Terrific Trails at Cave Lake State Park

For Week 11 of my 16-week trail marathon training plan, I was supposed to do a 17-mile long run. I wanted a change of scenery, so I headed to Cave Lake State Park near Ely, Nevada. I hadn't really spent much time on the trails there, but it looked like a good trail system, and if I ran most of the trails, I could get in my mileage. (Trail running has really changed my perspective on trail miles!)

We parked at Cave Lake, then I took off on the Cave Springs Loop. I had never been on this pleasant five-mile loop.

The trail was nice, although in a few places there were eye-level sharp branches and the trail needs a little maintenance here and there. The flowers were great, and I saw some that were a little different than in Great Basin National Park, such as a different species of paintbrush and buckwheat.

This penstemon also looked different.

There was no one else on the trail, and I loved running towards the hills!

I ran the trail in a clockwise direction, which was good, because the trail popped out on pavement at this Area Closed sign, with no trail marker sign. If you read the sign carefully, it's area closed to motorized vehicles, but it's not obvious that this is the Cave Springs Loop.

Then it was back to the vehicle on the gravel and paved road. I passed this big limestone outcrop, with a small cave at the base. It actually goes far enough back to have a dark zone!

After a quick stop at the vehicle (my impromptu aid station!), I started on the Steptoe Creek Trail. This trail parallels the road that comes into Cave Lake.

It's a nice, rolling trail, also in need of some maintenance in overgrown sections.

Next up was the Twisted Pines Trail. I was floored by the abundance of wildflowers. They were everywhere, and all colors!

This trail looked more used, and I saw some mountain bike tracks on it. I'd like to go back out with my mountain bike!

The trail gained elevation and before too long I was near Square Top.

I got to a trail junction and took the longer route of the High Roller trail.

True to its name, the trail rolled up and down along the high country. It was beautiful.

It also passed through some amazing wildflower sections.

I was getting tired at this point, but I was also distracted by the great views.

Don't you want to jump up and start running this trail?!

The lupine was in full bloom.

Then the trail turned and I saw Cave Lake in the distance. It looked so small!

The color sure is a contrast with the surrounding pinyon/juniper woodland.

I couldn't help but notice this limestone outcropping and wondered about its cave potential.

This twisted juniper caught my eye. It was about here that I realized I needed to go the opposite direction on the Cave Lake Overlook Trail, so I turned around and headed back uphill.

Then it was time for a very happy sight--the kids and puppy! They were my next aid station, bringing me water and food. Thank you, kids! I had a longer break with them. They were good cheerleaders, urging me to finish strong.

The lake got bigger as I descended.

I kept pausing to check out the wildflowers!

It turned out the route was just shy of the 17 miles, so I ran through the campground (full!) and along the road a little bit extra to get the miles. Overall, the trails at Cave Lake are fantastic, and definitely underused. Besides the kids, I only saw two other people on the trails. There are lots of people fishing and kayaking, and we'd love to go back to enjoy those pursuits.

 

And here's what the route ended up looking like!  It was 4,491 feet elevation gain, total over 17 miles. The race will be 26.2 miles and 7,310 feet elevation gain, so I'm on my way.

Snowy Hike to Stella Lake, Great Basin National Park

 On June 23, 2019, we took a family hike to Stella Lake. Even though it was late June, about three-quarters of the trail was covered with snow!

Hiking poles really helped us out.

The aspens only had the tiniest leaves on them. 

This slope nearly has lots of flowers at this time--not this year!

Even with hiking poles we had some falls on the slippery snow.

But the kids did enjoy the snow, especially for an impromptu snowball fight!

Then we arrived at the lake. Some of the surface had melted and refrozen.

 

The kids went to the edge for a photo--and Emma fell through the ice! She flooded her boot and wasn't too happy.

We got a family photo with the snowy scene.

Then my husband and our kids sat down and took a nap!

On the way back, Desert Girl couldn't resist sledding.


I always enjoy these curved aspen trees. The bottoms are curved due to the weight of the snow pushing against them.

Through the tunnel of aspens--except it's not much of a tunnel yet!

 We didn't see many people on the trail, but the parking lot was packed!

Osceola and Upper Strawberry Trails, Great Basin National Parks

 As I prepare for my high-elevation marathon the end of July, I keep seeking out longer and longer runs on my weekends. This time I decided to join up the Osceola Trail and the Upper Strawberry Creek Trail in Great Basin National Park. I started on the Wheeler Peak Scenic Drive. The Osceola Trail is 5.3 miles one-way, although the last mile is closed due to fire and flood damage. There's a detour that can be taken, the Osceola Cut-off Trail to the Sage Steppe Trail that then leads to the Upper Strawberry Trail, which is a little less than 2 miles one-way.

As I started on the Osceola Trail, I found that it was quite wet.

After a short access trail, I was at the ditch, which was built to move water from creeks around the mountain to the mining town of Osceola. This was back in the late 1890s. Many Chinese workers were instrumental in completing the ditch. It was a long ditch over tough terrain, including flumes over rocky sections and even a tunnel. Even more remarkable is that this was the second attempt--they first tried building a ditch on the other side of the mountain, but the creeks over there just didn't have enough water in them.

With the wet winter and spring, the Osceola Ditch has water in it again!

 

Some sections were quite wet!

Near the beginning is a very rocky part with old wooden support structures.

Before long, you're walking (or jogging) right in the ditch.

 

Just over a mile from the trailhead is Mill Creek, a small creek with some pretty cascades. It's claim to fame is that it was a refugium creek for Bonneville cutthroat trout. The ditch may have helped save the fish, by giving them a way to swim from Lehman Creek, where non-native fish were stocked and out-competed the Bonneville, to the overlooked Mill Creek. 

Not too far after Mill Creek, the trail enters the burned area of Strawberry Creek, which burned in August 2016.

You can find a superbloom of arrowleaf balsamroot (Balsamorhiza saggita) on the hillside.

The burned trees make for some pretty silhouettes.

Rounding a corner, you can see Strawberry Creek down below, with the road near the creek. In the distance is the North Snake Range.

Some sections of the trail are a little rockier. The trail is more of an old road than a ditch at this point.

Post-fire flooding caused a small rock avalanche over part of the trail. It's not hard at all to cross.

There were multiple small streams to step over.

These little streams are the same size as what Strawberry Creek usually is. Passing four or five of them was impressive.

Continuing onward I saw more hillsides of yellow. It was also neat to see the small patches that escaped the fire.

A lone snow bank covered one section of trail. We had gone there the week before with nieces and nephews (from the Strawberry trailhead) and had so much fun sliding on it!

I then took the cutoff trail down to the Strawberry Creek parking area, then jumped across the creek (the pedestrian bridge is out) and headed up the Sage-Steppe trail. More wildflowers abounded!

I kept heading up the trail, finding even more water. 

Eventually, after some really steep sections and over 20 downed trees, I reached the pass. The other side is considered Willard Creek.

I had been up there about 17 or 18 years ago and had a faint memory of a two-track road. I found some very faint vestiges of it, but not much. I ran about a half mile on the Willard Creek side, then bushwhacked my way back up to the pass.

These diminutive white flowers were near the pass.

And there were a few snowbanks. The pass is at about 9,000 feet elevation.

Here's the Trail Closed sign on the Upper Strawberry sie.

Another beautiful white flower I need to look up.

In some sections, the trail is nearly grown over with vegetation! The interpretive park rangers have been telling people to go hike the trail, so that might help. On the way back, I saw about 20 people hiking.

It sure is a great trail to hike, especially this time of year when it's cooler and there are so many wildflowers.

It's also a cool experience to walk through the burned area and see how it's recovering.

The parking lot was fuller than I've ever seen it. I sure do recommend this hike! And once the higher country opens, there probably will be more parking available here.