 Becky
made the plan, Jay brought four of his llamas, and Natalie, April, Dave and Shaun joined
them for a hike to Ostler and Amethyst Lakes in the High Uintahsover the 4th of July weekend, 2003. >> Jay coaxes Yagermeister reluctantly through some rocks as we finally arrive at Ostler Lake. The llamas were out of shape and tired after hauling around 80 pounds each for 6 miles of trail and several thousand feet of elevation. Sometimes "coaxing" meant a fiesty tug-of-war. |
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 Ostler-jima.
Shaun, Jay and Dave hoist the flag pole over camp. A billion stars in the sky,
invisible from the city, served as our fireworks show. |
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 More camp shots:Dave cuts firewood with the chain saw. |
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 Jay shows
off his sno-cone made from crystal light and a nearby snow drift. |
While carrying a 40 pound pack up the trail, Shaun sometimes wondered what the difference was in bringing llamas. Falling asleep on this pad, along with all the gourmet food, kicking back in Dave's lawn chairs, and slurping cold watermelon on warm afternoons reminded him frequently. |
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Natalie & Becky above Ostler. |
 Jay and Shaun
stopped to cast a line or two in lakes along the way. |
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 The llamas
enjoy grassy fields near camp. |
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 Amethyst
Lake. Dave and Natalie dove off the 10' cliffs on the far side while Shaun, Jay and
Becky pulled small brookies from the water on wooly buggers, flying black ants, and
mosquitoes. |
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 >> We left Amethyst in time for Jay,
Shaun and Natalie to hike to a small lake below Ostler where Jay had pulled a dozen fish
from the water the night before, dragging them in on nearly every cast. Tonight was almost
as good.
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 After another beautiful night, we ate
gourmet French toast for breakfast, held a brief church meeting, packed up and headed down
the trail. |
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 After lunging through a rock pile, Jag
stubbed his toe and scared himself. With his ears back and teeth showing, he seemed
to be crying like a 5 year old. Jay informed us that his teeth were showing because
he had spit, and it's no back-of-the-throat kind of material, but more like vomit, which
doesn't taste great. The face he's making here says "yech!" |
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Parting shot. Sponsored by: |
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West and
wewaxation at wast! Massages and fine cuisine around the fire were daily fare in the
camp kitchen.
Natalie and Becky prepare breakfast.
Dave and April
lounge around camp on Shaun's twin-size air mattress. 
On day 2,
we left camp for Amethyst Lake, perhaps the western Uintah's most popular hiking
destination. 
Shaun's
"$100 fish" - the first caught after spending ninety five bucks on fishing gear
and license. The next brook trout was the $50 fish and so on.
<< Shaun poses with yet another.
On the
way down, Andy was in a big hurry to get home and was wearing out the other llamas with
his speed. Jay suggested we add some weight to his pack, and Shaun was more than happy to
pitch in and supply the weight in the form of his pack, which they quickly tied on.
