Sacramento Pass Trails, White Pine County

 

An often overlooked, but awesome place to go, is the Sacramento Pass Recreation Area trail system. It's right off Highways 6 and 50 between Ely and Baker, NV. Along with trails there are two camping areas and a fishing pond. I went one Saturday to enjoy the trails. I wanted to get in a long run, so my plan was to run all the trails and make a big loop. 

I drove to the upper campground area and started on the trails in a clockwise direction. I enjoyed the beautiful wildflowers, including this phlox.

The trails are open to hiking, running, and mountain biking. I've done some mountain biking, and it is not easy, but it is fun and technical, with lots of tight turns and rocky sections. The Sac Pass Trail is the easiest of the three sections, but even that requires me to get off my bike many times.


For my run, I ran the Sac Pass Trail until I got to the junction with the Lucky Boy Trail. Then I took the next junction to the Mine Shaft Trail.


The trails are relatively well marked, but I was glad some bicyclists had been on a couple days before, leaving marks on the trail. 

Here's the beautiful dwarf lousewort. Not a pretty name, but a pretty flower!

And some nice twinpod.

The Mine Shaft trail makes a circle around a rocky hill. You head a ways south before the loop begins.

Then it's time to go towards the north, with Mt. Moriah in view.

After going through a pass to the east, you see Highways 6 and 50. Even though the highway is relatively close, you still feel pretty far away from civilization.

Some beautiful Astragulus (Milkvetch) was blooming.

And then you head south again and feel really isolated.

The trail gets really rocky in places.

The views are so great.

As the trail turns, it heads to some neat rock formations. This is an area with a wash, and if you need to bail, head up the wash for a major shortcut.

Instead, I kept going, and at the south end of the loop found this sturdy-looking gate.

Coming back around the west side was this impressive juniper.

This long rocky section is part of the trail.

And here's the cool rocky section from the up-wash side. This could make a cool camping area.

Next was a sagebrush area that was straighter and faster than many other parts of the trail.

It was nice seeing the snow-covered mountains.

Back on the Sac Pass Trail.

A few more rocky sections and twists and turns...

...going past a rocky alcove...

...and then it was back to the trailhead!

 

The campground amenities are nice.

Here's a map of the entire run. If you'd like to download the kml or gpx files, check out the Snake Valley Trails website.

Other things you can do at Sacramento Pass:

Fish

Mountain bike ride

Enjoy the night skies

Admire the amazing views

 Relax!

It's a great place to go, and relatively still undiscovered, although the campsites will fill up on holiday weekends.

Ward Charcoal Ovens State Historic Park, White Pine County

Ward Charcoal Ovens State Historic Park in White Pine County is a pretty cool place to visit.  Located east of Ely, Nevada, the charcoal ovens were built when silver mining was big in the area in the nearby Ward Mining District. They operated from 1876 to 1879.

Nearby pinyon pines and juniper trees were cut and put into the ovens. Then the ovens were heated and the wood turned into charcoal, which has a 96% carbon content. The charcoal was desired by the mines because it burned longer and hotter than wood.

I visited Ward Charcoal Ovens many years ago, but didn't have a return visit for many years, until the fall of 2017, before the Women in the Mountains Bicycle Clinic.


 On this visit, I wanted to check out some of the trails in the park. They have a nice trail network.

Here's a view of the riparian area. A small creek starts from springs in the park and then runs throughout the park.

There are some historic features that aren't preserved as well as the charcoal ovens.

Here's a view of the ovens from a higher vista on the trail.

I stayed in the campground, mainly so I could go take photos of the charcoal ovens at night. It was a fun photoshoot.

I didn't return to Ward Charcoal Ovens until Ely Outdoor Enthusiasts put on a trail run there in May 2019. What a terrific excuse to go back! They offered two- and four-mile runs. The kids signed up for the two-mile run and I did the four-mile run. Both courses were great, and we had a nice break in the rainy weather.  Here's a cool photo, courtesy of Ely Outdoor Enthusiasts, of the kids running:

I snapped a photo of the ovens during the race.

And then after the race, we went over to take a more relaxed look at them. Dogs are allowed on leash.


We went into the first charcoal oven.


It's so big! They could make a lot of charcoal in each oven, which was good, because sometimes it took 30 days of heating to make the charcoal. Then they had to let it cool, and on a calm day open the door. If it was too windy, they risked having the charcoal ignite and all their hard work literally go up in flames.

When the sun is shining, it makes for some spotlights in the ovens.

Another cool part of the ovens is the amazing lichens growing on them. They are now very colorful.

The entrance fee to Ward Charcoal Ovens is only $5 per vehicle. These are some of the best preserved charcoal ovens in the American West. I'm already looking forward to my next visit!

Chihuahuan Desert and Guadalupe Peak

 

I went to Carlsbad Caverns, which most people think of as a huge, amazing cave. And it is. But it's under some pretty terrific landscape, the Chihuahuan Desert. It's not super eyecatching at first, but when you start looking, you see quite a variety of plants. Agaves predominate, and the lechuguilla agave is endemic to the Chihuahuan Desert.

I didn't actually spend much time on the surface of Carlsbad. After a full day in the cave, I headed to nearby Guadalupe Mountains National Park and spent the night with a friend.

We had a lovely evening catching up and then she had to leave for work very early the next morning. So good to see you, Carolyn!

Since it was really early and I had a lot of energy, I decided to tackle a trail run. And not just any trail run, why not Guadalupe Peak? It's the highest peak in Texas at 8,751 ft (2,667 m). The trail starts 3,000 feet below and 4.2 miles away. Well, that sounded a lot like hiking Wheeler Peak in Great Basin National Park, just starting 5,000 feet lower. I've recently signed up for a high elevation marathon, so I needed to get training, and this sounded ideal.

The trail quickly switchbacked up the mountainside, and I enjoyed great views into the Chihuahua Desert.

After about 1.5 miles, the trail went to the north side of the mountain, and I saw trees! The protection from the hot sun creates a nice microclimate.

The trail also flattened out a bit, making running a lot more manageable.

After running through the trees and more switchbacks, past a campground, I came back out on the south side to more wonderful views.

 

And then finally I was at the top! I passed two people on the way up and was the first one on the peak that morning.

I put on my jacket, as it was very windy, and took a selfie with El Capitan in the back.

This rock used to be a barrier reef during the Permian time period, and fossils abound.

After about 10 minutes alone at the top, a nice guy joined me.

 

We talked a bit, then I was getting cold, so I headed to the subpeak and then down.

The views of El Capitan and beyond were amazing.

 It was quite a bit faster going down. I had a better view of this bridge.

I passed 22 people on the way down. It was a great run, even though I wasn't super fast. It made me feel like maybe signing up for the marathon wasn't too stupid of an idea. And it was great getting to know the high country in the Chihuahua Desert a little better.

If you go, go early in the day, I can see how this could be a very hot hike. And enjoy the views!