Shady Hollow / Stepladder Loop Extended - 7/11/15

Shady Hollow Trail

Step Ladder Loop Trail

Old Deer Creek Road Remnants

Starting Out the Shady Hollow Trail

When the new Spring Mountains Visitor Center opened two months ago, several new trails in the lower elevations were debuted on their handout map. Two of those trails were the Shady Hollow Trail and the Step Ladder Loop. Both trails have existed for 10 and 3 years respectively but, since they are now "official," the AtBF decided to hike them and map them out. Hiking a combination of only these two trails would amount to around 4 miles so we added some of the Telephone Canyon hike, aka Tin Can Alley, for a total of 6 enjoyable miles.

Hiking the Shady Hollow Trail above Telephone Canyon Road

Nine hikers parked at the new large trailhead parking lot across from the Visitor Center. (Just turn right at the new roundabout.) There are pit toilets there! And, the trail begins at the far end of the lot.

AtBF Canyon with Angel Peak Bubble Dome

View Across Telephone Canyon

The initial "feeder" trail soon ends at another trail. Go left for the Step Ladder Loop and go right (as we did) for the Shady Hollow Trail. There is another fork after you skirt around the hill to the left. Take the left fork to stay on the Shady Hollow Trail. We took the right fork and ended up on the Telephone Canyon Road for a short distance. After turning left onto a trail, we junctioned again with the Shady Hollow Trail and continued up and above the Telephone Canyon Road. There were views of the newly explored AtBF Canyon with the Angel Peak bubble dome seen on the ridge above.

Hiking in Tin Can Alley

We passed the left turn onto the continuation of the Shady Hollow Trail and began our hike in Tin Can Alley. This is the normal trail we use for the point to point Telephone Canyon hike.

Old Tin Cans Found in Telephone Canyon

The dirt road was built in Telephone Canyon when they were installing the telephone lines for this area. Now, there are primitive campsites along the dirt road. Old rusted tin cans can be found in the canyon from the building days gone by. Bikers stick them on tree branches to use as trail signs.

Beginning the Tin Can Alley Switchbacks

Diane Enjoys a Branch

The biking trails are numerous but we stayed on the trail closest to the dirt road until the trail naturally started switchbacking up to the left. We gained elevation until we came to a skinny fork. Here, we turned back on ourselves on the other side of the fork. This was our high point turnaround spot and, soon after, we found a shady place for a snack break. The remainder of the hike would be in the sun so we wanted to enjoy the shade while we had it. Although the day was a little warmer, we had a very nice cool breeze.

Taking a Break in the Last of the Shade

After the break, we went through an area that was not far from the new Deer Creek Road. Some of the trail was eroding and "sliding" down the hill. We had to be sure footed to pass through this area.

Hummingbird Gulch in Background

View Toward the La Madre Mountain Range

Eventually, the small trail widened and it became obvious that we were on the Old Deer Creek Road that was in use before the highway above us. There was a section of trail that was quite wide and even had remaining remnants of asphalt as seen in a photo below. The views on the left side of the trail opened up and we saw the small knoll to which we were heading. The descent was a constant gradual slope. But the trail was good underfoot.

Narrow Trail Sliding Off the Hillside

We passed a trail junction that was regularly used by the club. It was always a treacherous descent  and, now, it has been blocked off with limbs. Yep. Too treacherous.

Asphalt of the Old Deer Creek Road

Next, we found another trail junction that appeared a lot more viable. This connecting trail can be seen on Google Earth as a switchbacked trail from Tin Can Alley.

A Trail Junction along the Old Deer Creek Road

Old Deer Creek Road before Step Ladder Junction

At one point, we took a left fork over a log and down a hill as we left the old road. This trail took us to the trail junction for Shady Hollow, and Step Ladder Loop. There, if you drop down the hill toward the new Deer Creek Road, you will be on the west side of the Step Ladder Loop. We turned to the left and stayed along the hill to the left. This is the east side of the loop. Shady Hollow Trail comes in immediately after this from the left as it runs around the north end of the small knoll. The east side of the Step Ladder Loop is clearly the more scenic side of the loop hike.

2004 Burned Area at Base of Mountain

We stopped to gaze at the terrain across from us. This is the burn area from a dump truck accident in 2004. The woman driving the truck on the new Deer Creek Road lost her brakes and chose to ram the truck into the hillside as opposed to driving off the embankment to her left. She survived but a fire was started from her leaking brake fluid.

Hiking the East Side of the Step Ladder Loop

Gradual Descent on the Step Ladder Loop

From here, it was a long beautiful descent with views of the new Visitor Center and escarpment beyond. The trail is in very good condition. At the bottom, it junctions with that feeder trail and we turned down to the right. This was a very nice low elevation hike. We were lucky that the weather was on the cool side of warm. This hike would not be recommended for a warmer day since our elevations averaged only around 7000 feet.

6 miles; 1300 feet elevation gain; 3.25 hours

Visitor Center and Escarpment as Seen from the Step Ladder Loop

View Back (North) on the Step Ladder Loop

Returning to the Large Trailhead Parking Area

Raintree (Up North Loop / Down Wild Horse Canyon) - 7/9/15

Raintree

Raintree in Front of Mummy's Toe

CCC Trail Parking

 Whew! Kay's back! And, fifteen hikers participated in a somewhat leisurely hike to Raintree today. As we drove up Deer Creek Road, we were very pleased that it has been repaved. THEN, we got to the North Loop Trailhead and all ... all ... the parking turnouts were blocked off. "NO PARKING!" the signs said. Well, we drove on down and found the new CCC Trail parking area and decided to use it for our start. Other cars were parked in decidedly unusual places but everyone was obeying the signs. Maybe by the weekend, they will have all the turnouts paved and ready for business.

North Loop Trail

 We hiked back up the road to the North Loop Trailhead and started up. Right away, the group separated and we became spread out over at least a half mile.

View from North Loop Trail

Bristlecone & Paintbrush Flowers

 It usually goes without saying that the head of the line stops to wait for the last hikers at the meadow area found just before the switchbacks begin. Someone up front was new and this didn't happen. Regardless, we all climbed at our own pace and enjoyed it immensely! The temperatures were quite cool and there was a decent breeze. The mountains were welcoming us today. We blew past the meadow and continued up the switchbacks. Not even a stop at the High Point Corner happened!

Bristlecone Cones

 The bristlecone pine cones are turning shades of red and yellow. Very colorful!

Trail Among the Bristlecones

New Trail Sign at Raintree

 Several of today's hikers had not been to Raintree before. Therefore, the hike was somewhat of a learning / teaching experience. "There's this junction. There's that junction. No. Not sure how they know that Raintree is 3000 years old! I also heard it was only 2000 years old." Upon arrival at the huge old tree, the new trail sign stood proudly in the middle of the trail junction. This sign was sorely needed although what was left of the old sign will be missed.

Roots of Raintree

 When visiting Raintree, avoid sitting or standing on its large structure of roots. Today, the cold wind bunched us up behind the assembled wind break made of logs and limbs.

Pow Wow at Raintree

Gathering at the Wild Horse Trail Junction

 All but two hikers made it to Raintree and Chris made sure we all would stay together for the descent. Soon, we started back to the High Point Corner and dropped down the switchbacks. At the bottom of the switchbacks and just before we stepped into the meadow, we turned left onto the Wild Horse Trail, a connector trail for Wild Horse Canyon and Wild Horse Ridge. Many newly fallen trees lay over this trail and a lot of up and around hiking was required. Finally, we took the turn right to begin dropping steeply down to Wild Horse Canyon.

Dropping Down into Wild Horse Canyon

 At the bottom of the small switchbacks, we pointed out Cactus Jack's Trail. This trail that goes to the left ends up at the beginning of Wild Horse Ridge. But, for now, we continued down into the canyon where springs feed two fields of columbines.

Columbines in Wild Horse Canyon

Hiking Through Wild Horse Canyon

 The Wild Horse Canyon Trail has graduated to Google Earth! Yep. It can be seen now on the map. The trail is soft and we saw hoof prints of wild horses that had been there recently. We followed the trail out between two walls of limestone and ended up on Deer Creek Road not far up from where we had to park today. Very pleasant hike.

6 miles; 1800 feet elevation gain; 3.5 hours

Blooming Prickly Pear

Wild Horse Canyon Narrows

Baby Horned Owls 2015

 Joan wanted to share her great photos of the horned owl nest that she and Chuck observed throughout the spring months of this year. They first saw the nest with an egg and returned several times before they were able to capture these sooo cute photos of three baby owls being watched over by Mrs. Horned Owl as seen in the photo to the left. Looks like Hippie Canyon on the Shoreline / White Owl Canyon hike at Lake Mead.

Archive Entry of the First AtBF Ely Excursion - August 2008

This is the archive entry for the first Ely Excursion of the Around the Bend Friends in 2008. It was hidden in the old blog site and thought it might be of interest to some of you who are thinking of going to Ely at the end of July. This old one was photographed and written by Kay Blackwell. There is also an Ely entry in 2011 which can be accessed by using the Search Box at the top right of the current website. The later Ely entry was beautifully photographed by Cindy Wilson. Between these two blog entries, club members should get a good idea of what Ely and Great Basin National Park have to offer. Thanks, Steve, for putting this excursion together for us.

Sunday, August 24, 2008

Around the Bend Friends in Ely, Nevada

Thursday - August 21 - About 20 members of the Around the Bend Friends arrived in Ely, Nevada in the afternoon hours. We all checked into the historic Nevada Hotel for a three-night stay. Those that arrived earliest got tickets for the historic train tour which gave an interesting look at the history of the mining town of Ely. The train ride was given a good review as a worthwhile adventure. Later that evening, a few of us went out with camera in hand to try a few photos of the downtown lights.

Friday - August 22 - Several members met for an early breakfast then it was off to Great Basin National Park at 8am sharp. After a short stop at the main visitor center, most of us drove on to the Lehman Caves Entrance. Three very determined men drove on up the mountain where they were to begin an 8.2 mile (2900 ft.) climb up Mt. Wheeler, the second highest elevation in Nevada.

Meanwhile, the rest of us were treated to the absolute wonders of cave decor at its finest! Our guide, a national park ranger, made us feel like one of the Lehman Cave "family" as she described, in well-practised detail and aplomb, the colorful history of the cave as well as the probable description of how the ornate cave was formed over the millenia.

She described how the water dripping down from the ceiling of the cave takes with it deposits of minerals which form stalagmites which grow from the floor of the cave upward. There were even stalagmites beginning to form on the concrete pathway on which we walked. The water dripping down also forms stalactites on the ceiling which begin as straw-like structures with a center which is hollow in the beginning.

After, the straws are formed, they begin filling in with crystalized minerals. This picture shows one of the "straws" that has been filled. The outside of the straw continues growing to make a thick coating over the crystal. We were able to handle one of these seven-inch thick stalactites that had broken off and were able to observe the one-inch crystal inside.

We were warned several times before entering the cave, to not touch ANYTHING inside the cave as we travelled through it. However, the cave touched us intermitently with a drip "kiss!" This picture, to the left, shows how the formations sometimes reach out in a lateral direction forming helictites. This particular formation is called "cave popcorn" describing how the water has bubbled up and out of the rock. Unusual to caves but common in the Lehman Caves is also a formation resembling a shield which was formed by the water spraying out of the rock in a fan-like fashion creating a ridged disk.

By the end of the tour, we were all in awe. What a wonderful world!

After the cave tour, we went by car up the mountain road to hike the Alpine Lakes Trail. This is a 2.7 mile loop with only 600 feet of elevation gain. We were anxious to get started!

Along the trail, we had views of Mt. Wheeler (left) and Mt. Jeff Davis. Both of these mountains tower into the sky with a gaping hole in between. Within the gaping hole, there lies a glacier which exists year-round. There is a trail which approaches the glacier, however, we did not hike this trail on this trip.

There were several aspen groves on the trail. We stopped in one grove for a laugh, a breath, and a drink of water. At another aspen grove, we were lucky enough to spot a deer and a fawn foraging among the leaves. This photographer was only quick enough to get a picture of the fawn's headless body as it dove into the thick forest! She didn't think the reader would be interested.

At almost halfway, we arrived at Stella Lake which lies at an altitude of 10,385 feet.

After several members took an extra hike around the lake, we sat for a snack break and searched the mountain ridge for our three brave mountain climbers. We never spotted them, even with the use of binoculars, but one by one we continued to search until we left the site. We learned later that they were, in fact, there and had spotted us at the lake. The height of the mountain ridge was simply too distant for us to make out the three men.

Continuing on the trail, we hiked through a bristlecone grove and arrived at another smaller lake. Part of the group took a side trail up to the older bristlecone grove that displayed plaques on the trees telling how old each tree had become. We all arrived back at the parking lot at different times. We ate a bite while we waited for the last group to arrive.

We drove to the trailhead where the three mountain climbers were expected to arrive and were there waiting for them as they made their entrance, as seen above, within the next five minutes. (Good timing!) They had made it to the top of Mt. Wheeler and were euphoric for the experience!

Saturday - August 23 - Today, the group split into three. The largest group went to Cave Lake State Park found nearby to Ely. This group hiked the Cave Springs Trail for a total of around 5 miles. It was a very pleasant outing and everyone enjoyed the beauty of the park. These pictures were taken two days before showing the nature of the surroundings.

There were plenty of mountain streams with lush foliage grown around them. The mountains were mostly covered with scrub brush and pinyon/juniper trees. There were many places to camp and picnic in the park. The lake, seen below, was a beautiful clean blue color with rock outcroppings in the background. There were fishing boats afloat with fishermen and kids trying their luck. Rabbitbrush was in bloom all around as it was in many elevations around the wide area.

Two members of the group decided to take the long trip out an eleven-mile dirt road to a 3.4 mile hike (820 feet elevation gain) which arrived at Lexington Arch, a rare arch made of limestone. The trip to the arch first took us out of Nevada into Utah, then back into Nevada and, finally, back into Great Basin National Park.

The hike began by switchbacking up the side of a mostly treeless mountainside. Finally, after about 500 feet of gain, we entered a wooded section of the trail. We were alone on the trail as witnessed by the trail registration book. So, when we got to the overlook and were presented with the magnificence of the colossal arch, we were free to enjoy it all to ourselves for a moment on the park bench provided.

Continuing on the trail, we went down a short ways and up again to the arch. We ate a snack under the arch and were able to see the lake where we turned onto the dirt road in the far distance. The arch was so huge that it was impossible to take a picture of it at close range, even with a wide-angle lens. The trip back out to the paved road was uneventful and we spent the rest of the afternoon exploring Great Basin on miles and miles of dirt roads.

At the end of our explorations, we met up with the last of the three groups. This group of four had returned to the Mt. Wheeler trailhead to start there and take a side trail up to the top of an adjacent peak called Bald Mountain. This hike (approx. 7 miles and 1200 feet up) was listed as primitive and, therefore, some of the "trail" was simply non-existent! Opportunities for rock scrambling, trail-blazing and scree-scrambling were provided in abundance but the foursome made it to the top to join the weather station and write in the registration diary.

As a finale to the day, the first group visited the nearby Ward Charcoal Ovens State Park to take pictures of the ovens and have a buffalo burger at the cafe. The second pair also visited the ovens getting there just after the first group had finished eating and left. These ovens were built for use from 1876 through 1879 to produce charcoal for use in extracting silver ore which was being mined in the area during this time.

The sun set on another day in Ely and all members of the Around the Bend Friends club who attended this outing were equally happy, enthralled and exhausted. Sunday morning would find all the members waking late, taking a breakfast and driving back to Las Vegas. More stories to come ... check with one of those 20 members!