A very nice detailed description of your dance with high mountain peaks! Well written text combined with photos help those who have not been there to want to go there. Thanks!
I found the pictures and discription to be terrific. They brought back the week trip that I and a buddy made back in the 70s. We were droped off at the trail head hiked to Red Castle and over the passes to finally end up at Moon Lake. The views from the passes were something I'll always remember. Thanks for including pictures that show those wonderful views.
I have hiked to Moon Lake too once - had to leave upper Lake Fork after a summer snow storm blew in six inches and I could not back over Red Knob Pass to my car. That was not much fun!
3 of us from Provo/SLC used this post as directions, along with a topo map, and did the exact same route, August 20-23, 2014. Your directions & descriptions were super, thanks a ton. The trail is relatively easy to find and follow, and cairns help where the trail feels more sparse. The first day is a butt kicker...my 24 yr old son set up his tent at Lower Red Castle Lake with a huge headache, promptly barfed his guts out, and went to sleep. You'll likely feel the elevation most the first day. He was strong the next morning after a big bfast, and we pushed on.
Next day, we experienced a 15 minute sheering ice storm after turning right onto the Highline Trial (toward Tungsten Pass)...but this is always expected in the High Uintas. In fact, we experienced at least snow pellet showers every day. We camped the second night beyond North Star lake...my companions wanted to get up & over Porcupine, but I was spent, so we camped at the closest pond to Porcupine, called Y6. Great place...about a 25 foot depression got us out of light winds, and the 1/2 mile extra hike covered much of the uphill, so we felt strong to enjoy the phenomenal views atop Porcupine Pass in the morning.
In Oweep Basin, we also skipped going all the way around the lake, finding the goat trail up to Squaw Pass, sort of. We hiked a line above the rock ledges on the right side, a sketchy & steep scree slope to the pass. I see no way anyone could describe the East Fork Blacks Fork drainage as "ugly"...it was yet another incredibly beautiful view. The descent was amazing.
We camped 5 miles from the TH along the Little East Fork river, during a long, intense lightening storm, and woke up to...2 inches of snow, with more coming down. We skipped bfast and found the trail...a rocky-slush-mud-trough. 4 in-the-river crossings were cold and fun. The snow all over the drainage made for a magical hike back to the car...like icing on a cake. Winter is my favorite season in Utah, and it felt like a gift to be in some in August.
This route was vast with great variation of terrains. Got in my soul and has stayed there. Thanks for the excellent guidance through it.
fastpony - Apr 6, 2007 2:08 pm - Voted 10/10
Its in the detailsA very nice detailed description of your dance with high mountain peaks! Well written text combined with photos help those who have not been there to want to go there. Thanks!
46and2 - Apr 7, 2007 2:05 am - Hasn't voted
Re: Its in the detailsThanks fastpony. The Uintas are where my soul finds freedom and it does not get much better up there than the Red Castle and Lakefork areas!
lgrames - Apr 29, 2009 2:44 pm - Hasn't voted
Re: Its in the detailsI found the pictures and discription to be terrific. They brought back the week trip that I and a buddy made back in the 70s. We were droped off at the trail head hiked to Red Castle and over the passes to finally end up at Moon Lake. The views from the passes were something I'll always remember. Thanks for including pictures that show those wonderful views.
46and2 - Apr 30, 2009 1:11 am - Hasn't voted
Re: Its in the detailsI have hiked to Moon Lake too once - had to leave upper Lake Fork after a summer snow storm blew in six inches and I could not back over Red Knob Pass to my car. That was not much fun!
msbmft - Aug 29, 2014 12:58 am - Voted 10/10
Just Completed3 of us from Provo/SLC used this post as directions, along with a topo map, and did the exact same route, August 20-23, 2014. Your directions & descriptions were super, thanks a ton. The trail is relatively easy to find and follow, and cairns help where the trail feels more sparse. The first day is a butt kicker...my 24 yr old son set up his tent at Lower Red Castle Lake with a huge headache, promptly barfed his guts out, and went to sleep. You'll likely feel the elevation most the first day. He was strong the next morning after a big bfast, and we pushed on.
Next day, we experienced a 15 minute sheering ice storm after turning right onto the Highline Trial (toward Tungsten Pass)...but this is always expected in the High Uintas. In fact, we experienced at least snow pellet showers every day. We camped the second night beyond North Star lake...my companions wanted to get up & over Porcupine, but I was spent, so we camped at the closest pond to Porcupine, called Y6. Great place...about a 25 foot depression got us out of light winds, and the 1/2 mile extra hike covered much of the uphill, so we felt strong to enjoy the phenomenal views atop Porcupine Pass in the morning.
In Oweep Basin, we also skipped going all the way around the lake, finding the goat trail up to Squaw Pass, sort of. We hiked a line above the rock ledges on the right side, a sketchy & steep scree slope to the pass. I see no way anyone could describe the East Fork Blacks Fork drainage as "ugly"...it was yet another incredibly beautiful view. The descent was amazing.
We camped 5 miles from the TH along the Little East Fork river, during a long, intense lightening storm, and woke up to...2 inches of snow, with more coming down. We skipped bfast and found the trail...a rocky-slush-mud-trough. 4 in-the-river crossings were cold and fun. The snow all over the drainage made for a magical hike back to the car...like icing on a cake. Winter is my favorite season in Utah, and it felt like a gift to be in some in August.
This route was vast with great variation of terrains. Got in my soul and has stayed there. Thanks for the excellent guidance through it.
46and2 - Aug 30, 2014 9:59 pm - Hasn't voted
Re: Just CompletedGlad to hear it all went well! Yeah, this is a special loop that likely few try.