Fishing the High Uintas

By Ray Grass
Deseret Morning News

Sitting around the table at base camp, waiting for the call to slap leather, decisions don't come easily … throw one more hotcake on the plate, smother it with syrup and butter, and sit a while? Or, pass on the food and swing into the saddle?

John Meacham and Ed Baltz of U Bar Ranch take lead while Carol Olsen and Jerry Boomer follow as they arrive at Island Lake. U Bar Ranch arranges "luxury camping" trips into High Uintas.

Hotcakes are irresistible on mornings when you can hear the leaves flutter and the coolness stings the ears. Yet, every moment spent at the table is a clip cut from full-length wilderness adventure in the Uintas.

Sometimes the pancakes win; sometimes the horses win.

The fact it's a 4 1/2-hour ride to the main camp sways some to eat more.

There is no landscape quite like the High Uintas. At a base of around 8,000 feet, a horseback ride typically begins where many mountain peaks leave off. Main camp is close to 10,500 feet.

Being up that high, there are few places that hold scenery like the Uintas.

It has the usual large stands of pines and aspens breaking apart into openings of large meadows that flow like deep-green rivers. But then there are also those jagged rock cliffs and ascending peaks that rise so ominously above the tree line.

And there are the lakes — at last count more than 1,000, along with endless miles of streams connecting them in the Uintas. Frequent but brief thunderstorms help keep them full and flowing through the summer and the countryside lush and green.

Which is why Ed Baltz, owner of the U Bar Ranch, the last outpost of civilization near the border to the South Slope of the Uintas and the wilderness, suggests the uniform of the day always be accompanied by a good poncho.

In most cases, those who come looking to ride into the high country do it in concert with throwing flies or spinners at fish in one of the lakes. Fishing in some areas of the Uintas is like receiving a free pass to a hatchery. If there isn't a bite on every cast, it's because the fish are probably bumping into each other on the way to the fly.

For Carol Olsen and her children, Jared and Megan, the trip was a time to remember their husband and father. He had visited the Chain Lakes area, located about an hour's ride from camp, many times when he was young. An accident nine years ago, however, limited his mobility. As a family, they had talked of returning to the area. His death two months ago prompted the family to fulfill those plans.

It was, said Carol Olsen, nice to experience the wilderness and be able to watch her children do the same. Better yet, she added, "There were no TVs, no radios, no telephones."

Some lakes are so remote, in fact, the fish in them have likely never seen a human shadow over the water's surface.

But there are those people who come for other reasons, said Baltz, including the opportunity to bond with their horse and to absorb some of the scenery.

"It's all here, anything you want — fishing, scenery, solitude, a little relaxing time in a hammock with a good book and the horseback riding. People do like to ride horses in this country. A lot of those who do are surprised by the ruggedness … and are taken back by sheer beauty," he explained.

There are advantages of going into the high country on horseback. First, it's less work, and second, it allows more time to enjoy the scenery. The downside for those used to riding in bucket seats is those muscles closest to the saddle usually put up a strong protest.

The Uintas are the only major mountain range in North America to run east-to-west, not that it's obvious from the ground. They also hold Utah's highest peak — Kings Peak at 13,528 feet.

The ride begins after breakfast at the U Bar Ranch, a historical landmark built in 1932 and modernized after Baltz and his company, Rocky Mountain Recreation of Utah, headquartered in Park City, bought it in 1992.

About three miles into the ride, along the Uinta River, a series of steep switchbacks leads riders into a heavily forested area. From there it's only a few miles to camp.

One thing Baltz introduced into his trips is what he jokingly calls "luxury camping." Customers sleep on cots in a wall tent, dine on prepared meals around the fire and sip hot drinks in the morning. And all this in country so remote cell phones won't even work.

The main camp is in Krebs Basin, one of nine basins in the much larger Uinta Drainage. Camp is located in a grove of trees near Island Lake. It is usually here where fishermen, anxious to fish, hit the ground with rod and reel in hand and begin casting for brook trout.

There are times when this lake, usually calm and flat, turns into a kaleidoscope of ripples caused by feeding fish.

Within an hour's ride from camp, there are five more lakes offering similar fishing for rainbow and cutthroats.

A wide range of fly patterns work. A good mosquito, ant or nymph imitation, however, tends to be more attractive to these high-mountain feeders.

True, fish in the high-mountain lakes tend to be smaller. Colder water shortens the annual growing cycle. In some of the lesser-fished lakes, however, where some of the granddaddies tend to hang out, Baltz said he's caught fish up to three pounds. "It's all in knowing where to go and where to fish," he said, pausing to cast a smile in the listeners' directions.

Most of the fish caught are released, but a few make it to the skillet, there to be joined by lots of melted butter, salt and a squeeze of lemon. Very few fish, said Baltz, are packed out with the gear and taken home. Fish never taste as good as when they are fresh and cooked over an open fire in the Uintas.

The Krebs camp is closest to the ranch. There are other campsites. One, in Atwood Basin, requires between seven and eight hours of riding time. It is in Atwood, explained Baltz, "where some of the largest trout are found."

The minimum stay for an all-inclusive trip is three nights, four days. Some people have arranged to stay up to nine days. Many people, said Baltz, try and arrange for longer stays.

The all-inclusive trip includes meals, shelter, guides, horses and fishing tips. Required equipment for the customer includes clothing, sleeping bag and fishing gear.

With the trip at an end, decisions are no less easy — prolong the moment with one more cast, another look at the countryside, a quick raid on the mess tent for a fresh biscuit or, again, slap leather and head home.

For information on horse-pack trips into the Uintas call 800-303-7256