White Pine Trail / White Pine Lake Utah 08-18-2013

This morning I was itching for a hike and the weather was absolutely perfect for one.  Sunny and warm but not obscenely so.  I was up early and while I sans a hiking partner I started to go out and adventure on my own.  A few weeks ago, patient readers may recall that I hiked Red Pine Trail. There is another fork in that trail that leads to White Pine Lake.  I was told this trail was a lot easier than Red Pine but quite a bit longer.

I did my research and decided I could try this one on my own.

I was NOT disappointed in this hike.  The scenery changed dramatically.  At one point, I was in a rock garden, another in a deep pine forest and then again I was crossing flowered meadows.  The trail was well maintained and there was absolutely no doubt in which way to go.

The trail sign said the trail was 4 miles to the lake.  That was a lie.  It was 1 mile to the trail head and then 4 miles from there to the lake.  My Garmin read 5.10 when I arrived.

Since I was solo I could go at my own pace.  I took plenty of pictures but I didn't dally around much and reached the lake in about 2 hours.  I spent a good 30 - 40 minutes enjoying the views and exploring the area before taking another 2 hours down.

Surprisingly I got half way decent cell phone reception up there.  Enough to send or receive the occasional text message to let people know I was okay.

The trail was pretty sparse as far as other hikers go (I probably saw about 30 people all morning) and I had the lake to myself.  Trust me when I say, other hikers are truly missing one of the best hikes around.  It is long enough and yet the hills were that's bad as the climb from about 7000 feet to 9500 was very gradual.  I am told you can see wildlife up there and while I wasn't hoping to run into a moose, I was looking forward to seeing a deer.  Alas, I only saw a trout in the lake.

Overall, I'd love to do this hike again.  There is also substantial sections that are safe enough to run on, so if I wanted a brutal 10-miler I could do this trail.

Enjoy the photos

Typical stretch of trail

Salt Lake Valley / Sandy Below

Heading into wooded section

Still some nice flowers

A stream

More flowers

Mini water fall

A meadow

Flowers / Meadow

A stream

Only about 1 mile to go. Switch back rock garden climb

If you look closely there are people down below

Almost to the lake. Beautiful blue

Almost there!

White Pine Lake

White Pine Lake

Me at White Pine Lake

Super muddy. Trail landing ahead

If you look closely there is a trout

Time to go....