Snake Creek Overlook Trail, Great Basin National Park

With family in town and ready to stretch their legs, we headed up Snake Creek. At first we thought we would do the Serviceberry Loop trail, but decided we didn't have enough time. So we started on the Snake Creek Overlook trail (highlighted in orange on the map), a trail I wasn't familiar with.

It starts at the end of the Snake Creek road, on the same trailhead as Dead Lake. It's a lollipop hike, with a straightaway, then a loop, and then back to the straightaway to return.

The trail veers off from the Dead Lake trail and crosses the creek to go to a couple walk-in campsites, which were occupied.

There are even picnic tables and fire grates at the walk-in sites.

We finally remembered to do a "before" shot.

We followed an old road up to a sign that showed we were at the loop section. We didn't know if there was a better direction to go, so we arbitrarily went left.

Lots of Oregon grape aka creeping mahonia (Mahonia repens) was blooming.

At the top of the loop is this huge dead ponderosa pine. Some live ponderosa pines are nearby. 

We thought the overlook would be at the top, but didn't see anything, so we started hiking down.

Then we found a bench with a glimpse of Pyramid Peak.

From here, the trail was back to an old road, so was more gradual.

I enjoyed seeing the manzanita (Arctostaphylos patula) blooms.

Desert Boy is going to be doing an internship at Great Basin National Park this summer, so I thought it might be good to see what he knows. Could he match the foliage with the pinecone?

Do you know what each of these pinecones/foliage are? Answers under the photo.

From left to right: ponderosa pine (Pinus ponderosa), Douglas fir (Pseudotsuga menziesii), white fir (Abies concolor).

Here's the white fir closeup, with grayish-green needles and rather smooth bark on the trees.

And here's Douglas fir, with a darker green needles and flakier bark.

While Desert Boy was puzzling it out, I noticed a different looking tree nearby. It's a bristlecone pine (Pinus longevae)!

Then it was back to the parking lot, which has some nice views of the limestone Eagle Peak.

The short hike was just what we needed to stretch our legs and see a couple interesting sites. This would not be a hike I would recommend as a destination hike, but it's fine if you have some extra time and are looking for something off the beaten path. Or if you are trying to hike all the trails in the Park this year!

Osceola Trail in the Spring, Great Basin National Park

In early May I hiked the Osceola Trail. My son dropped me off at the trailhead on the Wheeler Peak Scenic Drive, and the lack of vehicles gave me a hint that I would have the trail to myself.

Usually at this time of year, this trail has lots of water flowing across it, but due to the low snow year, it was dry.

Soon I was on the rocky section. This would have been very hard to get a ditch across to take water from Lehman Creek (and later Mill and Strawberry Creeks) over to the mining town of Osceola. The ditch was short-lived, with lots of leaks and water thievery, but the path it took still survives, and because it's relatively flat, is a nice option in this very mountainous park.

In places it's very easy to see the ditch path.

It doesn't take too long to get to Mill Creek, a tiny creek that you can step over.

For those wanting just a touch of the trail, this is a good out-and-back destination from the Scenic Drive.

I continued on and was rewarded with some blooming arrowleaf balsamroot.

And then I noticed that there was also Hooker's balsam root nearby. The leaves are serrated and easily distinguishable from the arrow-shaped ones.

Many of these flowers are blooming in the burned section, lending a nice burst of color.

As I continued, the cloudy day led for a lovely light show. This is looking north towards Mt. Moriah and the North Snake Range.

As I came around on to the Strawberry side, I could easily see the road down below. I was also fascinated by the small patches of trees that survived the fire on the opposite hillside.

Although many burned trees have fallen, a few still remain upright.

Light show!

A potentilla (cinquefoil) that I hadn't yet seen blooming this year.

The easy-to-follow trail arrives at a huge washout. This is from 2023 (I think), when a big snowpack took out parts of the Osceola trail. There's no easy fix here, so it's a scramble down and across.

In the gully looking up, you can see that the washout is both wide and deep.

It's actually two gullies that come together down below. It may be easiest to cross below both.

Some burned bark.

Milkvetch (astragalus).

Another drainage has also washed out, but in this case, it has deposited tons of gravel on top of the trail. This obstacle is much easier to cross than the other one.

Another beautiful yellow flower in the Asteraceae family.

Along with flowers, there were wildlife. Here are some mule deer.

Up higher were some elk. Which answers the age-old question: at what elevation do deer turn into elk?

Before long, a sign indicated the way down to the Strawberry trailhead.

My son was waiting. It sure was handy to have a shuttle! 

It took just over two hours to hike the approximate five miles at a leisurely pace with lots of photo stops. It helped that it was a cool day, sometimes this trail can be blazing hot with the lack of shade. It's a nice easy trail except for the washouts, the first which is quite difficult to find a way across. There weren't as many flowers as I was expecting, maybe because it was earlier in the season and a dry winter. Nevertheless, it was a lovely hike.

Pole Canyon-Timber Creek Loop, GBNP

I woke up tired, but it was a beautiful morning, and I really wanted to go on a long hike. Pole Canyon is gorgeous this time of year, and I never got around to hiking it last year, so off I went.

I wanted to do the whole loop, so I parked near the entrance of Grey Cliffs and hiked down to the Pole Canyon trail. I crossed Baker Creek, which is rather low this year.

And then I got distracted by birds, violet-green swallows in particular. They perched so I could get a look at them.

A bit up the trail I got distracted by this Hooker's balsamroot, growing low to the ground. Many flower species are extra diminuitive this year due to the lack of precip. This was the only Hooker's balsamroot I saw on the whole hike, so I was glad I photographed it!

Pole Canyon is fun because it goes through a bunch of habitats. Most of it is an old grade, and the gradient is not too steep.

Some of the water crossings are dry, even though it's May and this should be the wettest time of year.

The lower part of Pole Creek was dry, but as I got up higher into the limber pine and white fir, I could hear the creek. A bunch of horsetails are along one short stretch of the trail.

Then the trail comes out into nice meadows and water birches along the creek.

Up higher there are some ponderosa pines, along with limber pines and white fir and aspen.

I finally got to the junction trail.

When I looked at the other part of the sign, I had to laugh. It said the trailhead was 2.5 miles. The sign at the trailhead said the junction was 1.8 miles. It's somewhere in that vicinity!

Goosefoot violets are now blooming.

From the trail sign, the trail ascends steeply up to the ridge to the west, and you get a view looking back down Pole Canyon.

Near the ridgeline, you get great views of Doso Doyabi, which still has a dusting of snow.

I even found one patch of snow near the trail.

I was surprised how brown the Timber Creek section looks. Hopefully it will green up soon.

I found a bunch of snow buttercups.

Near the Timber Creek trailhead are these lovely bridges.

And then I was at the trailhead. I took a sharp right to take the trail down to Baker Creek campground.

Through the trees I spotted a couple marmots lounging on boulders.

I went through Baker Creek campground, the connector trail, through Grey Cliffs Campground, and then back to my vehicle. Here's a different yellow violet, with different-shaped leaves. Overall, I think it was about 10 km or 6 miles. With my frequent stops for birds and flowers, it took me about 3 1/4 hours, and I only saw two other hikers. It's a lovely jaunt when it's not too hot.