Uinta Highline Trail Day 8: Triangle Lake to Brooks Lake

September 1, 2017

Daily Distance: 11.88 miles

Cumulative Distance:106.96 miles

Passes: Rocky Sea

It was a beautiful morning without hardly a cloud in sight.

Panorama from Rock Creek Basin

I decided to take pictures of my food that I had used for the week.  Snacks included: Wasabi and Soy Sauce Almonds, Black Bean Tostitos, shelled pistachios, Jalapeño Fritos, Black Pepper Triscuits, Cracked Pepper chickpeas, natural peanut butter, and Honey Mustard Snyder Pretzels (not pictured)

Other snacks included dried mangoes, dates, apricots, and one Twizzler/day.

Every day I had had four bars: a Meal Pack Bar, Lara Bar, usually a Cliff Bar or Kind protein breakfast bar packet. I also had a Primal Strips vegan jerky.

Triangle Lake

We returned to the Head of Rock Creek Trail.

We met some cows on the way.

If we had stayed on the Highline Trail, we would have been in the trees below.

A deer stared at us from a distance.

We came to Helen Lake.

Lightning Lake

Looking back to Helen Lake

We walked right beside dramatic cliffs.

Gladys Lake

It was such a nice day after the rainy and cloudy days the last couple days. We stopped for a break with a view of Gladys Lake.

Rosalie Lake

We rejoined the Highline Trail.

A nice reflection

We hiked in the trees and then climbed up to a view of Rocky Sea Pass, our last pass on the Highline Trail. (except for Hayden Pass which Andrew kept saying was going to be his favorite)

There was a nice lake below the pass. We remembered the snow from our campsite the day before.

As I climbed up I stopped to look back and appreciate the view.

The trail went below the snow.

It was a wonderful view from the top of the pass.

We took a break for a snack.

Rocky Sea Pass

The top of Rocky Sea Pass

From the pass it was a short distance to the Hayden Pass Trailhead, but we decided to camp a final night on the trail.

We descended into the forest.

We came to our first foot bridge of the hike.

It was a Friday so we passed several hikers heading out for a weekend in the backcountry.

We went off-trail a short distance to Brooks Lake to find a spot to camp. It was a swampy lake but still scenic.

We found a nice campsite and relaxed for the afternoon. Another hiker decided to camp on the opposite side of the lake but we didn't talk to him as he enjoyed the solitude.

Andrew's feet had been quite blistered since nearly the first day of the hike.

We ate and ate.  I almost ate everything I brought with me.

Andrew tried to cook some falafels on his stove and I rehydrated some hummus. For main meals I didn't normally cook. Meals included rehydrated burritos and tacos, and Big Franks.

It was a nice evening for our last campsite on the Highline Trail.

Continue to Day 9