Family Backpack up Strawberry Creek, Great Basin National Park

Last weekend we went for a little family backpacking trip up Strawberry Creek. The trail up to the saddle is not well used.

I really enjoyed the arborglyphs like this one, which said "Peligro" (Danger) and had a skull and crossbones. What danger lurked ahead? Many of the abundant arborglyphs were carved by longely sheepherders from Peru in the 1980s. Nowadays the practice is frowned upon because it damages the aspen trees.

It didn't take too long to get up to the saddle area (with Willard Creek), and to my surprise, some of the aspens are changing color already.

There's a large spring in the area.

This old sign is tacked onto a nearby tree. I think it was from when the area was managed by the Forest Service, so prior to 1986.

I was so excited to enjoy the view during golden hour, and fortunately Desert Girl was willing to pose.

We heard one bull elk bugling, which is such a weird sound. But it was pretty quiet during the night, much to my surprise. I woke up early.

And enjoyed sunrise.

Clouds always make the sky prettier!

The views in this area are really pretty. Perhaps not stunning like in some nearby spots, but just a gentle beauty and peace that is very comforting.

A cow skull from days gone by is on a boulder. Cattle grazing was retired from Great Basin National Park in 1999 and sheep grazing in 2009.

This arborglyph is a bit of a map, with an arrow towards Osceola and the Robison Spring. The Robisons lived in the area for a long time and ran a lot of sheep on the Snake Range.

Hiking down the next day we saw this arborglyph from 1911. I can't really figure out what else it says.

And here's one from Cepari Palomo (who also signed a lot of trees as Palomino). Part of it says El Muchacho Universitario (the university boy), Electrosta...Ley de Coulomb (electricity...Coulomb's Law). 

My husband and Desert Boy stop for an older arborglyph.

This one that says H2O and an arrow shows where Strawberry Creek reappears and then continues flowing.

And here's an arborglyph from 1903!

We saw a couple elk wallows. Generally a large herd of elk congregate in Strawberry Creek in the fall. When they bugle, it's an amazing sound.

The elderberries were ripe, so I snacked on them.

And then we finished the hike back through the burned area. 

I don't have many photos of backpacking because the kids were so fast. I was the caboose. It was fun to go see a different area and have a short amount of miles to cover! 

Day 3 of 3-Day Backpacking Trip in Southern Great Basin National Park

Here's Day 3 of a romping good backpacking trip in southern Great Basin National Park.

Day 1 I started in Snake Creek and hiked down North Fork Big Wash, up South Fork Big Wash, and slept in North Fork Lexington.

Day 2 I continued up and over Granite Peak to Mustang Spring and up and over to Lincoln Peak.

That meant Day 3 I was starting near Mt. Washington and I was headed back to the trailhead to complete the loop. I set up my alarm for 4:30 am so I could climb Mt. Washington and descend the other side to the Magic Grove. I really wanted to be at the Quarter Tree for sunrise. 

I got there a bit before sunrise, so why not do the Tree Pose near one of my favorite trees?

And then the colors started popping as the sun came up. It was so magical!

So much beauty. I couldn't really take it all in. Just wow!

And the views didn't stop. I was just in so much awe.

Finally I decided it was time to continue. Here's my hiking shadow.

The tree was pointing the way!

The good views didn't stop. The dramatic cliffs of North Fork Big Wash and Lincoln cirque highlighted the wildness of this place.

I kept on trekking, getting a bit lost on the Snake Divide Trail. It's not really a trail. It's a route. Or maybe just a suggestion in places. So if you go up there, be sure to have a GPS or GPS app on your phone. Some sections are starting to get more heavily eroded, so hopefully a trail crew can get up there and put in some water bars. And mark the places where it's easiest to get off trail!

I saw one other person on the trail, during the three days, an off-duty maintenance employee about a mile from the trailhead. It was a lovely, quiet get-away. When I got back to the Shoshone trail, I noticed one of the waterbars had NCC on it -- Nevada Conservation Corps. They're a crew that the park hires to help with trails. 

Their waterbars were doing a wonderful job of getting the water off the trail!

And then I was back to the accessible fishing area on Snake Creek. Back to water! And back to my regular life.

This turned out to be an excellent adventure. It definitely had a lot of off-trail and bushwhacking parts to it. Having hiked many of these sections before gave me confidence to link them all together. Water was the biggest thing in my head, as there are so few water sources in the southern part of the Park, but they all worked out fine. I didn't mind all the ups and downs of the terrain, probably because I kept my pack fairly light. I purposefully didn't keep careful statistics or track what I did. But it was somewhere in the range off 30 miles and 11,000 feet up and 11,000 feet down. I used most of what I brought with me, but definitely overpacked the food. I could have done without the sun umbrella, although I really did enjoy it on day 1. I could have left the stove behind, and might for some trips now that I know cold soaking is a decent alternative. 

If you're thinking about going out and doing something wild, go for it! It does the soul good!

Day 2 of 3-Day Backpacking Trip in Southern Great Basin National Park

Day 2 of my three-day southern backpacking trip in Great Basin National Park. (Here's Day 1.)

I started the day in the lower right hand corner of the map, on the yellow line near Lexington Arch. 

My big goal was to get up to Granite Peak. It's a somewhat isolated peak with no trail to it. There's not actually any granite near it, just limestone. And I hadn't climbed it ever! I was thinking I would spend the night at Mustang Spring, or possibly a but further north.

I woke up a little later than I wanted to, at 6:05 am. Geez, what a slacker (lol). 

It took me 20 minutes to pack up and I headed up the old road behind the cabin. It twisted and turned and had clearly been washed out for awhile, with some older foot travel visible. I knew this was a back way to Lexington Arch, although I had never taken it. I enjoyed finding a little ponderosa pine seedling. Ponderosa pines thrive with low-intensity fire, as it allows their pinecones to open and the seeds to fall to the ground and germinate.

As I kept hiking I found a lot of elk sign, including a spot where one had recently bedded down, then got up and peed. I looked around, and not far from me was a big bull elk! As soon as he saw me, he took off running. I was just outside the national park, and apparently the elk knew it.

I enjoyed seeing some shadows on the burned landscape as the sun rose. Here are some yarrow flowers.

As I looked to the east, I saw a familiar form take shape--Lexington Arch! I did a little happy dance! I wasn't expecting to see it, so what a lovely surprise!

I kept hiking up. And up. And dodging tree branches. And then ahead of me I could see three peaks. Granite Peak is the one on the left, with the long, flat summit. Oof, it looked far away.

I just kept plugging along. I enjoyed these orange lichen-covered rocks. Off to the north I could see Pyramid Peak and beyond that, Wheeler Peak and Doso Doyabi.

I welcomed the cloud cover, which made it a little cooler. 

The bristlecone pines take such wonderful forms! I took a little break near this one so I could enjoy it longer. My path? The rocky slope behind it. As you can see, there's absolutely no trail.

I got some views into the upper part of South Fork Big Wash, which has some awesome cliffs. Speaking of cliffs, at one point when I was down climbing along the ridge, one of my empty water bottles fell out of a pocket and bounced down the cliff and into the trees below. It kept rolling, and I knew I wouldn't be able to retrieve it. I felt bad about littering. On the bright side, I felt good that it wasn't my body going down the cliff. Later I found a helium balloon and packed that out, so I felt a little better about removing trash.

I kept hiking. And hiking. And, then, finally, I was at the summit of Granite Peak!

Here's the view looking south, towards Decathon and Highland Ridge Wilderness. Not a building in sight. This is so remote.

A summit register was in a jar in the rock pile. I was the only person for 2024 to sign in so far. Whoop, whoop! I read through the entries and found that I'm not the first one to do this backpacking route, someone did it a few years ago. Or at least they planned to, I'm not sure if they made it or not! There was also someone with extensive plans from the Lexington trailhead.

And here's my pack, a Gossamer Mariposa 60. I loved it. I took out the back pad to sit (and for extra padding at night). So many pockets kept everything easy to access. And best of all, it was very comfortable.

After a celebratory snack at the summit, it was time to head towards Mustang Spring. This was more hours of tough hiking, basically following the ridge.

Using my GPS app, I was able to find Mustang Spring. I only had about half a liter of water left at this point, so I needed this spring. The animal trails helped lead me there. There wasn't much water, but it was enough. I dug a little hole and then used a cup (from the stove--so I can say I used a part of the stove!) to fill up my filter. Earlier in the day I had been hoping to get to Mustang Spring by noon, but I got here at 2:30. I took a nice hour-long break, including eating and filling all my water bottles, plus watching the birds--red crossbills, dark-eyed juncos, and mountain chickadees, hang out at the spring.

Next it was time to head towards the ridge to the north. Along the way I found this rock, which I think is a fossil.

The views were just lovely, with yellow snowberry and currant bushes. 

I found that I was on the "new" Highland Ridge Route, which goes from Mustang Spring to the north, following the drainage, and then meets up with the ridge just south of Lincoln Peak. Years ago I hiked the "old" Highland Ridge Route, which stays up high on the ridge and only goes down into Decathon near the southern park boundary. There's not a marked trail for either one, so it doesn't really matter which one you take, as long as you know where you are. (And if you need water, Mustang Spring is the only spring between Decathon trailhead and Lincoln Peak.)

The late afternoon light was gorgeous. I got so much energy just being in such a beautiful place.

But then it got even better. The little sprinkles turned into a rainbow over South Fork Big Wash! Another little happy dance!

And then it was time to eat again. I was absolutely starving, but fortunately I had put water into my dinner at Mustang Spring (and into an additional ziploc bag, which was good, because the Mountain House package didn't seal too well). It had cold-soaked long enough and was perfect. I thought I might just eat part of it, but I ate the whole package while I watched the clouds float by.

I started hiking and another rainbow came out. How lucky! 

Later I saw a golden-mantled ground squirrel. What a cutie.

Then I noticed I could see my shadow hiking. Can you spot me below?

I still had to get up Lincoln Peak, but Highland Ridge at golden hour is insanely beautiful, so I didn't mind the continued hiking.

I turned my phone off airplane mode and called my husband as I approached Lincoln Peak. At the peak I saw someone had signed into the register that same day! Cool. It soon got dark, but I felt like continuing. I had hiked this section in the dark with a headlamp several times coming back from bighorn sheep searches and caving trips. I definitely needed my GPS app to find my way, as there are no markers or trail, and once you get down in the trees it gets very confusing.

Fortunately I got to the road and continued for a ways until I found a flat spot with little rocks to call home for the night. What a great day 2!

Just one day left!

Stay tuned...