I tried to find someone who was up to the challenge and could take a ⦠I know itâs high elevation, so it is a hard to pump out 20+ mile days because of this. Iâm currently planning a trip this summer, but I am unsure how much time to plan. Sofia Jeremias, Deseret News. 10+ days. Because the western portion of the Highline trail is quite familiar to me, as I have done a lot of backpacking in the area, I decided to make my life easier and just do a loop using the Trip Report 8 Day Uinta Highline trail loop, August 2013 I covered the last 200 miles the following day and met up with Shan, my âshuttleâ at the turn off for the Red Cloud Loop north of Vernal, UT. My heart pounded as the unknown shape morphed into three female elk that boltedââone l⦠The more I studied the High line trail on the map the more enticing this idea became. We have developed a love for this region that can't be described in words. Our team has spent a significant amount of their lives in the High Uinta Wilderness of northeastern Utah. Thatâs much slower than normal for me, but Iâm hiking with a less seasoned backer and I want her to enjoy herself. This was my first backpacking trip, and I was nervous about covering so many miles. In preparation, I brought along a pair of trekking pants for added protection, but preferred running shorts despite the vulnerability to the pests. The eastern terminus is at McKee Draw along U.S. Route 191, between Flaming Gorge Reservoir and Vernal. Thank you for the excellent photo/video documentation and the excellent write up. Uinta Highline Trail to Blue Lake and Shaler Lake is a 16.8 mile lightly trafficked out and back trail located near Kamas, Utah that features beautiful wild flowers and is rated as moderate. The GPS came in handy during both of these sections and we managed to return to the obvious trail within a few minutes. DISTANCE (round-trip) DIFFICULTY. The Uinta Highline Trail runs the length of the high Uinta mountain range through the High Uintas Wilderness in northeastern Utah. Highline. PMAgs â East to West â Uinta Highline Trail Cookies help us deliver our Services. The trail largely follows the ridgeline and offers great views of the valleys. A beautiful and unique view can be found around each corner, and for us, that is something we want to share with you. After researching many options we decided that Uinta Highline Trail would be a great option. Despite our hiking party being a chatty one likely to advertise our presence to any creature in our path, we came across several large herds of elk, 3 moose, over 100 mule deer, hundreds of domestic sheep, and other critters during the hike. Read about my complete Uinta Highline Trail experience, including prep, gear, logistics, and post-hike impressions. They blinked. tl;dr: The Uinta Highline Trail was a lovely ~5 day/80 mile thru-hike...mostly on-trail with great views and plenty of wildlife. Additionally, the trip from Hayden Pass/Highline Trailhead back to Park City/SLC is much simpler/shorter than Vernal to SLC. Reading your story brings back all the memories from my own trip. Enjoy & research Uinta-Wasatch-Cache National Forest, Utah with trail guides, topo maps, photos, reviews & GPS routes on Trails.com. The terrain, crossing long stretches of forest, treeless tundra, leads the trail through expansive alpine landscapes, separated by rocky passes carved by retreating glaciers. The Uinta Highline Trail extends 104 miles (167 km) along the east-west oriented crest of the Uinta Mountains. After an enjoyable three-day trip to the Uintas last July, I was eager to return and the Highline Trail was the most obvious candidate for a week-long trip. Just found this report. The stretches between passing other hikers ranged between 10 hours to entire days. The regional flights between Vernal and SLC, and various shuttle services in both cities make this thru-hike one that visitors to Utah or those without a car can complete. As others had warned about the Uintas, the mosquitoes were abundant around the lakes and boggy areas. total) and cuts out the least exciting section of the hike. The trail is primarily used for hiking, running, camping, horses, and backpacking and is best used from July until September. UintaHighlineTraill.com New website with all sorts of Uinta Highline Trail Info. Just prepare accordingly based on your comfort among the bugs. It was a blast! Has anyone hiked the Uinta Highline Trail before. The Uinta Highline Trail is the definition of solitude. Our pack weights were between 28 and 14 pounds. The Highline Trail in the Uinta Mountains is one of the best mountain trails in the state. We have developed a love for this region that can't be described in words. Because each traveler has unique challenges and expectations, we have designed this page to be a comprehensive resource for everything associated with the Highline Trail. From maps, to gear, to insider knowledge, we hope to share everything you will need to make your visit to the Highline Trail safe and enjoyable. After much debating on location, I settled on The Notch Trail, High Uintas because it was super scenic and pretty tame in terms of trail difficulty. The route is class II all the way to the summit, staying just on the E (left) side of the ridge. Since the terrain starts with the relatively gentle mountains and open meadows of the High Bollies/Eastern Uintas and transitions to the more rugged peaks and massive basins of the High Uintas Wilderness, this trek brings the westward hiker nearer to more stimulating terrain with each mile. The trip logistics are manageable for out-of-towners and the daily mileage is reasonable for those looking to complete within a week. The Highline Trail in the Uinta Mountains of Utah, often called the Uinta Highline Trail (UHT), captured my imagination since someone, and I took a trip to the nearby Dinosaur National Monument this past Memorial Day Weekend. For each of us, our first experience on the trail was unbelievable! Not ultra-light, just enjoyable-light. 3 talking about this. About the Uinta Highline Trail. By Casey Fiedler . With a travel window of a single week, my pals agreed on hiking east-to-west 78 of the trail's 104 miles, starting from Leidy Peak Trailhead north of Vernal, UT. The area between Brook Lake and Fox Lake, and 2. the stream crossings along Lake Fork River west of Lambert Meadow. The western terminus is at Hayden Pass near Mirror Lake on Utah Route 150;. Uinta Highline Trail (Vernal, UT) Trail Map Listings . As a side note, the trail is featured on USGS topo maps, which make navigation prep with both paper and GPS/electronic maps a bit easier. We were able to find a few trip reports, but the trail appeared to be lightly traveled. Dogs are also able to use this trail but must be kept on leash. TIME. Iâm planning on doing the Highline Trail this year, with my dad, but starting from the east end. Great backpacking trip with VentureOUT 16mi Jul 1, 2017 Jimmy Haugen. 5 friends. ALTERNATIVE TO. Most of the people we did encounter were around King's Peak and near the many trailheads west of Rocky Sea Pass. I blinked. Hikers travel all or part of 60 miles through classic alpine and subalpine Utah. Many past trip reports described some areas of the Highline trail as little used and easy to lose, so I was expecting to be relying heavily on my GPS and maps. Starting the hike from Chepeta Lake Trailhead would shorten the trek by 13 miles (to ~65 mi. Highline Trail 2012 July 31st - August 4th, 2012 the clan did a long walk across the Uinta Range. Sometimes Iâd spot a tent far off on the horizon or down in a ⦠I applied bug-spray once and was glad to have my long-sleeve shirt, but never broke out my head-net or felt the need to don the trekking pants. We saw very few people until getting within 10 miles the hike's end. Our Mission. SOLITUDE. Highline Trail in the Uinta Mountains of Utah For most of human history, we lived in wild places. Join them on a journey through this incredibly unique, spectacular, and wild mountain range. The Uinta Highline Trail, in northeastern Utah, crosses over seven mountain passes. Focus on hiking means keeping the gear to a minimum and filling the days with a casual strolling pace. I personally found my (very) thin SmartWool running socks to be the preferred sock during the hike because they dried out far quicker than the relatively thicker hiking-specific variants I brought along. Well-traveled 19th-century explorer Ferdinand Hayden called Utah's vast Uinta Mountainsâwith their gorgeous pine forests, high-alpine meadows, and graceful symmetryâhis favorite range. I think I passed you two on my last day, your first or second day, just West of Rock Sea Pass. This site is dedicated to helping travelers prepare for and execute a successful trip on the Highline Trail. The Highline was a great ~80 mile hike that requires some logistical planning but is possible to do from the Salt Lake City area without a car. Here is a map with the gps track from our Inreach. This site is dedicated to helping travelers prepare for and execute a successful trip on the Highline Trail. Show 2 More Check-Ins Jan 22, 2017 Adam Parker. Hiking the Quiet Corners of Utah. Outdoor Evolution recently took a team trip up to Utah to hike the Uinta Highline Trail. That luck cannot be relied on and could complicate pick-up logistics, so it is appropriate to add in buffer time to allow for weather related delays. The flight from SLC to Vernal was inexpensive and offered a cool view of the entire Uinta range as a teaser of the hike to come. We didn't see another hiker for the first 40 miles of trail. 1 trek across Utah's Uinta Highline Trail & a new exciting documentary sharing it all Our feet were more often than not wet or damp and the skin problems associated with maceration became a worry. The trail runs 104 miles east to west, which Iâd love to crank out in 5â6 days (17â21 miles per day, which is what I averaged on the JMT). Uinta. We had read that the Uinta Mountains include some of the most contiguous above treeline terrain in the lower 48. The Uintas are gorgeous part of the country. Of course, making sure you'll actually make the arranged pick-up time at the end-point is up to you and your hike itinerary planning. Uber: Park City, UT to Salt Lake City, UT (~35 min), Flight: Salt Lake City, UT to Vernal, UT (~45 min in 8 seater prop-plane [commercial flight]), Shuttle: Vernal, UT to Leidy Peak Trailhead in Ashley National Forest (~120 min), Hike: Leidy Peak to Highline Trailhead (Hayden Pass) ~80 miles over 5 days/5 nights, Shuttle: Highline Trailhead, Wasatch National Forest (~75 min) to Park City, UT. If you're considering a week-long thru-hike in the American west, the Uinta Highline Trail deserves a look. The Highline was a great ~80 mile hike that requires some logistical planning but is possible to do from the Salt Lake City area without a car. The trail spans over 100 miles and includes over 16,000 feet of elevation gain. We met in Duchesne at 8:00AM on Friday then set up a car shuttle. Route. There were two exceptions to this: 1. Over time, we've gained knowledge about this area and we want to share it with anyone interested in hiking this trail so that they can have a safe and memorable trip. We were lucky to have decent or better weather-windows for each of the trail's 9 passes. We set the itinerary to have us hiking Sunday late afternoon through Friday morning, enabling our hiking party to celebrate and indulge over a late breakfast in Park City. Along those same lines, the trail can be quite intimidating, and at times can put travelers in unpredictable and deadly situations. It's so close to the Highline Trail itself - less than a mile - that to skip it would be a shame. A friend and I hiked a section of the Uinta Highline Trail on August 5-7, totaling 26 miles in about 48 hours. Summit Post â 9 Days on the Highline Trail. Our team has spent a significant amount of their lives in the High Uinta Wilderness of northeastern Utah. A few friends and I recently finished a thru-hike of the Uinta Highline Trail in northern Utah's Uinta mountains, so I wanted to throw a quick trip-report up here to combat the dearth of detailed info about this hike or the region more generally. I strolled along until I came to a hulking brown form blocking the path, where I stared at three pairs of eyes twenty feet ahead. Originally I was planning 7 days, which would be about 15 miles per day. The scenery was spectacular. Trail. 9 part youtube series by Redbeard about the trail. At the trailhead, I hoisted my 38-pound pack and proceeded up trail number 025. The Uinta Highline Trail is a great option for those who only have a week to do a big hike (let's call big: 50-100 mi). Contributors Einstein and Kodak combined their efforts as writer and photographer to put together this photo essay. Here's a blog post from Andrew Skurka on the general wet-foot topic that the future Highline Trail hiker would be wise to review ahead of time. 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