Exploring Central Nevada-Part 1: Hot Springs

 In mid-June I got a hankering to go exploring. I took some time off off work, and we loaded up, the kids, the au pair, the dog, and me. We headed west on U.S. 50, lunched in Ely, and then took a quick stop at Illipah Reservoir, where the wind was fierce.

Just a little bit further on, we stopped on the side of the road to let these huge oversize loads go by. They definitely take up more than one lane! Being in a mining state, this is a fairly frequent sight on the highways.

After a swim in Eureka's pool, we continued on and exited the highway to head to Potts' Hot Springs, also called Monitor Hot Springs. We found the old Potts ranch and stopped to enjoy the view.

It was still nice and green out in the meadows, and the late afternoon sunlight was gorgeous.

The road to Potts' Hot Springs was marked as 'No Public Access,' so we respected that and continued on to Diana's Punch Bowl, which was about 30 minutes away. I had previously visited this spectacular site, and was eager to return. The sun had already set by the time we arrived, so we set up camp at the base and then wandered up to observe the hot spring under the full moon. Diana's Punch Bowl is a 30-foot deep cauldron that's about 50 feet in diameter. It rises off the valley floor, seemingly without rhyme or reason. The evening primrose was blooming right on the edge. The water in it is reportedly very hot, about 170 degrees F, so we didn't want to go in.

Our camp was simple, and I love primitive camping in the middle of nowhere. We heard some coyotes howl in the night, but no sounds of civilization. It was wonderful.

I awoke early and got some sunrise photos of Diana's Punchbowl.

It was just cool enough that steam was rising. And the full moon was setting.

 With one angle, I captured a lot of steam.

Then I wandered down over the other side, and the shooting stars caught my eye.

The hot water in the nearby creek is cool enough to soak in, but it's not very deep. It looks like at one time someone worked to improve it, but now it's in a fairly natural state.

Orange algae dotted one end, and steam rose along the channel.

I went back to camp and everyone got up and ate. Then it was to the top for a group photo.

Our next destination was to the Toquima Campground, which was totally empty. We set off on the quarter-mile trail to Toquima Cave. I admired the buckwheat on the way.

The trail meandered through the pinyon-juniper to some cliffs.

I got distracted again by flowers!

When I caught up to the kids and Charlie, Desert Boy was scaling the huge gate over the entrance. The kids were so happy to climb.

Through the gate we could see some amazing pictographs. Some call these the best pictographs in the Great Basin. It's very unusual to see yellow coloring in pictographs.

We admired them for awhile, speculating on what they mean. Then we headed back to the vehicle and continued over the pass to Big Smoky Valley to Spencer Hot Springs.

After we soaked in the pool for awhile, we wandered around to check out the other hot springs. The trough was too hot for me, but the others could handle it.

After a bit, we had our fill and headed to Austin for a break at the playground. Austin has the best playground I've seen along Highway 50, and as an added bonus, some folks stopped with their dog, and Maggie had the best hour playing.

Next up...on to fossils and ghost towns!

Snowy Ascent of Wheeler Peak, June 2017

I wanted to climb Wheeler Peak while it still had snow, but I didn't want it to take all day. My solution? Get up at 4 a.m. and start! I was at Stella Lake for a beautiful sunrise, and have to admit that I spent more than a few minutes taking photos.

Then I went around the lake and crossed this snow slope with crampons on. Except they weren't adjusted quite right, so I had some problems, and was slow.

When I got to a melted out patch, I found these interesting flowers. (And still haven't had time to look them up!)

Then it was on to more snow. The top of the couloir doesn't look that far, right?

Getting closer! I kept switchbacking up that gully for what seemed like a very, very long time. It was over 1,000 feet elevation gain.

The lake kept getting smaller and smaller. And I reminded myself that I would have a very fun time going down all this snow.

At the top of the couloir, it was time for rocks. The wind had blown most of the snow away. So I switched from my mountaineering boots to my approach shoes, which made it easy to go up the rest of the way.

I did find more snow at the very top.

But even there I found bare ground. I took a couple selfies to prove I was there.

Then I walked the ridge so I could enjoy the views. Here's looking south towards Baker Peak and Mount Washington.

And coming back, this is the ridge between Wheeler and Baker peaks.

I found the mailbox had been kind of crushed by falling rocks. I forced the door open and left my name in a little notebook.

Then it was time to head down. It was getting windier, and I even got blown down once.

The best part was the 1,000 foot glissade down the couloir. I kept my camera in my pack, though, as I wasn't sure how fast I would go and was holding on tight to my ice axe. It was so much fun going down.

I got down to the lake in good time and in great spirits. The early morning hike up the mountain was just what I needed. And hopefully that has helped acclimatize me for the season! It usually seems that the first mountain climb of the year is the hardest. It's now possible to climb the mountain with hardly any snow on the trail. Before long more flowers will be blooming, making the hike more colorful.

First 2017 Hike to Stella Lake, Great Basin National Park

 June rolled around, which meant that the temperatures were warming up and the kids didn't have school, so we could go on a fun hike. Jenny and I joined forces and took the kids up the Wheeler Peak Scenic Drive. We had heard that there wasn't much snow on the Summit Trail, which goes by Stella Lake, whereas the other high trails had lots of snow on them.

As we walked, I noticed the horizontal lines on this limber pine. What created them?

 If you guessed sapsucker, you're right. The woodpecker is looking for insects.

We still found some snow on the trail, along with aspen trees with teeny tiny leaves.

This is one of my favorite parts of the trail, it's like we're going through an aspen tunnel. The trees have bent trunks because of the weight of the snow pushing them down.

We emerged from the aspens to a meadow filled with snow buttercups.

One last snow drift to hike over...

...and then we were at the historic dam at Stella Lake. The dam was built back when the Osceola Ditch was being built (about 1890s) to increase the capacity of the lake and thus the ditch. I don't think it worked too well.

On the other side of the lake we saw where snow banks were collapsing into the lake.

Desert Boy wanted to make a raft out of logs.

Before long this progressed into Desert Girl testing out how waterproof her snow boots were.

She wasn't being the best role model for Willow.

But I don't think Willow cared.

The boys were trying out a potential boat. They all said that the water wasn't that cold. We reminded them that there was snow on the other side, but that didn't dissuade them.

Since it was a warm day, they kept playing in the water.

Even Ava, who wasn't feeling that great, got in on the action.

Desert Boy tried rowing his log. It didn't work out well.

Charlie was building a dock and the kids decided to bring some more logs over.

It was fun watching everyone just playing.

Although I was getting cold just watching Desert Boy!

Then he fell off.

The kids finally got cold on the hike back. Maybe the snow drifts finally made them realize that it's not quite summer at 10,400 feet?

Jenny asked for this photo in the meadow with Wheeler Peak in the background. Nice. I think it's going to be a summer with lots more hikes! Hurray!