Short Jaunt Up Hendry's Creek, White Pine County

A great trail in Snake Valley is the Hendry's Creek trail. You'll need high clearance to get to the trailhead ( 39° 12.615'N, 114° 4.773'W), or just park a little farther down the two-track and walk up. The trail starts through sagebrush steppe and later enters the forest.

The unassuming Hendry's Creek trailhead is pictured above. The trail ultimately leads 11 miles up to the Table, a broad plateau under Mt. Moriah. The upper parts are usually snow covered until early June.

   

After the third stream crossing (there are many on this trail, so watch out during high water!), if you pause you can find four tree species. Do you see them in the photo?     

On the left is ponderosa pine, with its long needles. Behind it and darker green is Utah juniper. In the center back is pinyon pine. And on the right with the bristly branches is the big surprise, a bristlecone pine! Sometimes higher elevation trees will grow at lower elevations near creeks. Most bristlecone pines grow above 9,000 feet, so this one is about 3,000 feet lower than that!

The trail has some magnificent views of the quartzite cliffs that surround it.

  At 1.5 miles from the trailhead, you enter Mt. Moriah Wilderness Area.

Farther up, you see more and more ponderosa pines. I was on a trail run and turned around about 2 miles up. I wanted to keep going, but had people to meet. So I will go back again!

Added bonus, before we even got to the canyon, we saw seven bighorn sheep ewes by the rocky outcropping. I just had my phone camera, so the photo isn't too great. I was so excited to see them! They will head to higher elevations as the snow melts and more food becomes available.

2018 Snowy Birkebeiner Race in Ely, Nevada

 Saturday was the date for the annual Birkebeiner race sponsored by the Ely Outdoor Enthusiasts. We've had a lot of fun at the race in past years and planned to go, snow or not. It was looking like it might be a trail run rather than a cross-country ski race, but Friday night the big storm finally came! We woke up to about eight inches at our house, with reports of over a foot in the mountains.

Our close-knit community reported that a plow had been over the nearest mountain pass, so we decided to see if we could make it. The nearby roads had not been plowed at all, so I was glad we had four-wheel drive. When we got out to US Highway 6 & 50, and it had one lane plowed. Good enough. There wasn't any other traffic. At the pass, the road was plowed both directions. Here's the view at the top of the pass:

The roads were slick and snow was still falling, so even though we left early, we got to the race a little late. Fortunately they started it a little late because others were also having difficulties.

I signed up for the long course, 6.6 km (about 4 miles). Six of us braved the trail. The BLM was going to groom the trail that morning, but because of the government shutdown, didn't. So we took turns breaking trail.

When the front person in our group (one guy went way ahead and stayed ahead the rest of the race), got tired, they moved to the side and everyone continued on.

I was so winded from my turn I got pretty far behind the group. Here they are disappearing into the snow.

But it was fun having the trail all to myself for awhile. it was so beautiful with all the fresh snow. And I wasn't alone. I heard Clark's nutcrackers and mountain chickadees.

I even took a selfie. (I obviously wasn't too concerned about winning the race!)

When I finished, the kids had already started. Fortunately these independent kids were able to get their skis on, practice, and get themselves to the finish line. It helped that there were only three in the race. I skied on their route, waiting to see a skier. And Desert Girl was the first one I saw! She passed me, heading towards the finish line.

Then came Desert Boy. He wasn't in the best mood as his sister was in front of him.

But he persevered, grumbling.

The kids got to go down a hill at the end to the finish line.

Then it was time for awards. Desert Girl was so happy to have come in first. Desert Boy was grumpy.

But then we went and ate the lunch buffet at Twin Wok and he felt better.

It was so much fun doing the course with all the new snow! Ward Mountain Loop D should have a good ski trail on it if anyone wants a little exercise. And the other loops have fresh powder--a lot of it!

Thanks, Ely Outdoor Enthusiasts, for the great excuse to get outside!

Osceola Ditch Hike in Great Basin National Park

The Wheeler Peak Scenic Drive in Great Basin National Park recently opened to the Osceola Ditch, so I took the kids up one day to go hike the trail. I had mentioned the Osceola Ditch in my April Nevadagram post, and I wanted to see it again. The ditch was built from in 1889-1890 and covered 18 miles, from Lehman Creek, around the mountain to Mill Creek, Strawberry Creek, Weaver Creek, and over to Osceola. The ditch had a slight downhill grade to keep the water moving in the desired direction. Wooden flumes were built over rocky sections, and a tunnel was blasted through a hill near Strawberry Creek. The ditch managed to get water to Osceola for gold mining operations, but it didn't last long. Mild, dry winters meant less water for the ditch in 1892, and by 1901 the Osceola Ditch was abandoned. 

Today it's a nice trail from the pull off on the Scenic Drive to Strawberry Creek. The hike is 5.2 miles one-way, but we planned to just go as far as we wanted (or as far as I could get the kids to go). I enticed the kids with the promise of a snowball fight.

We found snow immediately, and the kids were delighted.

I got pelted, but had fun returning some snowballs.

Desert Girl also made a snow angel.

After we hiked 1/3 mile from the trailhead, we met up with the ditch. Most of the trail is easy, but Desert Girl wanted to take the hard way.

If there's an obstacle, she's there.

It's easy to imagine water running along the ditch. There are reports of miners fishing the ditch. The ditch probably helped Bonneville cutthroat trout get from Lehman Creek into Mill Creek. Decades later, Mill Creek served as a source population of Bonneville cutthroat trout for reintroductions into several other creeks.

Desert Boy found a fun rock outcropping along the way.

We took a time out for a grass fight.

I also enjoyed the flowers, like this tiny Blue-eyed Mary (Collinsia parvifolia).


Nearby was its frequent companion, slender phlox (Microsteris gracilis).


We kept hiking until we found snow blocking the way. Then the kids spent an awesome 20 minutes playing in the snow. It was at least a couple feet deep and they loved jumping into it and then unburying themselves.

On the way back we admired some of the wooden flume, now just pieces of wood.

It's a great trail to hike. It's one of the few that isn't steep, so that really makes it stand out. The history behind it is also fascinating. If you get far enough, a road parallels (or is on top of) the ditch, making the hiking even easier. Large snowdrifts often persist into early June. I'm thinking I will return to this trail later in the summer and see how it works for a trail run.

More Fun in Moab 2019

We enjoy visiting Moab, Utah periodically. One of the big attractions for us is the Moab Trail Marathon/Half-Marathon/Adventure 5K, which is held the first weekend of November. By that time life has usually slowed down a bit and we can escape for a weekend. We had a great time at the 2017 Adventure 5K and also did some fun activities afterwards (with links to previous Moab area adventures).

We left home in the morning and arrived in Moab late afternoon on Friday (many people had left by then, so it wasn't crowded). That was time to go into Arches National Park for a hike. We headed to Landscape Arch.

The kids thought hiking to Landscape Arch (which is only about a mile) was long enough, but I told them they had to experience the true Arches. We needed to continue on the primitive trail.

They grumbled, but we continued, and they found I was right (as usual, lol!). The primitive trail was super fun, with scrambling and steep drop offs. We walked right on top of a big fin. On the way back we explored a little, and had a great time. It was starting to get dark, so we made the most of our daylight!

After dinner, we headed to the motel (hotel points are fantastic for free nights!) and motel pool. Fun!

The next morning we were up early to go to the race. When I had signed us up, I was feeling energetic, and signed myself up for the half-marathon. However, due to travel and sickness, I had only managed a total of eight miles of training in the weeks leading up to the race. I figured I would go ahead and do it, although it might take me 3-4 hours to complete.

I had never been on the half-marathon route before. It had a variety of terrain, from rocky to sandy, from two-track to barely single track (we were sort of just running on ledges at one point), from ups to downs, but throughout the entire course, we had awesome scenery. It was hard because I hadn't trained well, and after the half-way point my body didn't really want to run, but it was so, so much easier than the Tushars Trail Marathon. And I ended up finishing right at 3 hours! I was a bit discouraged when I finished because so many people had passed me, but it turned out I finished 332nd out of 748 finishers. That made me feel a lot better.

My husband and Desert Girl were near the finish line when I came across, but Desert Boy was nowhere to be seen. It turned out he had taken a wrong turn on the 5k and run an extra 3 miles--in jeans. Yikes! He would have been a fast finisher otherwise. We enjoyed the yummy post-race food, then headed back to the hotel for more swimming (a wonderful way to work out some sore muscles!).

We all agreed no hiking for the day, but Desert Girl just had to go to the sand dunes across from the Arches NP entrance. We had never been, so we agreed. I figured I would just stay near the vehicle at the bottom.

 

But eventually she enticed me to go up to the top.

Our next stop was the Bar M Ranch bike trails. The kids couldn't wait to ride at the OK Corral, a free for-all bike part with little dirt hills. But after awhile, they had ridden all the obstacles successfully. It was time for a little challenge. So we went on one of the easiest bike trails. I had a big, fancy mountain bike, but Desert Girl had a street bike with no suspension. She did better than me! It's so great to see them enjoy being outside so much.

I wanted to try the paved bike trail from there back to Arches. It was super, with lots of mountain bike trails connecting to it. How nice to have paved trails so bicyclists don't have to ride on the highway! (We are trying to get one near where we live, but have run into a big stumbling block. Sigh.) I admired the camera post by the Arches National Park sign. People had left a couple rocks there to support cell phones.

Speaking of bike amenities, this fix-it station was in Moab.

We squeezed in church service on Saturday evening. It's always interesting going to churches in different places.

Sunday was our day to drive home, and although we had a long drive, we wanted to make a couple stops. The first was to see some dinosaur tracks at Copper Ridge, north of Moab. We turned off Highway 191 at the Klondike Bluffs sign (between mile markers 148 and 149), and followed the signs for 2 miles to this kiosk. We saw about a hundred people camping, most with bikes, scattered around the area.

The trail is very short to get to the tracks, although it is uphill. Then we were there and could see the giant impressions. It's so cool to imagine dinosaurs walking here.

We also saw smaller, turkey-like tracks.

We had one more place I wanted to stop that was sort of on the way home: Little Wildhorse Canyon near Goblin Valley State Park. We went there several years ago, but the kids didn't remember it.

It's a slot canyon in the San Rafael Swell, and it doesn't take long to hike to the narrow section. It's so much fun.

There are a few minor obstacles to go over. We eventually ran out of time and had to turn back. But we got a lot further than last time, the kids are so much better at hiking, and if it's not a typical hiking trail, they really enjoy it.

We had the canyon almost to ourselves on the way up, even though this is a very popular canyon. On the way back, we saw lots of people.

Nearby is the Temple Uranium Mine, so we took a quick look there. So much more to explore! Then we took a back way back to the Interstate, getting a flat tire on the way. It made for an interesting drive home, as it's really hard to get a flat tire fixed on a Sunday in rural Utah during hunting season! Fortunately we eventually made it home.

I'm sure we'll be back to Moab at some point, there's just so much to do there, and I feel like we've just barely scratched the surface.