I made an overnight trip to Packard Lake in the High Uintas Wilderness Area. Packard Lake is the last of a trio of lakes on a branch of the venerable Highline Trail; about 5 miles each way to Packard. A pretty good hike into the lake, with a few parts of fairly steep and rocky downhill, and one section over a ridge between Wyman and Packard lakes that is a butt-kicker steep and rocky up and down. Coming back out, you have to cross that same butt-kicker ridge, and then experience a butt-kicker 1/2 mile climb from Wilder Lake up to the Highline Trail.
Packard Lake sits on the end of a small plateau, right on the edge of the Duchesne River gorge. I found a great site to setup my camp, with great views of the gorge from my hammock, and the lake about 200 feet on the other side of my camp. Low temp was 42F, high about 65F. A little light rain in the afternoon, and some light rain of and on during the night, which made for some great sleep. Campsite elevation from the GPS: 10,010 ft.
Overall, a fairly short hike in miles, but it packs it all in from easy to moderate to difficult; very rewarding in terms of hiking, and the scenery is hard to beat.
Get your wilderness on:
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A burn area from 2017(?), but with spectacular views.
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Wyman Lake:
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Packard Lake in the evening:
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Duchesne River Gorge looking East:
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The Gorge looking to the West:
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Campsite for the night:
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Packard Lake in the morning:
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Mushroom for Shug (only one I could find):
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A nice meadow in the morning, just before the butt-kicker ridge:
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That's all folks!
EDIT: attached the wrong wilderness area sign picture. Fixed it?? The wrongpic is still showing up below as an 'attachment;'.The 'attached ' picture is from a trip a couple of weeks ago.
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