27 July 2017, 20:00
Location: Reeder Lakes - N40.78579° W109.06909°
Elevation: 10921'
Ascent: 1484' (Total: 7389')
Descent: 1537' (Total: 4589')
Day Distance: 12.75 miles (Total: 47.34 miles)
The day started nice and clear. The only problem was the dew after all the rain. The rain fly on the tent was soaked. I ended up wiping it down three times, inside and out. Once before breakfast, once after and again just before I packed it. While packing everything, I set out ended up with dew on it. I finally hit the trail about 09:00. A little late because of the moisture. My socks and shoes were still wet and before I finished the pass above Deadman Lake I needed to stop and fix a hot spot on my right foot, and re-apply tape to the fourth toe. I also had to fix the tape on left foot. All the moisture, and wet feet, was playing havoc with my feet. As much as I like the trail runners, with my wool socks my feet stay wet forever. Note, coming down from the pass, before WhiteRocks, I post holed into a bog, then got both feet wet clearing the bog. I stopped and rang water out of both socks, and every time I stopped I took of my shoes. By the time I made camp my socks had finally dried. Just in time for me to wash out the dirt out of the socks, getting them wet all over again.
Last year, descending from the pass at Deadman into WhiteRocks I lost the trail several times. Today I only lost it once at a creek crossing, seems it didn't go straight across. I picked it up pretty quickly and was able to stay on trail all the way down to Chepeta Lake. The trail was soaked with mud holes and bogs everywhere. I manage to keep my feet dry by either leaving the trail to get around the bogs, or by carefully navigating from stone to stone. Sometimes (most times) it was a bit of a puzzle.
Just before I came out of the trees for the last stretch to the Chepeta Trail head I encountered what I believe to be two families with children near the age of ten and younger. They were headed up to WhiteRocks. We chatted for a bit. The weather threatened all day, but never did more than sprinkle once, just as I ran into the families.
At the road I turned left and headed for the Chepeta Trail head, instead of turning right and going to the lake. When I got to the trail head there were people and horses everywhere. Tents were set up, trailers, etc. I stopped and chatted with an older gentleman from Vernal. While I watched a DWR employee setup a trailer. He had two young children with him, but was driving his DWR truck. I was told a youth group was expected tomorrow. According to the USGS maps, and my GPS, the trail from the Chepeta Trail head goes to the far end of the Chepeta dam. Not so! It winds well away and actually heads away from Chepeta for a ways. It is well marked, but I was beginning to wonder if I had missed a turn because I was going away from where the maps showed the trail to be. It finally made a big loop and cut the trail from the dam, some distance past the dam and lake. As I headed for my planned camp near Reeder Lakes I descended to a small lake with a moose standing in the middle. Her belly was not even in the water. Apparently the lake was not very deep. At the lake there was sign indicating it was the lower Reeder Lake. I had a significant creek crossing at the lower Reeder. Luckily I was able to find a spot to cross on stones about 20 yards off trail. I stopped for water and then continued on. Not long after the Lake I encountered another stream crossing, about 10 feet wide and no way to cross without wading. I change into my trekking sandals and waded across, then changed back to my trail runners. My camp tonight is not where I planned. I was going to head towards the Reeder Lakes, but I wasn't looking forward to the descent tonight, followed by the climb back out tomorrow. Anyway I came across a small stream and headed off trail for several hundred yards. As I was pitching my tent, two ladies walked by, heading out. Turns out the trail turned and now I am a couple hundred feet off the trail, not a couple hundred yards. Nobody else has gone by. The mosquitoes are thick but the permethrin seems to be working.
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