Uintas 2011 – Amethyst Basin

It is time once again for an annual contribution from Eric.  Back in July Corey and I went on a backpacking trip in the Uintas.  We had a difficult time deciding where to go and ended up heading for Amethyst Basin from the Christmas Meadows trailhead.

The short version of this lengthy post is: steep hike, beautiful scenery, poor fishing. 

This picture is from the road leading to the Christmas Meadows trailhead.  Definitely a beautiful area.  We headed up into the first basin in the middle of the picture.

Boulder field on along the trail.  Glacial deposit, I assume.

The trail was relatively flat for about the first 3 miles and we made great time.  The final 3.5 miles not so much.  The trail changes from flat to very steep and the pace slowed down considerably.  The trail follows a stream (Ostler Fork I think) and the steep terrain with the rushing water from the high snowmelt made for some fantastic views.

After several thousand feet of elevation gain, we made it to Amethyst Basin.  

We decided to hike off-trail to Ostler Lake to make camp.  We were lucky to find a nice backcountry bridge so we didn’t have to take our shoes off or get them wet.

View of Ostler Lake

View from the tent.  Because of the heavy snowpack and the cool spring, there was water everywhere even though it was late July.  We had a difficult time finding a dry spot for the tent.

We took a quick dip in the lake, filtered some water, and cooked dinner.  We were both beat and ready for bed early.  We slept in late and woke late when some other backpackers/fishermen trekked through our camp.  We decided to do a day hike up to Amethyst Lake, passing unnamed lake (BR-24) on the way.

Getting to Amethyst Lake from Ostler Lake required us to descend from 10,800 feet down to Lake BR-24 ~10,000 feet, and then climb up to Amethyst Lake above 11,000 feet.  In hindsight, this trip was a lot of climbing.  As we approached Amethyst Lake, the trees thinned out (no oxygen at this elevation) and there were little flowers everywhere.  Notice the water running down the trail.  Water everywhere.

Amethyst Lake ice.  July 2011.

 

After a slow day of fishing, we headed back to camp at Ostler Lake.  Dinner is always dehydrated food.  Beef Stroganoff (Before & After) for this meal.

That evening Corey caught a nice Cutthroat.  It was the only fish we caught on Ostler Lake.

Heading out.

  

I’m hoping next years annual post is “Wind Rivers 2012”.

Syracuse vs. Fremont

Last Friday afternoon Eric and I went to see Corey and the Titans play at Rice Eccles Stadium for the 5A semi-finals.  It was a very exciting game to watch, but unfortunately our boys didn’t win.  It was SO CLOSE!  Fremont won 21-14 in overtime. 

It was such a great season for Syracuse.  We had an awesome time watching their games.  We are so proud of Corey!

 

Fremont scored first in overtime.  It all came down to 4th and goal from the 14 for Syracuse.  The pass was completed to #17 and he turned for the end zone and reached the ball in for what appeared to be the game tying score.  However, the referee ruled that he was down prior to the ball crossing the goal line.  The football cliché is that it is “a game of inches” and in this case it definitely was, with Syracuse being about 6 inches short.  What a heartbreaker.

 

Photo: Steve O’Camb

Highlights:

Field Trip to Tasty’s

The boys got to go on a field trip to Tasty’s with their preschool.  They got to learn all about making donuts.  They even got to cut one out themselves and eat one.  I loved to see how they interact with their preschool friends.  So cute.  They are growing up to fast!

  

Disney on Ice

Last weekend we took the kids to see Disney on Ice.  It was the boy’s first time at the show.  They did so good.  Especially John.  He would dance and bounce around anytime he recognized a song.  David was just content with his $15 snow cone.  Ellie’s favorite was all the princesses.  David had a crush on Rapunzel.  John loved Mickey Mouse.

It was snowing that day so we had to trudge through the streets of Salt Lake City with snow coming down.  Despite the snow, the kids got a kick out of the fountains at The Gateway.  David almost got soaked.  It was a fun way to spend a Saturday.

Syracuse vs. West

Playoff football is so exciting.  We are having such a great time watching Corey and the Titans.  On Friday they played West High and won again.  Congratulations Titans! 

Next week they play at Rice Eccles against Freemont.  Eric and I already looking forward to it!

 

 

This is Corey and  his buddy Steve after the win.

Sweet Victory

Photo credit: Steve O’Camb

Check out this cheap shot by West linebacker #52 against Corey at the end of the game.  He ended up getting a 15 yard penalty and the game ended when they started the clock on the first down that followed.  What a classless way to end his season.

Great Horned Owl

As my dad was coming out of his shed this morning he came face to face with this great horned owl. 

They could see that it’s right wing had been injured and that it wasn’t going anywhere for awhile, so they called us over to have a look.  Our kids were fascinated with the owl.  It was pretty cool.  Later in the day, Wildlife Services came and took it and hopefully they can mend it’s wing.

Halloween 2011

This year for Halloween we had a Pirate and two Transformers.  They all looked so cute.  We went trick-or-treating with our cousins Ben and Quinn.  They were the cutest Superman and Supergirl ever.  It was  a fun night!