More deadline hiking

The clouds are building today, the high is supposed to be in the 30s and snow could fall this evening.

Two days ago, I hiked to an 11,746-foot lake and there wasn't any ice or snow anywhere. Good thing I left the skis and the ice auger at home.

OK, I did find a little ice ...

This is a fork of the Rio Nambe, at about 11,000 feet. On the shady side. There was a bit of snow and ice in the shadiest spots. But it hasn't snowed in at least a month, so there wasn't much to speak of.












This is a 12,600-foot peak, Santa Fe Baldy. Dry as a bone.














I didn't make it up there. But a couple was going that way. They were from San Diego, and had just finished a long backpacking trip in Southern Utah (Paria Canyon). I told them I was amazed the trail was so bare at this time of the year and they said, "Why?"

I guess the trails around San Diego are milder than those in northern Utah. I bet the Uintas aren't this easy to navigate right now.

In all, I hiked about 17 miles, saw four lakes and a bunch of peaks I'd like to come back to. I started on the Winsor Trail at Ski Santa Fe and ended at Holy Ghost Campground. Bettie dropped me off and left a car on the other side. (She had to drive 60 miles to get there; it's 13 miles by the shortest trail.)

This is Lake Katherine, the highest and probably prettiest of the four lakes I saw.















Good thing Devin and Vince weren't there, or it would have been a pretty cold swim.