Hiking up Mount Moriah in the North Snake Range, Nevada

 A few weekends ago we headed to the Mount Moriah Wilderness in the North Snake Range. After a very pleasant evening camping at the Big Canyon trailhead, we had a leisurely start to our destination: the top of Mount Moriah, at 12,050 feet. The trailhead is nearly 10,000 feet high, so we figured this wouldn't be that hard of a hike, especially since we had already conquered Wheeler Peak a few weeks previous. So we took the kids, and figured we'd be back in a few hours.

 The first part of the trail went down into Big Canyon, then crossed it at about 1 mile in, and then the trail got steep, heading up to the Table, a huge high-elevation plateau. Even though we had only hiked slightly over two miles and gained a bit over 1,000 feet in elevation, we were all getting hungry. We stopped to have lunch under one of the old bristlecones. Desert Girl was pleased with her double-double sandwich (a pb&j doubled over).

We were disturbing swarms of moths as we walked, and we saw the green gentian (elkweed) covered with the army cutworm (or "Millers") moths. Due to the mild winter, we've had an outstanding number of them this year.

 After lunch we continued on the trail towards Hendry's Creek, and then at a rock cairn headed up toward the peak.

It was so much fun when we got to a big patch of snow!

Desert Girl had to make a snowwoman. She was very bright in her tech t-shirt and pink tutu. I've long ago decided she can wear whatever she wants as long as she hikes.

Quite a variety of flowers were blooming, lending a nice distraction to the gain of elevation.

As we reached the saddle we found more snow and also a faint trail heading across the backside of the mountain.

 The trail turned out to be quite faint, but we all managed it.

The trail kept getting fainter and fainter, but we followed it around to the south end of the mountain (if I did it again, I would head up sooner, because there was no trail at the south end of the mountain).

Desert Girl got a ride up the last part, but Desert Boy had to do it on his own, with some coaxing.

We made it, though! Even our dog Henry got to the top. We carried extra water for him, as there is no water on the hike except if you find snow.

Desert Girl had fallen asleep, so my idea of a family photo on top of the mountain didn't work out. We took a little rest and signed into the register. The register is in stark contrast with the one at Wheeler Peak. More people climb Wheeler Peak in a single day then often climb Mount Moriah all summer. If you want some solitude, this is the place to come!

The views were outstanding. To the north we could see the wide table, and then off in the distance the Deep Creek Mountains, with Ibapah Peak topping out at 12,067 ft.

To the northeast we saw Gandy Salt Marsh and lake, with the Confusion Range and Fish Springs Range beyond.

To the southeast we saw EskDale and the Ferguson Desert.

To the south we saw Jeff Davis and Wheeler Peak and the South Snake Range.

And to the northwest we saw more of the North Snake Range. It really has a different character than the South Snake Range. It's a lot bumpier, for lack of a technical term. (If you'd like to learn about the geology, here's a link to the Nevada Bureau of Mines and Geology Bulletin on the area.) Everywhere we looked we saw swarms of moths.

 It was 4.5 miles to get up to the top of the mountain coming around the backside. My husband and I looked at each other. We didn't want to go 4.5 miles back around, especially since Desert Girl was still asleep and so had to be hauled. We could see our truck parked at the trailhead, so we decided to go down the northwest slope, into a meadow, down a drainage, and meet up with the trail at the bottom of Big Canyon. Hopefully it wouldn't be too difficult.

 As we went down the steep slope (which showed evidence that other people had been using it too, making us feel better), I noticed some figures down on a flatter spot. I looked closer and realized we were seeing five bighorn sheep. Hurray!

They wandered off as we got closer, but then one came back to check us out.

Desert Girl woke up and was ready to hike again.

We descended quickly, and soon the peak looked far away up its northwest shoulder.

Before long we were in a limber and bristlecone forest, going down quickly into a meadow. It was steep!

We followed a gully back to the trail, and that part had some fun challenges for the kids.

Finally we made it back (that last part going up hill isn't easy)! It was a longer hike than we expected, with 4.5 miles up and 3.0 miles down and over 2,000 feet total elevation change. Desert Boy hiked the whole thing, and four-year old Desert Girl hiked 5.5 miles of it--she's going to be one awesome hiker. Below is our approximate route, looking south.

It was a great feeling to have accomplished that hike. The only people we saw all weekend were two guys leaving the trailhead area when we pulled in. We had the trail all to ourselves.

To learn more about Mount Moriah and the North Snake Range, check out Chapter 10 in my book Great Basin National Park: A Guidebook to the Park and Surrounding Area.

Happy hiking!

Hiking Wheeler Peak in Great Basin National Park in Early Summer

 Yesterday my husband and I hit the trail for a training hike. We're celebrating our tenth anniversary this year, and we decided we should do something big for it. We decided to take that "big" literally and are going to climb Mt. Rainier in September (it was either that or the beaches of Mexico, something we may reconsider as we get further along in training!).

Our first training hike was Crystal Peak. For our second training hike, we decided on an early summer summit of Wheeler Peak so we could simulate more of the snowy conditions of Rainier. We're fortunate to have Wheeler Peak, at 13,063 ft, so close to us. We started off with ideal weather conditions for the 8-mile round trip, with a 3,000 foot elevation gain.

I kept stopping to take photos of flowers. I figured that should be part of the acclimatization plan! As we ascended, I kept track of the birds: mountain chickadees, common ravens, ruby-crowned kinglets, dark-eyed juncos. Then a flock of birds went by, and I got excited. Could it be? Why, yes, red crossbills! Crossbills are easy to identify if you can see their bills, because the bills overlap, the better to get seeds out of pinecones. They live in much of the West year round, and one really cool thing about them is that they breed year round, not just in the summer like most birds.

As we approached tree line, we saw more snow patches, but overall there was a lot less snow for June 1 than I was anticipating. We are a bit below normal for snow pack this year.

We got an early enough start that we could walk right over the top of the snow on the way up. My husband is carrying his grandmother's ice axe. She got married on top of Mount Rainier, to her husband who was a guide.

Although we were quite warm in softshell pants and a lightweight wool shirt, we did find patches of ice that had frozen during the night from the previous day's snow melt. I particularly liked this patch, with a flower stuck in the middle.

The flower below is Ross' avens (Geum rossii), a member of the rose family. Other flowers starting to bloom at and above treeline included cushion phlox (Phlox pulvinata) and Snow cinquefoil (Potentilla nivea) and more. I was surprised by how many flowers were blooming.

Another surprise was this golden-mantled ground squirrel that popped out of the rocks. He was quite cooperative letting me take photos!

We took a little break on the shoulder, a traditional stopping place with wind breaks scattered along the relatively flat spot.

Then it was time to summon energy for the final push to the top.

I was really hoping to see rosy-finches, as they like to eat insects in the snow, but alas, I didn't see any. However, I did see quite a few insects in the snow. I guess they get blown there and stuck.

Ladybug

Moth

Hemiptera (true bug)

Beetle

I saw lots of spiders on the rocks and one in the snow.

We reached the summit in just under three hours. I know people who have made it much faster and much slower. A seventy-two year old gentleman who shared the top with us had hiked slightly faster than us--nice job. We were just glad to make it! We were rewarded with spectacular views. 

To the northwest, with the Schell Creek Range in the distance.

To the West, across Spring Valley and the pivot irrigation to the chainings in the pinyon/juniper on the lower slopes of the Schell Creeks, and then to the Egan Range, and hazy Currant Range.

To the north, with Stella, Teresa, and Brown Lakes in the middle, Bald and Buck mountains behind the Scenic Drive, and the North Snake Range in the distance.

Here I am checking the view to the south. It was amazingly calm at the top, and we didn't even need to put on extra layers.

We checked the summit log out of the mailbox. The part I found most interesting was that someone had climbed the peak November 8, 2013. The next entry wasn't until January, and after that until April. Those folks had to work hard for their summit, as the Scenic Drive was closed and they had to start their hike much lower (about 8,000 ft).

The benchmark at the top:

I couldn't go to the top without a look down at the Wheeler Cirque Rock Glacier. So I went to the edge of the ridge and found a good spot.

Jeff Davis Peak was also looking impressive.

It took less than two hours to hike down, although we were moving at a fairly good clip (and I didn't take hardly any photos). 

Looking south from Wheeler Peak at the North Fork of Baker cirque, Baker Peak, Pyramid Peak, Mt. Washington, and the rest of the South Snake Range

Here are photos and a description of a trip up the peak in August, when it has many different flowers.

And for more history and information about climbing Wheeler Peak, check out my book, Great Basin National Park: A Guide to the Park and Surrounding Area.

Thanks!