Winter Ascent of Wheeler Peak - Day One

 Saturday began the grand adventure: a winter ascent of Wheeler Peak, the second tallest peak in Nevada at 13,063 ft. I've climbed Wheeler Peak many times in the summer, including last summer with a group of moms and 7- and 8-year olds. But I've never been up in the winter. I received an invitation to join a group of mountaineers, and it didn't take long for me to say yes. I'm hoping to go to a high, glaciated peak in late summer and could use some more experience with the snow, cold, and high elevations.

Our plan was to hike about 4 miles the first day to the Wheeler Peak campground at 9,820 feet elevation, starting at the parking area at 7,600 feet. The second day we would summit and then return to our vehicles.

Five of us went on the trip, and it was the first time for me to meet them all in person. Michael and I had a similar hiking speed as we went up the trail. About half way we got our first view of Wheeler Peak. It still looked pretty far away!

Here's Michael. We talked some along the way, but the snow crunching under the snowshoes makes a lot of noise and makes it hard to carry a conversation. The snow had really changed a lot in a week, consolidating and melting and forming a crust. In other words, it wasn't very good skiing snow, but fortunately it was fine for snowshoeing.

So what do you need for a two-day winter mountain-climbing trip? I packed quite a few of the same things I had for when we climbed Mount Rainier two years ago. That trip taught me more than I thought it had about being comfortable in the snow. International Mountain Guides, the guide company we went with, has a nice gear list. I added tent, stove, pot, water filter, shovel and subtracted helmet, harness, and carabiners as our hike wouldn't be technical.

As we continued hiking up (we gained 2,200 feet elevation that day), the trees changed from pinyon pine and juniper and mahogany to white fir and then to Engelmann spruce and limber pine, with aspen mixed in.

When Mike and I reached the trailhead, we found Tom and Jodie relaxing. We discussed our plans and decided we would find a place to camp. Our desires: a campsite with a picnic table, close to creek water, and near a bathroom.

Well, we found a campsite with two of our desired things, the picnic table (can you see it buried in snow under the backpacks?) and some running water in the creek. That meant we could easily get water and not have to melt snow. We stomped down our tent sites with our snowshoes and then leveled them with shovels. Before long we had tents set up and the picnic table cleared. It was only 1 p.m. What next?

There was talk of trying for the summit right then, but decided that we probably wouldn't reach the peak until dark, and that didn't sound like fun. But we could go to Stella Lake and make a trail for the next morning's early start.

So Jodie, Mike, and I set out, going through the campground and over the gate that closes the campground.

We checked out the emergency cabin, but the snow is so high outside of it (and the door opens outwards), that it would take a lot of work to get into it (and it's locked). We could see the stovepipe from the wood stove and the wood stacked outside it.

Right next to it is the Wheeler Peak Snotel site, where we had checked on temperature before even starting the trip. The previous two days, it had warmed up to 50 degrees in the campground!

Some skiers had already traveled this way (I'm guessing the previous Wednesday, when I had seen their tracks lower on the mountain). These tracks made it so much easier, as the they had compacted the snow so we didn't sink in as much. Usually snow shoers try to stay off ski tracks, as it really messes them up for other skiers, but with the very limited use up here, we used them.

Before long we got to Stella Lake. See the lake? Ha, it's totally covered with snow! The ski tracks went right across the lake and up the gully, which is the route we wanted to take the next morning.

We enjoyed the beautiful day for awhile, soaking in the sunshine and quiet. Eventually the shadows grew long and we decided we should head back to camp.

Our snowy abode for the night was peaceful, we were the only ones in the campground.

Even though it was only a little bit after 4 p.m., we decided to eat dinner. Soon a bunch of little stoves were going. After I ate my food, I warmed up some water to put into a Nalgene bottle to keep my feet warm at night. That worked great!

We joked that the next time we came up we should bring some hot dogs, as the grill was above the snow! For now, they kept the snowshoes dry.

I didn't really want to go to bed at 5 p.m., even if we were getting up at 3:30 a.m. the next morning, so I wandered around the campground for a little bit with Mike. It was a good way to get warm before climbing into the sleeping bag. I also called my family--it's amazing to have cell service there. It was kind of tempting to just hike down the mountain and go join them in the warm house. But instead I climbed into my sleeping bag along with all my water bottles (so they wouldn't freeze) and various clothing (so it would be warm in the morning), and went to sleep.

The next day would be the big adventure...

Parowan Gap Petroglyphs

Parowan Gap near Cedar City is known for its excellent petroglyphs, and everytime I go through, I love to admire them. I hadn't been through the Gap for awhile, and when we went this winter, I was pleasantly surprised to find some nice improvements for visitor recreation.

The BLM had added a small parking lot, restroom, shade ramada with benches, and interpretive signs. It's hard to see under the snow, but they also put in paved walkways so the site is more accessible.

Here's a view looking the other direction.

One thing I really liked about the interpretive signs is that they interpreted the petroglyphs in various ways. The Paiute perspective was highlighted in this sign.

The "Zipper Glyph" is probably the most famous one at Parowan Gap. There was also an explanation about how the petroglyphs could relate to archeoastronomy.

Often I look at petroglyphs and wonder what certain parts mean, and this sign explained some of the symbols.

Across the road we learned about the settlement of Parowan Valley.  The sign also included information about what is historic graffiti, and what is modern graffiti, which is bad and can be prosecuted depending on where it's left.

Desert Girl does her Vanna White impersonation of not-good graffiti.

And here is some historic graffiti.

Back across the road we admired some much older writings.

Some of these were identified with the Hopi perspective.

It was really nice seeing more interpretation of the petroglyphs, it makes me appreciate them even more. For more information, check out this BLM brochure.

Parowan Gap Dinosaur Track Site

We recently took the road through Parowan Gap, which is north of Cedar City and west of the town of Parowan, Utah. The paved road has a sign pointing out the Parowan Gap Dinosaur Track Site. I was so excited to see that, as years ago I had found information on the Internet about the dinosaur tracks, but hadn't been able to locate them. 

A short road led to a parking area and an informational kiosk. Unfortunately most of the posters in the kiosk were so faded by the sun we couldn't read them. One was about Discover Dinosaur Tracks and Preservation, another about Birds of Prey and Climbing. I had no idea that there was rock climbing nearby, that's something we'll have to go check out sometime.

The BLM has a little information about the dinosaur tracks on their website.  The tracks were made by ornithopods, ceratopsians, and theropods in sandstone of the Iron Springs Formation. The most obvious ones are in large fallen boulders on the valley bottom. You can find a lot more info about the tracks in the Milner et al. 2006 paper.

We followed the trail and found that some of the tracks were quite obvious, jutting out of the boulders.

Soon it was a race to the next track.

The metal track markers were very helpful.

It was chilly and late afternoon, so our visit was quite brief, but we look forward to returning. There is a lot to see in this small canyon. Up next: recent improvements at the Parowan Petroglyph Site.

Little Sahara Recreation Area, Juab County, Utah

 About 30 miles north of Delta, Utah and 22 miles west of Nephi, Utah, lie some enormous sand dunes in Little Sahara Recreation Area. I've driven past many times and admired the dunes from a distance, but finally I was able to go visit them up close and see what they were all about.

Since it was December, the place was nearly deserted. No one was parked in the huge parking lot, the visitor center was closed, and we saw only a handful of vehicles.

It also worked out that we had wanted to go sledding and actually had sleds in the back of the van. There was just enough snow on the dunes, so we pulled out the sleds and started hiking.

The quartz sand, blown into the dunes from the prevailing southwestern winds and the preponderance of sand left behind from the Sevier River flowing into Lake Bonneville, was moist, which made it easier to walk on.

We heard a few ATVs and motorcycles, so we tried to make ourselves obvious. There were a number of tracks through the snow.

Finally we came to a big hill, and Desert Boy was delighted to give it a go. One of the best things about sledding on sand dunes--no fear of big rocks!

He slowed down a bit when he got to the sand, but still slid a ways.

Next it was time for Desert Girl and my husband.

I really wanted to climb to the top of Sand Mountain, so I left them sledding and headed up higher, admiring the variety of textures in the sand and the trails left through both snow and sand.

A couple motorcycle riders got to the top a lot faster than me!

There were lots of animal tracks--fox, deer, rodent. These rodent tracks were a little different than I had seen before, and they led to this little hole, about one-inch across.

The late afternoon winter sun made for some great lighting.

When I reached the top of the ridge, I was a bit surprised by the clear division between rock and sand.

As I climbed along the ridge, I admired the lengths that some plants went to in order to survive. The root system on this shrub was amazing.

At the top of the ridge I found this flag. Looking to the northwest I could see the White Sand Dunes, a section of dunes shorter than the 700-foot tall Sand Mountain.

Looking to the south, I had a gorgeous view of the smaller dunes on the backside of Sand Mountain.

I could see that my husband and the kids had finished sledding, so I ran down the big sand dunes, pausing a couple times to take photos (of course!).

 You can find more info about Little Sahara on the BLM website, along with a nice brochure to download that has a map of the area. With over 250 campsites plus primitive camping, this place can get really crowded. I'm not big into crowds, so I'm really glad that we got to experience during a quiet period, and the snow was an added bonus.

The sun was setting as we left, casting its last rays over the nearby railroad tracks.

The light show wasn't quite over. As we headed south, the sky turned pink, and the snow-covered mountains to the southeast reflected their glow. I couldn't resist, I had to pull over to the side of the road and take a photo! Again I am reminded of the beauty of this world.

Thanks for taking a look.