Uintah - Island/Snow Lake

UPDATE 8-20-2009:
Checked on the weather again this afternoon and it should be an absoutely beautiful weekend! Checked weather for Park City, UT...Kamas, UT...Dutch John, UT...and Mountain View, WY and all of the aforementioned are expected to see mid to upper 80's during the day and low 50's at night (Park City will get down to the upper 40's) - there are some scattered thunderstorms predicted for Sunday and it will cool off to the low 70's upper 60's on Sunday afternoon/evening (30% chance of precip), but we should be back down the mountain by then.

NOTE: Still a good idea to bring rain gear and lots of bug spray!

UPDATE 8-16-2009:
Just checked the weather on Accuweather (Mountain View, Wyoming is the closest town) and it looks like it should be a beautiful weekend. Mid 70's to 80's on Friday and through most of the weekend with nightly lows in the mid 40's. It does indicate that there is a 30% chance of precipitation...with a few scattered showers here and there, so everyone will want to bring rain poncho's for sure. This is the Uinta's, and weather can change on a dime so I'll update this again on Thursday.

There are a few people that want to just meet up at the trailhead, it is about a 2.5 hour drive from the Park and Ride, and we will probably be pulling away at about 8:00 AM so I would plan on being at the trailhead at about 10:30 AM. To get to the trailhead, you'll want to take highway 414 from Lonetree, Wyoming about 12-13 miles south and you will see a sign (at about mile 10 start watching closely the sign comes up on you pretty fast) for Hoop Lake and a dirt road that turns off the 414 heading south. Follow the dirt road all the way to Hoop Lake - there are a couple of Y's in the dirt road, and you should stay on the main dirt road (it seems like you want to stay left at each Y). When you get to Hoop Lake, don't go into the main campground - which is on the Northwest Shore of Hoop Lake, take a left (heading east) when you come upon Hoop Lake and go down on the road that is to the East of the Lake. You should see a large turn-around area, a little horse unloading ramp, and one bathroom. We'll gather there.

Also, just another plug to make sure to bring plenty of bug repellant...this year’s mosquito crop is quite ferocious.

UPDATE 7-20-2009:
Over the weekend I hiked from Hoop lake to Kabell lake, which is about 2 miles away from Island Lake. I had planned to go all the way to Island lake, but I got a late start and decided to cut it short at Kabell. The hike is amazing...extremely scenic with a lot of variation (heavy woods, meadows, ponds, etc.)...there is a decent amount of elevation gain during the first couple of miles, so be ready for a bit of leg burn. Not bad though.

Kabell Lake was amazing! Straight out of a picture book. It is a small lake with a spring flowing into it, sheltered by mountains on three sides. The lake had a ton of pan-sized cut-throat trout (I caught more than I could eat and ended up throwing a lot back), and a few brookies. The temperature was perfect (in the high 70's during the days and upper 40's mid 50's at night), and even though many hiking books say that Kabell is heavily used, during the entire weekend I didn't see another person.

So for August 21st, I am planning on taking a group up starting that Friday morning, and will probably make a stop at Kabell Lake for anyone who wants to do the shorter hike, and then take any that want to go on to Island Lake the rest of the way in, and then meet back up with the Kabell group on the way out Sunday afternoon.

A few notes:
Kabell Lake is about 19 acres, you could hike around it in about 45 minutes...Island Lake is much larger (looks like a couple hundred acres or so on the map) - just to give a little perspective.

There are a number of small lakes around Island Lake that look very interesting. Round Lake is about .5 mile and show lake is another .5 mile. Niether have marked trails, so a compass will be necessary to get to either of those (I have excellent maps, so a good compass or decent GPS should be sufficient).

According to the Park Ranger there have been no nuisance bears reported at all this year...but...

...the mosquito's are ferocious! You will want to bring plenty of bug spray (not exaggerating).

DETAILS:
Dates: Leaving Friday Morning (August 21) and returning Sunday Afternoon/Evening (August 23rd)
Distance: 5.5 miles each way to Kabell - 7.5 to Island Lake.
Difficulty: Moderate
Approx. Hiking Time: 5 hours to Kabell and 7.5 hours to Island (each way) about half that on the way back because of the elevation loss.
Destination Elevation: 10,777 feet
Elevation Gain: About 1,700 feet
Trailhead: Hoop Lake
Nearest Town: Mountain View Wyoming

Kids Allowed: Not on this trip
Dogs Allowed: Yes

We will meet at the Millcreek Canyon Park and Ride at 7:30 AM. The drive to the trailhead is about 3 hours.

According to the manual, there is good camping and fishing as well as good spring water near Island Lake, and the fishing (especially cutthroat) and water is good around snow lake as well (although the camping is limited).

Thanks!