The Uinta Mountain range is the highest in Utah. Much of it is protected by Wilderness area. I enjoy running up in the high Uintas because of its remoteness and rugged beauty. Most hikers and runners who go to the Uintas, only go to the heavily traffic areas, the Mirror Lake area on the far west end, or Henry Fork in order to summit Kings Peak, the highest peak in Utah. However, they are missing much more beautiful sections, better trails, and more interesting peaks that are usually only seen by backpackers, horseback riders, and determined fisherman.
In the Uintas, now and then, I experience one of those very special days when I have an intense connection with the trail, wilderness and nature. This past Saturday was one of those amazing days. The weather was perfect and beauty around me was stunning. I had the trail all to myself and the solitude was so peaceful. I was disappointed when it ended.
I ran one of my favorite trails in Utah, the Lake Fork trail that climbs up the south slope of the Uinta Mountains. I believe that this trail is the most runnable trail in the Uintas that takes you up to the High Wilderness area. Compared to the other trails that run up the canyons, that are boulder strewn, this trail is relatively smooth and well-maintained. It is still pretty technical, but for a Uinta Mountain trail is it unique and doesn’t wear on your feet and joints as much as other Uinta trails. Because it is 14 miles long, hikers don’t use it much and runners haven’t discovered it yet (stay away). It is almost exclusively used by horseback riders, but not enough to chew it up badly.
The Lake Fork trail starts at Moon Lake, which is north of the little town of Duchesne, and contains a nice large campground. I park at the beach access where the trail starts.
The previous day I ran a pretty brutal 50K (32 mile) run further to the east at the Uinta River trailhead, up to Lake Atwood and back. After being roughed up from the boulder-strewn and muddy trail I looked forward to a faster run. I started at 8:00 a.m. as the sun was rising, warming up the brisk morning mountain temperature.
The entire length of the Lake Fork trail runs through shady cool forest and presents some amazing views as it runs up above Moon Lake and later the roaring Lake Fork River below. There are several sections of remarkable gorges to run by. The trail was routed to take you near the river gorge cliffs so you can look down. I could tell that I was the only person on the trail that morning because I was breaking spider web strands for miles and the only prints on the trail were horse prints that headed down from the previous afternoon. You would think there would be people on the trail on a perfect summer Saturday, but I was the only human laying down footprints on the trail all day.
At mile 10, I reached the only trail junction after running for 2:50 and ascending 1,200 feet. The side trail climbs to Cleveland Pass and all the recent horse tracks came down from there. I stayed on the Lake Fork Trail going along the river. In another mile I crossed over the river on a large bridge. The trail now ran by open meadows and climbed steeper toward Mount Lovenia rising high on the Uinta Crest ahead.
After four hours and 14 miles, I reached the Highline Trail at 10,300 feet that travels the length of the mountain range. I have a deep love for the Highline trail with its beauty and challenging traverse over many mountain passes. I’ve run the entire trail solo before and run sections of it nearly every year. This section is among my favorite sections and I felt excitement in being on the Highline Trail again.
I decided to head east, to run up above the tree line to my favorite little secluded lake on the trail. In about a mile, I was surprised to come upon a loan backpacker resting by the trail. While I loved the seclusion of the day, it was fun to stop and talk with another human. He was doing a solo ten-day backpack of the entire length of the trail from west to east. He was doing well and had good safety equipment including a satellite phone. In preparation for his trip, he had read my blog articles about the trail and knew who I was. He was amazed to see that I was 15 miles from the trailhead carrying very little. We talked for about ten minutes about the trail ahead and then I ran on.
Running on the Highline Trail is so invigorating. All the trailheads to this section are so far away. It is too far away for any day hikers and the only backpackers you usually see are people doing a very long Highline Trail traverse. I climbed up to 11,000 feet and the trees became more scattered giving me high wilderness views in all direction.
My destination was to visit a series of small lakes at the base of one of the ridges that extend from Mount Lovenia. These little high lakes are so beautiful and peaceful, my favorite lakes along the trail. I stopped and ate my lunch at one of the lakes enjoying the peace of the day and all the beauty around me.
As I sat by the beautiful lake, my thoughts rested on Stephen Jones. Stephen and I shared a deep connection for the Uinta Highline Trail. He also had traveled many solo hours on this trail. He tragically lost his life a few months earlier, being buried by a snow avalanche while skiing alone in the Wasatch back country. I wished that we could have gotten to know each other better and been able to share more experiences from the Uintas.
With these thoughts in mind, I decided to build up a Highline Trail cairn to his memory a little to the west of my little lake. It seemed to be the right thing to do because of our shared love for this trail. From the cairn I had incredible views in all directions. I looked northeast up Oweep Valley toward Porcupine Pass. I looked south down Lake Fork Canyon that I had run 14 miles up. To the east I could see Explorer Peak and to the north high above was a portion of Mount Lovenia. It was an amazing vista to behold and it was a good place to connect with the memory of Stephen.
I had set 2:00 p.m. as the time to head back which should get me back to the trailhead before 7:00 p.m. After my good rest, I looked forward to a faster pace back down.
My run back down was amazing. It was thrilling and great fun. On many sections, including Lambert Meadows, I could open my stride and run fast. Other sections I would dance around the rocks. Even though I had run more than 20 miles, my legs feet felt great.
As I ran, my connection for the day on the trail was intense. Times like these are few but amazing. Perhaps the thoughts about Stephen, his life cut short, set the stage for these feelings as I ran down. I felt so appreciative to have this experience as I ran through forests and meadows to the chirping sounds of birds and at times absolute silence.
I pondered on my love for solitude on the trail. For the past year it seems like I have turned into a hermit trail runner. I no longer find much enjoyment to run the crowded and noisy trails in the Wasatch Mountains. More than ten years ago when I started running the Wasatch Trails, they were quiet and felt remote. Now they seem crowded with many chatting hikers and runners feeling the excitement to be out in the mountains.
But now with the increased crowded trails with hikers, bikers and dogs, instead I seek out trails to enjoy the wilderness alone to find days like this where I can think and appreciate the wonderful blessings of life, my family, and my faith. The Uinta Mountains are my favorite mountains in Utah. Away from Henrys Fork and Kings Peak, it is a peaceful, quiet place that only a few frequent often.
I know that “Davy sightings” on the trail by friends have been fewer and fewer with each year even though I have been running more and more, reaching 3,000 miles already for the year during this weekend in August. One reason that I don’t run much with groups of friends is because of the fun that they like to engage in together on the summits and ridges. When I reach a summit or a high vista, it is a place of reverence and quiet contemplation. My backpacking buddies also seek this experience.
Others like to have silly fun, take pictures of doing summit leaps, pushups on summits, silly dancing, or eye-popping scary poses. Witnessing this bothers me deeply for some reason, probably because of the numerous quiet experiences I have felt up high. My friends enjoy these antics and I’m glad they have fun. But because it bothers me, I’d rather run alone. To me, it is like hearing someone curse in a church. I’m all for fun but there is a time and place. I love that energy and silliness at aid stations during a race to cheer me up. But while I run on trails and especially on the summits I seek quiet contemplation.
Perhaps I’ve turned into an old fool. I’ve been mocked on local running group Facebook pages for speaking up about having respect for the mountains. But I know many others share these feelings and also have days like this in the mountains.
As I ran down the Lake Fork trail, time passed fast. Usually as a long run nears the end, I’m anxious to finish and count down the miles. But on this day, I didn’t want it to end. The sights and feelings are difficult to describe, but I felt so grateful for my happy life, my wonderful wife and family, and my cute grandchildren who are discovering the beauties of this world for the first time. I felt deep appreciation for my continued health and fitness that lets me do a long run like this as if it were a walk down the street. I felt gratitude toward God for the beauties of the wilderness that I am able to explore and experience. I value my faith in God deeply and appreciate the deep experiences that I have had which make me know God exists and cares about me and my family. My religion continues to give me direction in life and brings great happiness. Quiet moments like these clear my mind and help me later focus on the chores of life.
Moon Lake came into view and I knew my run was almost finished. I discovered that I had slowed down during the last miles. I had been in my own world, not wanting to miss anything around me as I concluded my 35-mile Uinta Mountain run with 4,000 feet of climbing. I reached the end, cleaned up a little and then started the drive home with a smile on my face. It had been a great two-day, 67 mile run in the Uintas with nearly 10,000 feet of climbing.
Next up: Cascade Crest 100 in a week.