Pole Canyon-Timber Creek Loop, GBNP

I woke up tired, but it was a beautiful morning, and I really wanted to go on a long hike. Pole Canyon is gorgeous this time of year, and I never got around to hiking it last year, so off I went.

I wanted to do the whole loop, so I parked near the entrance of Grey Cliffs and hiked down to the Pole Canyon trail. I crossed Baker Creek, which is rather low this year.

And then I got distracted by birds, violet-green swallows in particular. They perched so I could get a look at them.

A bit up the trail I got distracted by this Hooker's balsamroot, growing low to the ground. Many flower species are extra diminuitive this year due to the lack of precip. This was the only Hooker's balsamroot I saw on the whole hike, so I was glad I photographed it!

Pole Canyon is fun because it goes through a bunch of habitats. Most of it is an old grade, and the gradient is not too steep.

Some of the water crossings are dry, even though it's May and this should be the wettest time of year.

The lower part of Pole Creek was dry, but as I got up higher into the limber pine and white fir, I could hear the creek. A bunch of horsetails are along one short stretch of the trail.

Then the trail comes out into nice meadows and water birches along the creek.

Up higher there are some ponderosa pines, along with limber pines and white fir and aspen.

I finally got to the junction trail.

When I looked at the other part of the sign, I had to laugh. It said the trailhead was 2.5 miles. The sign at the trailhead said the junction was 1.8 miles. It's somewhere in that vicinity!

Goosefoot violets are now blooming.

From the trail sign, the trail ascends steeply up to the ridge to the west, and you get a view looking back down Pole Canyon.

Near the ridgeline, you get great views of Doso Doyabi, which still has a dusting of snow.

I even found one patch of snow near the trail.

I was surprised how brown the Timber Creek section looks. Hopefully it will green up soon.

I found a bunch of snow buttercups.

Near the Timber Creek trailhead are these lovely bridges.

And then I was at the trailhead. I took a sharp right to take the trail down to Baker Creek campground.

Through the trees I spotted a couple marmots lounging on boulders.

I went through Baker Creek campground, the connector trail, through Grey Cliffs Campground, and then back to my vehicle. Here's a different yellow violet, with different-shaped leaves. Overall, I think it was about 10 km or 6 miles. With my frequent stops for birds and flowers, it took me about 3 1/4 hours, and I only saw two other hikers. It's a lovely jaunt when it's not too hot.

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.