[Thu 9/2 thru Sat am 9/4]
I wasn't looking forward to the 9hr drive from Joshua Tree to the Redmond Campground in the Uinta-Wasatch-Cache National Forest, east of Salt Lake City, but was pleasantly surprised by stretches of it. The first leg passed through the Mojave Desert, which was vast and surprisingly beautiful. It looked like it had rained recently and so the landscape was greener and more vibrant than we had expected. The Las Vegas to SLC portion of the drive on I-15 was less interesting, but has some nice stretches - and an 80mph speed limit! We stopped a few times for gas/restrooms and to pick up a few items, but otherwise made good time, arriving in camp around 7pm.
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| Mojave Desert as far as you can see |
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| More Joshua Trees - native to Mojave |
Redman Campground was less than half full and we were pleased to find we had a large, private spot for 2 nights of camping. We setup camp as the sun set and temperatures dropped - the campground is at 8,300 feet in Big Cottonwood Canyon. We enjoyed happy hour, followed by a smoked salmon dinner around our first campfire of the trip, as there was no burn ban in effect.
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| Campsite at Redman Campground |
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| Fireside dinner |
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| Star-filled night sky |
We gazed at the stars until around 10pm, then climbed in the van. It was getting cold with rain in the forecast, so we kept the top down. Rain started shortly after we climbed into bed and temps dropped into the low-40's. We bundled up and both slept well. We decided to take our time in the morning before leaving around 10am for the 5min drive up to the trailhead at Brighton Ski resort. There are dozens of trails in the area. Karri had scouted out a 7+ mile loop that included three 10,000+ft summits and a handful of mountain lakes. We hit the trail around 10:30am under gorgeous skies and 60-degree-and-warming temperatures.
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| Start of the trail alongside Silver Lake with 10,735ft Mount Wolverine in the distance |
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| Initial climb through a beautiful forest |
The trail started at about 8,600ft. After a short, easy stroll past Silver Lake, we had a get-the-blood-flowing climb to Twin Lake at 9,500ft. After the first mile or so, we mostly had the trail to ourselves.
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| Twin Lake with Patsy-Marley Peak on the right |
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| Trail up to Patsy-Marley Peak |
From Twin Lake we climbed another 1,000ft up to 10,525ft Patsy-Marley Peak - the first of 3 summits on our route. The last stretch before the summit required us to scramble up a boulder field - at times on all fours - with a steep drop-off to the left and slightly-less-steep drop-off to the right. It definitely challenged my fear of heights!
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| Twin Lakes from Patsy-Marley Peak |
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| We made it! |
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| Mount Wolverine from Patsy-Marley |
We paused at the summit to catch our breath, soak in the views, and take a few photos. Looking ahead to our next stop, 10,762ft Mount Wolverine, and the narrow, precarious-looking(!) path to get there, I briefly pondered my mortality, but decided to press on anyway! My intrepid wife was mostly unfazed - and incredibly supportive. There were a few breath-taking stretches, but we were able to slowly and safely work our way up. I'm so glad we did! We soaked in the top-of-the-world views over almond butter and jelly sandwiches.
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| Summit of Mt Wolverine, looking back to Patsy-Marley (center-right) |
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| Lunch at 10,762ft! Trail behind (left), trail ahead (right) |
From Wolverine, it was all (mostly) downhill, with a relatively easy trail to 10,601ft Mount Tuscarora, our 3rd and final summit. We were both surprised at the realization that we'd only gone about 4 miles from the trailhead - with the 2,100ft elevation gain, it felt like we had traveled much further. From Tuscarora, we had a steep initial decent to Lake Catherine, a little further down to Lake Martha and, finally, Lake Mary. From there it was a mostly steady decent as we followed and occasionally crossed a small stream.
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| Lakes Catherine (right) and Martha (left) from Tuscarora summit |
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| Start of our decent |
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| Lake Mary (9,400ft) with 3 summits in the background - Tuscarora behind trees on the left |
Like horses heading back to the barn, we hustled the last stretch, with portions of it following blue (moderate) ski runs to the bottom. We were both tired, but exhilarated and proud of our accomplishment. We drove back to camp, where we set up the hammock for Karri to take cat-nap while I grabbed a beer and worked on the blog.
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| Post-hike R&R in camp |
After relaxing a bit, we poured a cocktail and started making dinner - pasta with sausage and a salad - which we enjoyed fireside as the sun set. We star-gazed for a while, inching closer to the fire as the temperature quickly started to drop. By 9:30, we were both ready for bed. We decided to leave the top up this time, and grabbed an extra layer of bedding to keep us warm. Once again, we both slept well. In the morning, we made coffee, but opted to wait and have breakfast at our next destination, Park City, UT, just 30min away. We packed up camp and were on our way around 9:30am, having thoroughly enjoyed our 2 days in the Uinta-Wasatch-Cache National Forest. Highly recommend!
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