The Great Hike

The last weekend in June I took a friend of mine, Kelly W., and our boys up to Island Lake in the Uintah Mountains. It was awesome. We hiked in just shy of 5 miles with a 1,500 foot ascent and about a 1,000 foot decent. At the very end there was a climb of about 5 to 7 hundred feet that we thought might kill us but everyone survived. The snow was there in patches but overall it was not an issue. It rained each night and the boys who didn't want to share a tent with Dad got wet. Me and Troy stayed nice and dry. The fishing was not very good but we managed to catch some nice ones and the fish fry was awesome. Kelly knows how to cook fish. This is a hike that is hard but worth the effort. Just do it in mid July or August.

This was taken at the trail head. Everyone was excited and happy. The backpacks were still light and the feet were not worn out or tired.

On the way in I carried a second pack almost the whole way. It was much harder then I had anticipated and some of the boys just were not able to carry the kind of weight we had.
On the way out I decided I didn't want to carry anyones pack so I loaded it all in mine. It was about 70 pounds or so. Are those mule ears I am growing?

Behind Troy you can see the lake. The picture does not show the grandeur of the whole thing. Behind him is a cliff that drops off a good 5 or 6 hundred feet.

This one is from way up where the last picture was taken from but that is our campsite down below. Kenneth is fishing from the shore.