Wet and Wild Graham Hike

The annual Graham family hike was wet and wild this year. Ok maybe not wild but definitely painful. Our latest adventure included a 2.5-mile hike in the beautiful Uinta Mountains where we traversed rocks and streams and made base camp at Notch Lake.

John, Andrew, Jason and myself piled in the Blood’s two-door Honda just after 9:00 am and headed for Kamas. We managed to squeeze three of our bulging packs into the surprisingly large trunk. The fourth pack sat with John and I in the backseat. It was defiantly a cozy ride.

We made it to the trailhead about 11 a.m. The fresh mountain air was cool and smelled great. A nice change from the valley sweltering heat. The hike was quite moderate, with much of it being downhill. When compared to last year’s hellish 8.5-mile excursion this hike was a peaceful jaunt.

On Thursday, we arrived at approximately 12:30 p.m. We were quite surprised to be the only ones at the Lake for such an easy hike in. After setting up camp, we circled the lake and explored the surroundings, which included a mild hike up the ridge immediately adjacent to the lake.


After a series of complex tests including tossing a rock of the ridge to calculate gravity speed, Jason and Andrew (our human calculators), estimated we were about 200 feet from the lake. a nice cliff jump for perhaps a more adventurous group.

After returning to camp, Andrew managed to find a nice flat slab of rock to play card games on. We played Rage, and Pounce. There’s nothing better than a friendly card game in the top of the mountains.

Jason prepared a wonderful cuisine consisting of ready-to-eat meals. The menu featured Chili Mac and Lasagna with Raspberry Crumble for dessert.

After dinner, we sat around the fire and engaged in an interesting discussion of the most influential books that we have read. Shortly after 10 we retired for the evening. At midnight the rain started to pitter-patter on the tent and continued till morning.

John fixed sausage and whole-wheat pancakes for breakfast, which prepared us for the assent up Notch Mountain. About an hour and a half later we made the steep climb over massive boulders to the peak.

The hike down was quite painful on the knees and hips but we all made it down without serious injury.

After the hike to the peak, the storm clouds gathered and rain fell off and on for the rest on the day. The rest of the day included donning ponchos, removing ponchos, repeat. Jason fished the lake for about three hours, which produced only one meager fish for his afternoon snack. I took a much-needed nap while rain continued to pour.

After my nap, John educated Andrew and I on handgun safety including the proper stance while firing and how to properly aim the weapon. After the some more instructions we wandered out into the woods for target practice. We scrounged up a plastic applesauce container and a peanut wrapper for targets and propped them up against a fallen tree trunk.

John fired first and nailed both targets. The noise from the gun was ear shattering. None of us had ear protection and our ears rang for hours after shooting. Andrew stepped up next and fired a couple of slugs deep into the old tree.

I fired last and was surprised to hit both targets spot on. I have never been much of a shot when it comes to firing guns but with some luck and great instruction on proper aiming technique from John I went two for two.

Thunder and lightning rumbled through the camp for much of the evening. About dinnertime, a few scout groups had trickled in and set up camps around the lake. The clouds parted just long enough for us to peer into the heavens for nice round of stargazing. Campfire discussion consisted of everyone sharing their favorite comedy movies.

It rained pretty much the rest of the trip. The next morning we all arose around 7 a.m. and broke camp. Packing up in the rain is never fun but we managed, and were on the trail by 9. It was quite surreal hiking out in the pouring rain. John agreed, by saying afterwards he had never had such a wet hiking experience. Besides the rain the hike out was nearly entirely uphill which wasn’t easy on the sore knees and hips. We all made it just after 10 and started the two-hour trip home.

Overall the trip was beautiful, relaxing, wet, and exhausting all at the same time. If nothing else, we all went home appreciating our nice warm beds, our dry homes, our clean water from the tap, toilets, and our sweet wives.

There have already been talks about next year’s plans and I for one hope the annual Graham hike continues for years to come.