Amethyst Lake

Last year Zac and I hiked to Island Lake in the Uintas. This year I chose to go to Amethyst Lake out of the Christmas Meadows in the Uintas. The only difference was that it was twice the mileage. I knew Zac could do it and he was excited.

The hike started out with a gentle uphill and every time we came across a stream or mud patch to cross, Zac carefully took his time. After about two and a half miles the trail became very steep. The articles I read about the hike said that there was a gentle stream with postcard views along the trail. There were postcard views but the heavy spring rains turned the gentle stream into a roaring creek. It was beautiful, though. We trudged up the mountainside and soon Zac was spent. We finally made it to the top of the trail and it returned to a gradual uphill. Zac was getting pretty grumpy towards the end and we decided to not go to the lake and stay at the Amethyst Meadow instead. We were not alone as there were many Boy Scouts around chopping trees, having bonfires, and doing those things that Boy Scouts do the best.

We found out that there were a lot of mosquitoes in the Amethyst area. Despite DEET, we ended up with many bites. There were so many mosquitoes that they were getting into our food. The next morning we hiked to the lake and fished for about a half hour. The lake was very beautiful and we enjoyed seeing a memorable area after hiking so hard. We headed back to camp, packed up, and left for home. Along the way we kept leapfrogging with a different Boy Scout troop. Zac was really happy to know that we reached the bottom of the trail before they did. He was really tired, though, and I ended up carrying out his backpack toward the end of the hike. I was really impressed by his effort and I look forward to going hiking with him. As one of the Forest Service's crews mentioned, Zac's the professional hiker.