Weekend in the Uintas

We had a blast this weekend.

A month or so ago, we had the Bear River Lodge ask if we’d like to come and stay. They’d let us have a free night in exchange for getting word out about their property. We weren't sure how much it would help our business, but we know that we love the Mirror Lake Highway, and we were down for an opportunity to check out their cabin. As we worked the details out, we realized that they wanted to let us stay in their Family Reunion Suite, which sleeps over 20! That was okay by us. We could spend a night in king beds with two stoves and 8 bathrooms. There’d be a few other perks two. Of course, part of the deal was that we visit in the offseason. We decided to go up for a Saturday in November before it got too cold. They also offered us a Christmas tree permit and access to a side-by-side, so that we could go for a ride. 
 
When the big day came, the weather was beautiful, but cold. The weather report said that the Uintas were getting down to single digits at night. Luckily, it’d be in the upper 40’s during the day. We loaded up the warm clothes and left around 10 o’clock. 
 
Our first stop was Upper Falls in Provo Canyon. We love that hike, and the waterfall is beautiful, but we’d forgotten how steep the trail is! We were really huffing and puffing by the time we reached the waterfall. We’d run most of the way up, so we took it back nice and slowly.

Upper Falls is a great waterfall. 

 
We stopped again in Kamas at Hi Mountain for lunch. The hamburgers, fries, and shakes were really good, as always. It was a good thing, too, because the drive up to Bear River Lodge is still about an hour. We passed all of our favorite hikes, as the Bear River Lodge is almost in Wyoming. Our only other stop was at Provo River Falls, which was quite beautiful as it was mostly ice. We spent a little time looking at the series of waterfalls and still made it to check-in around 3 o’clock.

Seth found some new flavors of Zotz to try.

The frozen waterfall was lovely.

It was cool to see it all covered in ice.

This waterfall has lots of levels.

They were brave (or foolish) and walked on the ice.

After we got our stuff toted into the massive cabin, we hopped in the side-by-side and went for a short ride. The boys loved it, and a few of them got to drive, which was really exciting. We drove for about an hour, and the highlight was crossing the river. The water was only about a foot deep, but it was mostly ragged ice, and no water got up over the floorboards. 

It was our first time trying out a side by side.

We drove in the river, but didn't make the big river crossing.

It was beautiful in the mountains. 

By the time we got done with the ride, we were getting pretty cold. We’d bundled up really well, but the wind cut right through us. We parked the vehicle for the night and went back into the cavernous cabin. The boys played games and watched a movie while Mom got tacos ready for dinner.

There was a big swing at the lodge.

The kitchen is huge!

We took it easy after dinner, watching the BYU game and getting to bed late. That meant sleeping in the next morning. We didn't get up until after 9 o'clock. Then Mom made pancakes and we got all loaded up. We checked out, but we wanted one more drive on the side-by-side. This time, everyone took a little turn driving. Mom was really a natural, of course!

The sunset out the back window was beautiful.

We had fun watching the game.

After we turned in the vehicle, we had lunch at the outdoor grill. The food was amazing, and we enjoyed eating in the outdoor tent because we could see right through the walls. The boys even had a little snowball fight. Finally, we made the drive back through Evanston. It was a little shorter to go that way, but mostly, we wanted to see what was out the rest of the Mirror Lake Highway. As it turned out, nothing is!

Dax was surprised we let him drive.

Mark was a great driver. 

We had a ton of fun!