Winter Hike up Lehman Creek Trail, Great Basin National Park

I spent too much time sitting at my computer this week, so I was looking forward to a big hike on Saturday, and decided to go up the Lehman Creek Trail, a steep trail in Great Basin National Park with about 2500 feet elevation gain. The hike is reached by driving up the Wheeler Peak Scenic Drive to the gate (which is closed during the winter months) at Upper Lehman Campground, parking, hiking through the campground, and then starting at the trailhead. From there, it's 3.4 miles to the Wheeler Peak Campground. 

This is one of the more popular winter hikes, but it's not easy due to steepness and high elevation. The trail was obvious because so many people had been on it that there was a trough in the snow. There was also a lot of ice, and I really wished I had brought microspikes. I had snow shoes, but decided not to put them and balanced carefully with my hiking poles. As I got higher, there was a little fresh snow and that made the trail much better.

In a little over an hour I reached a big meadow with lovely views of Wheeler Peak and the clouds rolling over it.

At this point it was relatively warm and I just had on a long-sleeve baselayer and a softshell, plus just one hat and neck warmer.

The bridge beyond the meadow is always a fun landmark because you can see how deep the snow is along the edges of the spring. It looked to be less than a foot deep. 

I couldn't resist taking some "artsy" photos, like these curved aspen trunks. 

The trail was quite nice at this point, I could just hike in my winter hiking boots. There was some wind, but not too much, and I enjoyed watching the trees change from ponderosa pine, pinyon pine, Utah juniper, and mountain mahogany at the start to quaking aspen, limber pine, white fir, and Douglas fir up higher. 

While I was in a winter wonderland, I could look back towards Snake Valley and see the snow-free Burbank Hills and Confusion Range. 

Some of the trees are so dramatic!

I was also paying special attention to the birds. This mountain chickadee was quite close...

...and then it wasn't. I saw/heard about 5 mountain chickadees, 3 red-breasted nuthatches, 2 brown creepers, 3 Clark's nutcrackers, and a Steller's jay. I also saw fresh deer tracks at about 9,000 feet.

It was fun seeing bits of the mountain appear as the clouds whisked by. I couldn't stop too long, as it was getting colder. I added a fleece under my softshell and a thicker neck warmer, plus pulled up my hood.

And then I reached the campground! The last part of the trail was very wind-blown, and I decided this was a good place to put on my snowshoes. 

I went out across the meadow in the middle of the campground, and here's a view looking back. Even with snowshoes I was sinking into the snow a few inches. 

But overall, the snow isn't too high.

Camping would be on the chilly side.

Here's part of the campground road.

It was nice when the sun came out. Here's my rather disheveled self, now with a puffy on top of the other jackets. I thought briefly about going further, but I had things I wanted to do at home that afternoon and I hadn't brought that much food. This was far enough for today's adventure.

So it was back to the trail and time to head downhill.

It was faster going down. I kept the snowshoes on to practice more with them. 

Most of Lehman Creek was iced over, and I saw very little running water.

As I got lower, the snow turned to ice, and eventually so much of the trail was melted I took off my snowshoes. I was glad to have the poles, as I nearly fell a few times on the slick icy spots.

And then I was back to the trailhead. What a wonderful jaunt!

Here are my times, which will always vary given the trail and snow conditions, amount of time spent birding and taking photos, and the number of snack and drink breaks. Speaking of drinks, my drink bottle started forming ice in it on my backpack side pocket. I guess it was chilly. 

Heading up:

Parking lot - 0 minutes

Trailhead - 13 min

Osceola ditch - 39 min (1 km from TH)

Big meadow - 70 min

bridge - 86 min

Wheeler Peak CG - 134 min (2 hours, 14 min)

Heading down

Wheeler Peak CG - 0 minutes

Bridge - 23 minutes

Big meadow - 34 min

Osceola ditch - 64 min

Trailhead - 92 min

Parking lot - 105 minutes (1 hour 45 min)

Plus I spent about half an hour wandering around the campground. How many people did I see? At the parking area, three other vehicles total. On the trail: 0 people. I had it all to myself on a Saturday morning. 

Here's more on visiting Great Basin National Park in winter. I'm hoping to get in some other good adventures this winter. 

Skiing to Stella Lake

As it became more apparent that the winter of 2022-23 was special for the frequent storms and large amount of snow, I wanted to head up to document what was happening in the Wheeler Peak Campground. Located at nearly 10,000 feet elevation, it's a gorgeous campground. In the winter, the only way to access it is via the Lehman Creek Trail, about 4 miles long starting at Upper Lehman Campground, or the Wheeler Peak Scenic Drive, about 9 miles starting at Upper Lehman Campground. There was almost no snow at the Great Basin National Park entrance (above). 

I opted for the shorter route. At first I thought I was going to snowshoe, but two days of fresh snow followed by cold temps made me decide to switch to my cross country skis, with skins on the bottom for traction. There was a lot of snow in the campground on April 5th, at about 7600 ft elevation.

The trailhead is located about 5-10 minute ski into the campground. 

The next sign is for Osceola Ditch, a ditch made in the late 1800s to transport water from creeks around the mountain to the mining town of Osceola to process gold. 

I admired some Douglas fir pinecones.

When I got to the big meadow, about half way up, it started snowing me, even though it was sunny on the mountains.

I smiled anyway, it was so good to be outside for the day.

By now the tracks had lessened from a stampede to a single ski track, made the day before. I was extremely grateful for these tracks, as the flagging up the trail ended soon after the meadow, and the trail location was not at all evident.

As I headed higher, the snow got deeper. Here's some on a log.

I was amazed that the skiers had managed to find this narrow bridge over a spring. The layers of snow were fascinating.

Before too long, I was getting awesome views of Wheeler Peak behind snow-covered trees.

And then, before I knew it, I saw a little bit of a building. Wait, what? It turned out I was in the campground. But all the campsites were so snow covered I didn't know it. And there were no signs or roads to be seen. But I could just make out the top of an outhouse.

As I looked harder, I could make out one of the roads. You see it, right?

Up near the Bristlecone trailhead I saw the kiosk with the intepretive signs.

I made my way past the bathrooms and sat down for lunch. It was a lovely view. (It took about three hours to get here.)

Here's the trailhead sign for the bristlecones and alpine lakes trails. 

I still had energy and food, so I decided to continue on. The skiers the pervious day had turned around here, so now I had to break trail through about a foot of fresh powder. It was hard work. I came across the water treatment building.

Then I spotted the NevCan installation, which measures weather. The camera here stopped working in December, but there's another one near Mt. Washington that I follow regularly to see just how much snow there is.

Then I came to the Snotel site, which was measuring about 107 inches that day. Wow! 

From there I headed in the direction of Stella Lake, using the Gaia app on my phone to help me. I eventually came upon a trail marker--about waist high!

Here's a trail marker about knee high. These are usually way over my head.

It was strange sking so high up the trees.

As I approached Stella Lake, it got so white. The big meadow in front of it was totally snow-covered.

And then I was there! Stella Lake isn't too impressive with all the snow. But the mountain sure is!

I skied out onto the lake to enjoy a different view and just for the fun of it. Then I took another nice break.

Eventually it was time to head back down. I took the skins off my skis as with so much fresh powder, I had plenty of braking power.

It was gorgeous.

I took a slightly different route through the campground, admiring another campsite.

And another snow-covered bathroom.

I encountered seven people on my way down, including three who were spending the night at the campground. They pulled a sled, which made for a very fast trail. I put the skins back on, and then when the trail narrowed near Osceola Ditch, switched to snow shoes for a bit. 

It was a truly wonderful day out in the backcountry.

Now we'll have the fun of seeing how all that snow melts!