We stumped up the trail to a chained livestock gate that spanned the narrow track. My back protested at bearing the weight of seven days’ provisions. We finished securing our packs and shrugged them onto our shoulders. What really sets the Uintas apart is their vastness and variety. Wolverines have even been spotted roaming these forests. The forests here are home to a menagerie of creatures including black bears, mountain lions, mountain goats, bighorn sheep, lynx, and pine marten. Dense forests, alpine meadows, and innumerable lakes bespeckle the Uintas’ sprawling landscape. It isn’t these mountains’ geographical orientation that sets them apart. However, as many as forty other ranges within the U.S. Some guidebooks and websites have tried to boost the Uintas’ uniqueness by claiming that they’re one of only two east-west running mountain ranges in the Unites States (supposedly sharing that honor with the venerable Brooks Range in Alaska). The Uinta Mountains are an east-west running offshoot of the Rocky Mountains. Uinta Canyon receded northwards into the clouds like a giant geological rain gutter. As we unloaded gear from our cars, I surveyed the scene ahead. The trail begins near the outskirts of the U-bar Ranch. In the distance, a black island of cloud hung doggedly above the Uintas’ rounded peaks. About half an hour before reaching the trailhead, the clouds retreated and yielded to beautiful sun and patchwork blue. Weather in the Rockies is famous for its quicksilver disposition. The windshield wipers fought a losing battle with the deluge I tried to mentally prepare by telling myself that this was only a foretaste of things to come. It was August, and angry thunderheads gathered as I drove toward Uinta Canyon Trailhead.
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