Backpacking to Ibantik Lake
On Friday morning July 14 2023 my daughter Eira and I left for a backpacking trip in the Uinta mountains. We hiked about 4.2 miles to Ibantik Lake. It was a beautiful hike, but carrying all of our camping gear made it exhausting. We’ve been camping several times but this was our first time backpacking in. After watching a lot survival shows on TV, like Alone, we wanted a bit of a challenge. Eira was in great shape thanks to her cross-country running.
Ibantik lake is a popular hiking and camping area. There were a handful of other camping groups at the lake when we arrived late Friday afternoon. I expected there to be other people, which can be a good thing in case you need help. Even though there were other people in the area, we had plenty of space and wilderness.
We brought fishing gear but apparently we had the wrong bait and lures. There were plenty of fish in the lake. We could see them rising. But we couldn’t catch anything. That was a little disappointing. We were hoping eat fish for dinner. On the other hand, I really don’t like killing and cleaning fish. So I guess it was ok. And we had backup food: the most delicious macaroni and cheese in the world, flavored by bits of oatmeal that was left in the camp pot from breakfast.
The mosquitoes didn’t bother us at all while we were hiking. I was amazed. But as soon as we stopped, especially near the lake, they would call their friends and suddenly appear. Luckily, before we left on this trip I stopped by Joann Fabrics and bought all of their remaining mosquito netting. We used it to drape over our hammocks.
The things you see flying around are not birds.
We stayed for 3 days, 2 nights. Originally we had planned to stay 3 nights, but by Sunday morning we felt like we had done everything we wanted. It was nice to come home and enjoy all the comforts we normally take for granted.
