one last adventure

We decided we needed to get one last hike in before we head back, Lofty Lake Loop, a highly recommended hike in the Wasatch, quite near the Bald Mtn Hike we did. Lofty Lake is the highest lake in the range at 10,500ish, glad the trailhead was at about 9,500 so elevation gain was "modest". After reading some reviews, we decided to do the loop counter-clockwise, a wise decision because the scenery began within the first few tenths of a mile. (not so clockwise)

The hike is mostly at or above treeline, so the views were great.

This was Picturesque Lake, not Pretty Lake or Nice Looking Lake, but Picturesque Lake

Onto Scout Lake (in a small cirque)

The trail looking at Bald Mtn.

Looking east

Looking North

A rather rocky trail above treeline

First view of Lofty Lake

Interesting color -- purple rocks?

Over looking Cutthroat Lake looking west

TEBA relaxing at Cutthroat.

High Meadow

Arriving Kamas Lake

Reid's Meadow with Bald Mnt and Reid's Peak

Black and white -- and...........

Colorizing lets you turn your image into black and white and then reclaim the color from selected locations in the image. I paid $4 for the app to let me do this ... BIG expense! Here are a few. I like the way it makes things POP!  Stark but more interesting..

TEBA -- The Ever Beautiful Angler (Alicia) ...

 Tent at Albino Lake

 Buttercups -- just out from under the snow

Mormon Row Barn in Kelly, WY ...

After the rain

Idaho Rt 32

American Avocet

This is NOT Yellowstone!

Signs in Yellowstone advise of Bison in the road
Signs along Wolf Pass near Park City advise of Livestock in the road.

We were expecting cattle .. not these! Would you pahleease get out of the way!

Unlike Yellowstone -- no frenzy

Going for Gold

We have not been in the west this late --- end of September. So some things are new to us.

One striking thing is the change of colors, particularly of the aspen. They go directly from green to gold then fade to brown. Unlike New England, not a lot of reds, oranges, etc to be seen, although there are a few maples here and there and they offer up additional color. But, for us, the aspen in gold was new.

So here is some shots of the gold.

This was on the hike back from Grandaddy

 A view from the "interesting" road down from Grandaddy Trailhead

Just great bands of yellow... here it looks like the change is occurring at higher (colder) elevations first

This sole guy appears to be a maple in a dense patch of dying pines (pine bark beetle?)  - a little out of focus - sorry

More gold sandwiched between live and dead pines.

At the top of Wolf Pass (9500')... appears to be moving from gold to bronze

Grandaddy

Grandaddy Lake hike that is... great name, interesting place.

There are a ton of hikes in the High Uintas, and Grandaddy seems to be one of that most popular and highly recommended.

Our overall assessment was that is was nice, but not great.  It is kind of like ski trails in resorts. There are some nice runs in some resorts, but there are great runs in other resorts, but both trails are rated the same. It has to do with comparison to the local area. Grandaddy (Uintas) was nice, Albino (Beartooths) was great.

Anyway, we did an overnight up to Grandaddy Lake and Grandaddy Basin, did a little bit of fishing and enjoyed a no noise night, except for a very loud owl!

Entering the High Uintas

Path varies from flat and sandy ...

... To slabs and rocky

Arriving at Hades Pass, about 10'500ft

First Views of the lakes -- Grandaddy in the middle, Heart to the right. This ended up being the best overall view of the lakes and basin.  You could see the lakes but the trees were quite dense making a panoramic photo difficult.

She asks "Did you notice that my pack matches the color of my shirt?"

Looking back at Heart, lower down from Hades Pass.... and the surrounding boundary mountains.

Just outside our campsite

Not a bad view while fishing.

More views from the lake... not sure what the red shrub is, but the late autumn color change sure was interesting.

Alicia enjoying her morning Latte (not purchased at the not so local Starbucks!)

On the boardwalk returning to the trailhead.

This trips' theme

Our Friend Bev B had suggested, during a hike to Ski Lake, that "The Farther You Go , the Better it Gets"

In fact, we did Coal Creek, but extended it to Taylor Ridge -- much nicer

We did Ski Lake, and went about 2 miles beyond. ..  nice

Instead of lower basin lake, we moved up to upper basin lake .. upper was much nicer

Instead of Lost Lake, we did Keyser Brown.  KB was excellent

I was to go to Alpine Basin fork, but added the Devil's Stairs. Atop the Devils Stairs was exceptional

and ..... 

and .....

In all, we came to agree with Bev. "The Farther You Go, the Better it Gets!" It certainly applies to hiking in the backcountry and very likely applies to endeavors of many types.

How can you beat this!? Just walk a little farther! 

Hike to Hyalite Lake -- Waterfalls and Bridges

>> This post is a bit late -- we did this hike while in Bozeman, about 10 days ago<<

We were looking for a hike to do, somewhat near Bozeman, say 1 hour drive. Hyalite was mentioned as the best, if not one of the best hikes in the region, due to the trail being right next to Hyalite Creek, and the abundance of waterfalls... and you end up at a lake sitting in a vast cirque -- our kind of hike!

And it was 5.5 miles up to the lake, with a 1800' elevation gain.

Bridge at Waterfall

Waterfall

Another Bridge at another Waterfall

The waterfall at the above bridge

Bridge at the top of the same waterfall

Not a bridge, not a waterfall, but an obstacle

More waterfalls 

Finally, after gaining elevation, we are out of the trees and starting to get some views of Hyalite Canyon. A rather well defined rounded canyon. The trail is pretty much in the middle at the low point. 

The trail flattens as we get close to the lake

Which we arrive at!

Pretty place in a cirque

With views of Hyalite Peak -- which we didn't attempt (add another 2 miles and 2000' of elevation!)

A happy hiker on her way back down