Backpacking the High Uintas

In July, we backpacked in Big Cottonwood Canyon to Lake Blanche. This trail was steep and very challenging. After this trip, I wasn't really sold on the whole backpacking thing. Blake told me that backpacking in the High Uintas doesn't have much elevation gain. After doing some research, we agreed that Naturalist Basin would be our destination on the Highline Trail. This is located right by Mirror Lake. This is rated as a great beginning backpacking trail, so that really helped ease my worry about carrying an extra 20 pounds on my back. 

We got off to a later start than we had initially planned but decided that we would just go as far as we could before it got dark. This trail turned out to be so much fun. It is very well marked and pretty flat (my favorite). We made it about seven miles before we started to lose daylight. By this time our feet were starting to ache and we were getting hungry.  We set up camp in a beautiful meadow just as the sun was going down. Our favorite dinners for backpacking are Mountain House meals; they are easy and quick to make as well as light weight. After dinner, Blake surprised me with a beautiful wedding band for my birthday. It was the best surprise. 

We woke up to a little bit of rain throughout the night which continued into the morning. We were trying to pack as light as possible, so we left the rain fly at home. Not our best idea. Luckily it was just a light sprinkle so we didn't get too wet. In the morning, our stuff was a bit damp, so we waited for it to dry before packing up and heading back home. Once everything was basically dry, we hit the trail back to our car. We had talked the day before about the reality that we were not looking forward to the hike out because we felt like we had been going downhill the majority of the time. We were both so surprised because we felt the exact same thing hiking out-- everything seemed downhill. This made for an easy hike out.

This was such a fun weekend spending time with Blake. My mind was changed about backpacking and I am ready to go out and try it again. I love that Blake is always challenging me to try things that are hard because in the end I usually love it! Some photos below.