2015 Road Trip: Part 24 (Mt. Watson)

Mount Watson, Utah
Day 39
5.22.15

I was hoping to do a bit of hiking in the Uintas while I was staying in northern Utah, but I thought I would start with something small (or short I should say).  Having bought the High Unitas map at REI the day before, I was armed with the tools to summit Mount Watson, which was only a few miles away down the road.  I was planning to take the trail to Clyde Lake, which was to the west of the mountain, then climb up the northeast ridge.

I got to a parking area that was as far as I felt like driving because the remainder of the road looked to be an unplowed snowmobile trail, so it looked like I was gonna be walking a bit.  So after gathering all possible items, including the new ice axe, I headed along the road to the actual trailhead.  This added roughly a mile each way, but not too bad since it was mostly packed from snowmobile traffic.  One person had been out recently based on tracks I saw.

I was looking for a a trail junction off to the right, and none I saw.  This made things interesting because though I had a map, it was not matching up with what was supposed to be there in reality.  I was also pleased to realize that the clouds were (as usual) coming in over my mountain of choice, though I could just see the base where it rose upward, so I had a general direction to follow.

It was now that I realized I was going to be bushwhacking to the top, since there was no trail to follow.  I did end up seeing a small sign that said "Cliff Lake", and that was in the right direction, but there was no trail I could see.  Out came the map and compass!

The first cliff bank to negotiate...

There were a few cliff areas before the main ascent of the mountain, and those were easier done with the axe in hand.  I had been wearing my spikes, but since I was now breaking trail, snowshoes worked better.

I could just see my target ahead.

Making my way up the third cliff bank, I paused for a chocolate break. These always help when going up mountains quickly.

At the top of this hill, I stopped for a snack

As I ascended from 10,000 at the trailhead to the summit at 11,500, I entered the clouds, which were spitting out lots of pelletized snow.  My axe and I pushed upward nonetheless.

The real ascent began around here, and it was time to switch to the micro-spikes so I could kickstep into the snow.  This is better than snowshoes, which just slide down after you try and step.

I had a case of it being really cloudy and snowy at the top, so I think I made it up all the way, because ground was going down around me.  I'll call it summiting.

Selfie before lunch break.

It was amazing how quickly the descent went.  I was able to go down sort of like going down stairs, kicking my heels in to make little steps. Following my tracks (thankfully I had those to follow), I made it back to the cliff banks from before, though it was now snowing at the elevation. My hands were very cold from holding the metal ice axe, even through mittens and liners.  However, switching back to snowshoes warmed me up again, as did more chocolate.

The flat portion seemed to take more time than I recall it took to get out there.  Eventually I got back to the snowmobile trail, and to my surprise, I saw a party of people all wearing rain ponchos.  They were scrambling out of a brook with fishing poles.  Not really sure what was going on, but they wished me well and I did the same to them.

After hugging the car and being happy to breathe thicker oxygen (even 10k seems thick after 11.5k), I celebrated a solo bushwhack summit in the Uintas with a root beer.

I made a quick trip into town to buy some food supplies, then went back to my trusty old campsite again.  This site is way too rocky for it to be of any interest to RV campers, so lucky me and Wombat.

Short distance today, but this map shows where the mountain (B) was in relation to my campsite (C).

With town trip included, I did 99 miles.  Total to date is 7027!

I made an attempt to trace my route in Google Earth, but who knows how close it is once I am off the trail.  Maybe add a bit of mileage from my wiggling about between the trees.  Maybe something like 6 miles RT or so?  Time was 4:53 according to the trusty Timex watch.