Perfectly Level
Christmas Meadows // Burnt Pancakes and tiny fish
Nights out: 1 Miles driven: 187 Soundtrack: weezer, Weezer(GOLD)
Good friends, bad fishing, burnt pancakes, and nowhere else to be.
Day 1
Back to the Uintas, this time to camp next to a creek to try my hand at tricking a fish into eating a fake bug. It’s been most of a decade since I have been fly fishing. In the last few weeks, I’ve dusted off the rod, organized my flies, and tried to remember all the knots. The thing I haven't done is catch many fish. That was all about to change, hopefully.
I loaded the kids and gear into the Bronco and headed for the hills. We ended up meeting Caleb, Evan, Coby, and Stevie for a night in the woods at Christmas Meadows. The drive was longer than our usual hour-long trip from the house, and the convoy of drivers, apparently in a slow race, was impressive. We pulled into a spot Caleb had already found, parked, and started setting up the tarp. Rain looked imminent.
The spot I happened to park the Bronco ended up being perfectly level — no rocks or blocks needed. That was a magical first for me. No driving back and forth on top of leveling blocks to find the perfect combination. As soon as camp was set up, we grabbed our fishing gear and headed to a nice little pool just around the next bend of the river. We zipped flies back and forth for an hour with no luck. I won’t pretend to know shit about fishing, but from what I hear, it’s a tough season — low flows and warm water. Or at least that will be my excuse.
We fished in the rain most of the afternoon and then hid out under the tarp when it got really rough. It’s been a soggy summer in the Uintas. Monsoon season has been really productive this year. My tarp setup has come in handy more than a handful of times. It’s funny that a cheap $30 piece of plastic fabric, some paracord, and a little know-how have been the difference between being miserable and comfortably drinking a beer while the sky tears itself apart.
The storm cleared, the skies turned blue, and we sat around the fire watching the sunset in our little valley we called our own for the night. I climbed into my tent just as it started to rain again. I quickly fell asleep to nature’s sound machine — the sound of rain on tent fabric.
Day 2
Apparently it rained most of the night. There’s something special about waking up after a wet night. It feels calm and clean. Like the night washed away the day before and set the stage for a new one. I made coffee, grabbed a Rice Krispies treat, and my camera. When I opened the camera bag, I discovered a small, shiny, black-and-red, eight-legged friend had moved into the space with my favorite lens. A quick pest control later, I hit the river — hoping my luck would be better in the morning.
I fished a few holes for an hour or two with varied success. The kids “helped” by throwing rocks into the river to scare the fish toward my fly. Miraculously, I landed one fish. And it was one for the record books — because of how small it was. I went to set the hook and launched the little thing behind me onto the bank. Can you imagine? You’re eating an ant breakfast and the next thing you know, you’re teleported to a different fishy time zone? Interesting life.
After fishing, I burnt some pancakes, doused them in syrup, and scarfed them down. We sat in the sun with nowhere to go and nothing to do — my favorite kind of late morning. I took a quick dip in the river before packing up and hitting the road home. Setting the stage for a new week.
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Yes. Christmas Meadows is a popular camping area in the western Uintas, with established campgrounds and access to nearby forest roads and dispersed camping areas. It’s a great base for fishing, hiking, and exploring the Stillwater Fork drainage.
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Yes. Stillwater Fork runs through the Christmas Meadows area and offers accessible fly fishing for trout. Conditions can vary a lot through the summer, especially when flows get low and water temperatures rise.
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Christmas Meadows is relatively easy to reach compared with many more remote areas of the Uintas. The main access road is suitable for normal vehicles in good conditions, with additional dirt roads branching off for exploring and accessing campsites.
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Cool nights, afternoon thunderstorms, and rapidly changing mountain weather are all common. A tarp or other rain shelter is worth bringing, even when the forecast looks decent. The area also offers easy access to the river, meadows, and plenty of places to spend a slow morning doing absolutely nothing.
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Yes. Christmas Meadows works well for a low-key family trip because you can fish, explore along the river, wander nearby forest roads, or simply hang around camp without needing a big itinerary. It’s the kind of place where doing very little is kind of the point.
Keep Wandering
Murdock Basin: High-country camping, waterfalls, fishing, and another good excuse to disappear into the Uintas for a couple of days.
Alexander Lake: A quick overnight with questionable weather, quiet roads, and a campsite that made staying put feel like the right call.
Soapstone Basin: Family camping, tarp living, and a softer side of wandering around the western Uintas.
