To Chain Lakes and Beyond (Day 4)

Atwood Lake.

Once again, I did not sleep well last night. The muscle in my left hamstring felt irritated and no position I laid seemed to soothe it. My sleeping bag, socks and t-shirt all felt damp. After such a big rain storm as yesterday, I think everything became damp, whether or not it was directly touched with water. I activated four hand-warmers—two at my feet and two near my chest—and that seemed to help. I woke twice to an animal clanging around our pots and pans outside the tent. Luckily, it was only a deer.
 
Atwood Lake is another man-made reservoir. I don't know any of the history behind it. There is an abandoned cabin that looks like it was built in the early 1900's. Some of the area around the dam looks like it has been cleared with heavy machinery, which is interesting because there are no roads within ten miles.
 

Old cabin near Atwood Lake.

Atwood Lake is the biggest lake we have encountered during our four days in the wilderness. It is 1.7 miles long and about a third of a mile wide. During the morning before the breeze had picked up I watched the reflection of the peaks on the lake. From here you can see Mount Emmons, King's Peak and South King's Peak.
 
Although we were able to enjoy a small portion of the morning, there was no time to waste. We had to get off the mountain today, hopefully early enough to make the 5 ½ hour drive home—and hiking wouldn't be easy. It would be 13 miles downhill with 40 pound packs on our shoulders.
 

Mighty peaks of the Uintas as seen from Atwood Lake.

So we began hiking. We kept a good pace and tried to spread out our breaks and stops. Some portions of the trail were decent, but others were rocky and unpleasant to travel over. We hiked through timbered terrain until we came to Roberts Pass, which leads into Krebs Basin. The pass, as they have all been, was excruciatingly tiresome because it required a steep uphill with already tired legs. Although I have been critical of much of the trail system, I was impressed with the trail over the pass. Instead of having to step over large boulders, the path had been blasted out, which made our walking relatively easy. Roberts Pass topped off at 11,149 feet.
 

Atwood Creek.

The trail over Roberts Pass.

We now found ourselves in a new basin with amazingly beautiful and rugged lakes. These are known as Chain Lakes.
 
I couldn't help but to think of how rugged and remote this place is. It had been over twenty-four hours since we had seen another hiker. I looked at the expanse of wilderness beyond one of the lakes and wondered if anyone ever went there. Right now we barely had enough energy to stay on the trail, let alone explore anywhere else.
 
Like clockwork, our afternoon rain storm came around 3 pm. We donned our rain gear and kept trekking. Once again the trail filled with water and all was wet. At one point while walking along a lake, the water level was so high that it covered the trail.
 
We passed four wild lakes, none of them with a fine sandy beach, but with shores of pine trees, rocky hills and mountain grass.
 

Fourth Chain Lake.

Upper Chain Lake.

After the lakes we entered a thick timber with both swift and gentle streams running through it. All the streams were swollen from rain and we crossed them either by hopping atop exposed rocks, or using a long log placed over the surface, on which we had to adroitly use our balancing skills. I wondered how many streams we had crossed in the past four days—probably over a hundred. I didn't hesitate to fill up my water bottle and freely drink the cold, clear fluid.
 
Eventually, all the water flows into the Uinta River. The further we traveled on the trail, the closer we came to this confluence. But when the rushing roar of the river finally came within hearing distance, we were still high above it. The trail followed a series of never-ending switchbacks to the bottom. For me this was a brutal stretch. I pushed on because I knew we had to, but my energy was spent. The downhill march with heavy weight on my back tortured my feet. The flesh of my feet was raw with blisters.
 

Bridge over Uinta River.

The trail crosses the river at a bridge. From here it is three miles to the end. This is the only portion of the loop that overlaps. I noted that this time the trail was wet and muddy. The level of the river must have risen over the last four days because a portion of it now flowed over the trail and then back again.
 
But at last we came to the end!
 
I took off my pack one last time, never on this trip to put it back on. By now it was 9 pm and the sun had set.
 
The hike as a whole was quite amazing. In four days we journeyed over fifty-two miles, beginning at an elevation of 7,795 feet and reaching a maximum elevation of 13,527 feet. We pushed ourselves hard everyday, almost having no time to enjoy it. I've never seen so many lakes and water in one place, especially in the American West. I've also never fought so many mosquitoes. It rained on us for at least an hour every day. This place is wild and remote, yet was sprinkled with a bit of history. The faint trail system can make it easy to get lost. For the adventurous person, there is a whole new world waiting to be explored away from the trail.
 
Total distance today: 13.1 miles. Total on trip: 52.7 miles.
 
Now that we were back, I had one remaining matter of business. We walked toward the river, to a tiny tributary, and stooped down to a pile of sticks, grass and a rock in the water. I disassembled the pile and pulled out a six-pack of Mountain Dew. Now our journey was complete! ♠