Eastern Brook Lakes

Mary and I went for a quick hike up in Rock Creek Canyon. Being Saturday we figured there would be lots of people hitting the main trail into Little Lakes Valley, so we opted to visit the much less visited Eastern Brook Lakes. They're presumably named for the Eastern Brook Trout a non native species stocked in many of these lakes.

From the parking area it's a short, but steep push up to Serene Lake.

Well named!

Then another short stretch to the lower Eastern Brook Lake.

Mary crosses without incident.

Upper Eastern Brook Lake.

We found a nice spot near here. Mary knitted, I read, Bristle watched the ducks.

The high country has enjoyed a moist summer so the flowers were great for this time of year.

Bristle loves fetching sticks - as long as his paws don't leave the bottom!

Very quiet. Great temperatures. So pretty. Nice outing!

Piute Pass - Almost!

My friends Jim & Elysia were embarking on a backpack trip over Piute Pass and invited us along to day hike with them for their start. Brian and Kathleen joined too!

Elysia hikes along the stair section below Loch Leven.

Jim admires the Piute Crags

Loch Leven with Piute Pass on the horizon.

Down canyon

These meadows were lush and green thanks to a good monsoon year.

George Davis Peak above Piute Lake.

Decided to turn around just short of the pass when the weather moved in.

Lazin' around at our lunch/turn around spot.

Got a little light to moderate rain on the way down, but dried out by the time we reached the car.

Nice day in the hills was some fine folk!

Half Moon Pass

I've been feeling the need for more mountain time, so I elected to hike up Half Moon Pass near Rock Creek Lake.

I poked around looking for a trail at the Hilton Creek trailhead parking lot, but saw nothing so I followed a small creek up toward the pass. This quickly led to a splendid bushwhack through small aspen.

The brush cleared and the terrain opened up as I hiked higher. Nice meadow.

Fun cross country travel brought me to the base of the pass. Note the half moon shape, hence its name. Easy scrambling leads to the top.

The views from the pass were real nice. Rock Creek Lake to the east.

Golden Lake to the west.

On the descent I found a good use trail which avoided all the bushwhacking, but wasn't nearly as scenic. There was a sweet little garden along the way though.

Mr. Marmot struck a fine pose.

Happily I didn't have to wade through this thicket!

Nice short, but vigorous hike.

Great Basin National Park: Lehman Caves & Bristlecones

Our last day at Great Basin National Park we booked a tour of the Lehman Caves.

Fascinating!

These shields are renown in the Lehman Caves.

Popcorn

Ceiling vent.

Highly recommended!

At dusk we hiked up to the Bristlecone grove above the compground.
Not Bristlecones, but nice forest.

 Bristlecones! A few were dead but most had at least a little live growth to them.

We thought we might have missed out on the evening alpenglow owing to clouds on the western horizon, but we lucked out and enjoyed a great display.

Nice way to top off the trip!

Wheeler Peak

After hiking up Delano Peak we spent the next day moving over to Great Basin National Park. It's actually a relatively short drive from the Tushar Range. Three hours or so. 

Next day we elected to hike up Wheeler Peak. At 13,063' it is the second highest peak in Nevada only slightly shorter than Boundary Peak in the White Mountains close to our home.

We got an early start to beat the heat and the thunderstorms. This was our first full view of the peak (right).

The first couple of miles of trail climb gently in nice aspen and pine forest.

Then the trail breaks out into open meadows.

At tree line the views widen. Looking northwest into Spring Valley.

Soon we found ourselves in stark alpine terrain.

The trail is mostly quite good with a few sections of loose shale like this one.

This zone provides a nice respite before tackling the final slopes to the summit.

A huge chute descends from the summit all the way to the valley floor. Skiing anyone?

Just below the summit the trail steepens dramatically. The flowers brighten the mood though!

On top!

The view over to Jeff Davis Peak.

Views south along the spine of the Snake Range.

The east summit is definitely lower but nevertheless has this large cairn built on it.

On the descent we took our time and did a bit of flower sniffing!

At around 12,000' we spied this lone deer foraging!

The clouds built throughout the day but never organized into showers.

Feet up at camp afterwards!

Another fine day in the mountains of the Great Basin!