Tucked alongside the classics of the western Uinta Range are a pair of peaks that receive only a small handful of ascents each year. They’re super accessible and less trafficked – making them exactly my style when time is short.
I first hiked A1 and Kletting in 2000 with a good friend when I was working in the Uintas for the summer. It’s difficult to believe that eighteen years can pass so quickly. It seemed unique that I revisited a peak(s) after such a long time – I usually either revisit a peak again and again or never again. Eighteen years is a lifetime and I spent much of the hike considering those past eighteen years and how old I’ll be in another eighteen. Daunting thoughts.
Last time we approached from a random spot on the Mirror Lake highway. We more-or-less picked a spot we thought was the most efficient and set about cross-country and climbed Kletting’s flank. I remember it being a quick climb albeit loose and unweildy at times. This time I wanted to log a few more miles and visit Hell Hole Basin – it seemed like a perfect morning run. There are apparently two trailheads and approaches and I chose the Christmas Meadows sub road. It was fine but appears to be the less used version as there were no footprints until reaching the trail junction a couple of miles up the road.
The miles leading up to Hell Hole Lake were largely unremarkable in Uintas style besides missing the trail as it left the road (small sign and kiosk on the right – at a bridge). Just before reaching the lake I caught wind of the standard Uinta sheep herd – a timeless smell. I turned the lake on the north and found a small sheep herder camp with several hundred head of sheep. I caught two of the herders outside of camp and spent ten minutes chatting in a mix of English and pigeon Spanish about the sheep, the mountains, and winters in Peru. I’ve always been drawn to this lonely lifeway and could have spent all day with these two guys. One with a huge, charismatic scar across his cheek.
The climb from Hell Hole Lake to Kletting was benign among sheep, the dwindling evergreens, and the smoked-in view. It felt remote despite the Mirror Lake Highway being just over the ridge to the west. I felt the elevation but the climb was easy and soon enough I was gazing into the Mirror Lake area. The summit of Kletting was a bit anti-climatic with it’s multiple mounding summits. With no summit register to mull upon I turned my attention east to the bigger prize – A1 – and was happy to put the Mirror Lake Highway in my my rear view. The traverse was longer than I remembered but far more beautiful with fantastic views into the depths of Kermush Lake and the backside of Hayden.
The summit of A1 was more climatic with past ventures in full panoramic view (Beulah; Lamotte Peak; Ostler; etc.). With the wildfire smoke blanketing the West the surrounding high peaks loomed like Modor. The meager summit register (in a Gatorade bottle) betrayed only a handful of ascents each year. Mine with the second or third this year. The old wooden stake I remembered on the summit was either rotten away or thrown from the summit. I always thought it was the perfect ‘stake and A1’ summit crown.
The descent from the peak and the run out was uneventful. I had wanted to follow the northern ridge of A1 out to the well pad but I was behind schedule and found myself trotting down the road back to the trailhead. I was back to Salt Lake by 3pm. Old memories revised. New memories in tow.
