

Hike Mount Watson and Notch Mountain via Three Divide Lakes Loop Uinta-Wasatch-Cache National Forest, UT

Starting out from the Crystal Lakes Trailhead.


Mount Watson obscured by trees on the left.

Cliff Lake.

Cliff Lake, Mount Watson visible center.

Cliff Lake, as we near its northern side.

The cliff at Cliff Lake.

Mount Watson.

Cliff Lake behind us as we ascend on a rocky section of trail.

Another minor lake (Petit Lake) along the trail.


Watson Lake, Mount Watson visible center. The trail continues to the right around Watson Lake, but we instead took a social trail around the left side of the lake to access the peak.

Looking back toward Watson Lake.

Starting the ascent toward Mount Watson. In the distant center, you can see Reids Peak and Bald Mountain. On the left is Notch Mountain, which we will do after Mount Watson.

Ascending some Class 2 and grassy slopes on the way up toward Mount Watson.

Mount Watson and its fun southern ridge.

View back toward Watson Lake, Wall Lake behind it, Notch Mountain top left.

Another shot back toward Watson Lake and the lovely peaks of the eastern Uinta.

Some Class 2+/3 as we ascend Mount Watson. The ridge required some fun minor route-finding to work around cliffs and vegetation.

Class 3 section. It might be avoidable, but it's fun.

Class 2 upper portion of the Mount Watson southern ridge.

View southwest, Long Lake in the center and Haystack Mountain on the left.

Another view along the ridge toward Watson Lake (bottom) and Wall Lake (center).

Final push to the Mount Watson summit.

View back along the ridge.

Gorgeous views from the summit of Mount Watson.

Heading down Mount Watson's north ridge. Clyde Lake is visible below (the long one).

Class 2 descent from Mount Watson.

Our route would lead off the grassy slope from Mount Watson (center), and down to the stretch of land between Clyde Lake (right) and Booker Lake (center).

Class 2 descent, working around some minor cliffs. We headed to the strip of land in the center of this photo.

Gorgeous wildflowers.

Along the strip of land. Notch Mountain visible center.

Looking back toward Mount Watson as we pass by North Twin Lake.

At the base of Notch Mountain, known as "The Knotch", looking up at the scramble along Notch Mountain's west ridge.

Class 3 move along Notch Mountain's west ridge.

Looking back at Matt coming up the Class 3 move, Mount Watson top center.

Above the Class 3 move, continuing on Class 2 talus along what we considered the path of least resistance. I recommend staying low for a while to avoid the worst of the talus.

Looking back as we ascend the Class 2 talus.

Wider shot of our progress, Mount Watson in the center.

Notch Mountain ahead.

As we neared the summit, we kept to the ridge to avoid vegetation.

View back along the wide ascent to Notch Mountain.

Notch Mountain summit, view east toward Reids Peak and Bald Mountain.

Back at the base of the Class 3 (at The Notch) move from Notch Mountain, we located the Notch Mountain Trail and followed it back.

A junction: right leads to Clyde Lake, left back to the trailhead.

Some very nice scenery along the Notch Mountain Trail.




At the southern end of Wall Lake, Mount Watson visible above.

Looking back toward Notch Mountain. You can see "The Notch" on the left.

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