, but it was a bit of a re-learning experience to do it again. We have a couple buddies who are into ultralighting, and although we have heavier gear, we decided to try a more minimalist approach so we didn't have such a heavy pack. My pack was 18 lbs including 3L of water and all food, and my wife's pack was 20 lbs. There's definitely a few pounds we can shed from our setup, but we'll learn the more we go. It worked out really well since it was a single overnighter, and we had a great time.


We took Schoolhouse Springs to the 1st Hamangog, to East Hamangong, then up around South Thunder, to camp in the meadow below the lake. We went back down the way we came. Next time we'll try going through the Second Hemangog.


I hardly slept all night for fear of mountain lions and bears, but we were not visited by any animals all night. What a beautiful, strenuous, and rewarding hike. That might be the toughest 5 mile climb I've ever done. I'm looking forward to lightening my load even more and enjoying more backpacking trips.


Here's a link to more info about the trail:
http://www.summitpost.org/lake-hardy/163360
http://www.wasatchhiker.com/home/was...ls/lake-hardy/





Here's a video of our trip:

[Tiemac]

Looks like a great trip. My setup weighs 32 lbs so your doing good. Just got back into backpacking. Was always car camping with kids. Now they are old enough to go backpacking, kids love it.

[sixstringsteve]

I can't wait to have kids that I can take camping with me. We saw a couple of 12 year-old girls up there that had done the hike the day before. It was a great sight!

This trip was enough for me and my wife to get hooked and plan more backpacking trips in the future. I'm trying to find the balance between going insanely ultralight and packing the kitchen sink. Gear is just too much fun to buy! I think once I lighten my big 3, my pack will be even lighter.