(Sort of) Trail Running the Serviceberry Trail, Great Basin National Park

We needed to get out of the house and get some exercise. I decided we would go to one of my favorite trails, the Serviceberry Trail, about 3.5 miles long up Snake Creek in Great Basin National Park. Because I didn't want the kids to take forever, I declared it would be a trail run. Or at least a fast walk. They wanted to get it over with, so agreed. (They aren't excited to go hiking lately, so we use a mix of techniques to get them going).

Desert Boy passed me right away on the trail and took off. 

Meanwhile Desert Girl had her earphones in and was listening to a podcast and didn't care about speed at all.

I was able to keep Desert Boy in sight as we chugged uphill.

I love these cool granite rocks along the trail.


At the big rocks he took a break and I passed him. I enjoyed that. It could be the last time. :)

 The trail gives a good vantage point of the top of the Snake Creek Drainage. Glaciers carved out three cirques. Johnson Lake is a beautiful lake in the north cirque. The other cirques do not have lakes. Dead Lake is a very small lake located much lower, out on the moraine. Pyramid Peak is an easy reference point from all directions.

 When I reached the divide, I turned back until I reached Desert Boy. Then I followed him. He was much faster than me on the downhill.

We stopped for a bit to climb around on these boulders. You can see that the aspen are just starting to leaf out.

I went ahead for a bit and then Desert Boy caught up again.

I went back for Desert Girl, and she just wanted some alone time.

So I took photos of flowers, like this Pale Agoseris or Mountain Dandelion.

On the steep downhill I got her to take the lead again. I still stopped to photograph flowers, like this lupine.

 One of the things I like about this trail is that it goes through so many habitats. Riparian, sagebrush, aspen stands, mixed conifer, and Utah serviceberry.

Not much of the Utah serviceberry was blooming, maybe because it's been so dry this year.

There are also patches of mountain mahogany along the trail, and I found some that was blooming.

Almost to the end of the loop trail!

And success! We all finished and even had smiles. We didn't see anyone else on the trail. In fact, no one else was in the parking lot either. Great Basin sure has some great places to do social distancing.

To celebrate, we went up to the Great Basin Cafe, which had just opened. I enjoyed spicy red lentil soup with a side salad.

Desert Boy approved of the chicken strips and specially-made French fires (they are amazing!).

Desert Girl loved the chili and couldn't believe I let her get a root beer float (which she couldn't finish!). 

It's always good to get outside, and so fun to see the trails in different seasons. I hope you're able to get out and enjoy some fresh air, too!