I’m pretty sure that the best way to make sure that fish are effectively vacated from any particular area is for me to show up after purchasing a fishing licence. It doesn’t seem to matter if the place was recently stocked with fish or has been teaming with fish in the past, if I show up with my pole no one will see a fish jump or catch anything. That’s not necessarily a bad thing, seeing as how I hate the taste of fish, but its a bummer for my daughter who really wants to catch a fish.
This recent attempt was a different part of the same general neighborhood I like to take my oldest to each year, the Uintah mountains in the Northeast corner of the state. Not sure why but its generally ignored by travel guides and blogs even though it’s an amazing wilderness area with TONS of options for car travel, backpack, fishing (in theory) and general exploring. Seriously, take a look at these maps...so much forest service road! These super tall mountains (highest Utah peak here, as well as 3rd highest paved mountain pass in the US at 10791 feet) are bisected in two parts, 1 part drains north into the bear river valley, and the other drains into the great basin. I typically spend my time in the great basin half, as its a little closer to me but this time we went to the “north slope” on the Bear River side...and man...what a neat place! The valley south of Evanstan is amazing as you gradually gain elevation approaching the mountains, then about 9300 feet you turn onto dirt and drive. 20 bone shaking miles later you arrive at Lyman lake
It’s a nice little lake that, in theory, is full of fish. It’s not.
Camp was nice though!
We got in late enough to actually have a chance to use my light bar, then it was marsh mellows, set up beds and putting kids into them...shortly followed by their sleep addled fathers. Yes, I had a great view of the sky, and yes there was a huge meteor shower, but I was asleep long before I saw anything but a very red Mars, although my daughter swears she was a spinning red shooting star.
The next morning the tough kids and I walked around the lake looking for a spot to fish and tried to cats past the weeds but it wasn’t really working...so we packed up and followed the trail to the river where, according to my friend, was always good fishing. I think you know by now that it wasn’t but that drive and river? wow.
The black fork of the bear was amazing, and we pretty much spent the rest of the day there, “fishing”, playing in the river, eating lunch and so on.
On the way back to camp to take a nap and then pack up we asked the girls what their favorite part of the trip was, they all said “SPLASHING THROUGH THE RIVER!”
We crossed it like 6 times for them (yes, for them...sure), including once with them on the tailgate for fun (obviously going slower than this). It was clear and about 2 feet deep at the deepest (on the other side of the mound where the bikers are) and lots of fun. There were also some fun crossings up that road in the background too, but the trail that was indicated on the map that would lead us up river further to the headwaters was gated closed so we turned around. What a neat place.
Also neat was meeting another Land Cruiser enthusiast, this seems to be a pattern lately after that stranger caught me off guard with “what number is yours” in a Yellowstone parking lot (referring to my limited edition number badge). This time was about the same, only I was a little more prepared; “what’s your mud name?” at which point his 100 full of adults and my 80 full of children bust out laughing at mine. Turns out he used to live full time at Bear Lake (where this river eventually drains) and owns a 40 a 60 and this hundred, he also mentions that he’ll be at cruiser fest this fall, something I suppose I really should goto. I guess I’ll see you there Tom!
Back to camp, take a nap, relax and pack up.
We decided that instead of taking the freeway home, we would take the longer route up over the pass and into Kamas.
Let me tell you what a stuff to the gills 80 series with 2 adults and 3 kids feels like at nearly 11,000 feet.
If you work out the math it’s pretty sobering:
HP at sea level when new - 212
Est driveline losses for an 80 - 30%
Wheel hp if brand new and fresh - ~150
Hp loss at 10791 (3% per 1000 feet) - 32.3%
Wheel hp at elevation if brand new and fresh - ~99 hp.
Weight of the my cruiser with just me - 5300 lbs
Weight of cruiser as loaded - ~6200 lbs
Lbs per each wheel hp - 63+
I’m being melodramatic of course, as its actually not that bad, it just means using the right foot a little more. I am glad Im not towing my trailer though.
We stopped one more time to enjoy the scenic Provo River falls and it ocures to me that the unitas are like a Mini-Glacier, similar geology and views...just smaller.
In Kamas we enjoy a blue ribon burger and some ice cream at the local general store as well as sample the craziness in the parking lot...seriously, what the heck is this supposed to be?
Winch, TONS of armor, bfg baja 39x135, fox shocks, vented hood...on and on...without a single dent, nick, scratch or even evidence of dirt use. The things people would rather have than money I guess...
From here we start towards another mountain pass to take the short, but slower route home over the summer only Gardsman pass. It’s a beautiful BEAUTIFUL day and we are finally enjoying a bit of peace and quiet after putting on a movie for the kids in the back seat as we climb. Getting near the summit we come up to a favorite place of mine to play and thinking back to something I said in that article I asked the girls if they wanted to do another big scary hill...they did...and I was able to test my theory that the extra weight makes a huge difference for traction on this twister and even though the ruts were even worse this time around, I made up more than half way up no problem before running into any kind of traction issue. I did turn on my lockers to make it out, but I wouldn’t have needed to if I was determined. It’s like they say, traction is FμN! And I had all the Normal.
What was decidedly less fun, was about 10 minutes after this when the combo of twisty roads, a huge fatty meal, and movie watching proved to be too much for one of the girls as she unceremoniously removed the piece of that trifecta she had power over. hooray! We got everything (more or less) cleaned up, strapped what we couldn’t clean up to the roof and moved on. At least it was an amazingly pretty drive!
Back home, girls in bed, I clean up as much as I can, realize that its always a lot of work to do any kind of camping, then realize its almost always worth it...then relax and remember.