Hello, Ruby Tuesday (and wednesday, thursday, friday....)

[whitebark]

I though I would liven up this forum with a trip report from the Ruby Mountains in Nevada. The Rubies are a long way from Palm Springs, but at least they are bit closer to PS that Seattle, where I live!

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From August 6 to 13, Chuck, Leo, Jim, and I enjoyed a fine 45 mile backpacking adventure in the Ruby Mountains of Nevada. The Rubies offer some of the best alpine scenery in Nevada. Rich in lakes and streams, aspen groves and stands of whitebark pine, the range is a surprising alpine island surrounded by a sea of desert.

Pictures here:

https://picasaweb.google.com/JayWhiteba ... directlink

Aug. 6 -7:

Our adventure started with a 730 mile drive from Seattle to Elko, NV. After a late start, we drove I-90 to Ellensburg, south on I-82 to the Columbia River, then east on I-84 to La Grande, OR. We stopped at that charming old town for dinner at Mamacitas (a good place), then continued on for another hour to Baker City, where we stayed overnight at the Oregon Trail motel.

The next day, we continued the drive on I-84 to Mountain Home, Idaho, where we turned south on route 51, a long, lightly travelled route that passes through some lonely but pretty desert country. Passing the Nevada border, the road became state route 225. It followed a twisting canyon along a fork of the Owyhee River to a pass between the Jarbidge Moutains and the green, snow-splashed Independance Mountains, where the road entered the Great Basin proper. Streams in the Great Basin never reach the ocean, but end in sinks and marshes, evaporated by the hot desert sun.

Another hour of driving along a broad desert valley drained by a branch of the Humbolt River, a small stream of immense importance to the early pioneer( as it provided reliable water in the immense span of Nevada desert) brought us finally to Elko. We checked into the Thunderbird Motel in downtown Elko, where we met up with Chuck, who had driven all the way from Palm Springs to join us for the backpack,

It was still early afternoon, so we decided to position Chuck's Ford Focus at the exit point for our backpack at Lamoille Canyon. On the hour-long drive to the trailhead, we enjoyed our first view of the magnificent Ruby Mountains. Lamoille Canyon is a impressive glacier-carved valley, the "Yosemite of the Great Basin", which by Nevada standards is well-known and popular. We parked the car at the 8800' trailhead, spectacularly situated in a basin surrounded by snowy peaks, then piled into Jim's RAV-4 to return to Elko. The sight of all those mountains got us pretty pumped up for the trip.

In the evening, we decided to eat at a Basque-style restaurant, Toki Ona, where we filled up with piles of simple but tasty food served family style. The Basques had a long sheepherding heritage in the west. Though sheepherding is handled these days by Peruvians and others, the influence of the Basque culture still remains in various Western towns.

August 8.

Finally time to hike! The four of us crammed ourselves and a pile of backpack gear into the trusty RAV-4 (160,000 miles and still going strong!) and headed south on Route 228 which passes the glitzy Spring Creek development, an amazingly large and sprawling suburb of 10,000 people fueled by retirees and gold mining money, nearly as big as Elko. Beyond the sprawl, the road travelled through lonely ranch country watered by creeks flowing from the Ruby Mountains. We drove through the town of Jiggs, whose only business was a battered, sad- looking bar. Then the road turned toward the Rubies and began a winding climb toward 7200' Harrison Pass, a broad gap separating the north and south parts of the range.

Arriving at the pass, we turned left onto a rough jeep road that climbed a rocky ridge through groves of mountain mahogony. Campers were garbed in camo gear, which puzzled me until I found out that a bow hunting season had started already. This road is actually part of the Ruby Crest Trail that seems to have been taken over by motorized use in years past. This creates a bit of a logistic problem as you need two high clearance vehicles to do the shuttling - or be prepared to hike miles on the hot dusty road. We bumped along the road in the RAV 4 for about 3 miles, gaining almost 1000 feet. At a fork in the road, the Ruby Crest road/trail deteriorated into more of an ATV trail, so we decided to park and begin the hike.

At 8000' feet the air had a touch of coolness which was very welcome. The road/trail climbed steadily along the flanks of Green Mountain, passing through groves of aspen and flowery meadows, especially green this year due to the wet winter and spring. Vast vistas opened up toward the surrounding deserts and distant mountains, offering a wide-open feeling that is so characteristic of Great Basin hiking.

Four miles from where we parked, the ATV trail came to an end at a ridge, and true hiking trail began. Not soon after, we arrived at the boundary of the Ruby Mountain Wilderness. Leo had thought that water would be in short supply along this stretch of the trail, but we soon crossed creek after creek- no problem here. The aspen groves became dense and shady as we gained elevation. We stopped for lunch by a spring, then shortly afterwards arrived in the 8800' basin of McCutcheon Creek. It was only about 3 pm, but it had been a long day, so we decided to make camp here.

A grove of aspen offered a nice shady campsite near a briskly flowing creek, and a cliffy. snow-patched cirque cut into the north face of 10,600' Green Mountain provided a scenic backdrop. I spent some time exploring the cirque, where about 500' above the camp I found p a pretty meadow with a vigorous spring that would be a great campsite. From the camp, we had a good view of the sun setting beyond distant mountain ranges, a colorful show that set off a photo-snapping frenzy. The night was clear and a bit chilly. Leo, who slept under the stars, noticed frost on his sleeping bag.

Aug. 9.

From the camp the trail gradually climbed two miles to a 9400' pass between Smith and McCutcheon Creeks, traversing meadowy slopes loaded with wildflowers. Groves of whitebark pine dotted the area around the pass -- it seemed that whitebark was the only high-elevation conifer in the range. I'm aware that there are other conifer types in the range, but I saw no other kind of coniferous trees anywhere on our backpack trip. We rested for a long time on the scenic ridge, then began the long, 1600' descent into the valley of Smith Creek. Long stretches of the trail were brushy with young aspen and flowers-the path little used and poorly maintained-but not too bad for hiking. The trail nearly disappeared in a lush aspen grove, then descended steeply to the valley floor, where we found a good camping area near the S. fork of Smith Creek. This was a huge-glacier carved valley with high peaks looming above its headwaters, reminiscent of Lamoille Canyon

From the 7800' valley floor, we began a long climb back up to alpine country. The trail ascended a hot sagebrush-covered slope (actually a huge lateral moraine bulldozed by a former glacier), then dropped a bit into the middle fork of Smith Creek, where we enjoyed lunch in a shady aspen grove. The trail then crossed the next ridge then did a long traversing climb up the valley of the N. Fork Smith creek. For two miles we pushed through a lush growth of indian paintbrush and lupine growing on the aspen-lined trail. The trail steepened as it approached the head of the valley, a great green, meadowy bowl backed by a snowy ridge nearly 11,000' high (good camping possible here).

The trail attacked the headwall with well-graded switchbacks, the views increasing with every step. At 10,000' we reached the crest of the Rubies, and enjoyed a tremendous vista down the steep east face of the range toward the vast Ruby Lake marsh and numerous distant mountain ranges. A final climb over a couple big snowfields took us up to a rocky 10,200 ridge and a view of Overland Lake, the day's destination. At the pass, we were surprised to see a guy dressed in camo gear. We chatted with him and found out he had been brought up to Overland Lake by a horse packer outfit. He and his buddies were bow hunters looking for deer and bighorn sheep.

From the pass, the trail made a steep switchbacking descent down a snowy defile carved out of the hard metamorphic rock by ice age glaciers - a very alpine setting. We passed a small cold tarn, then dropped swiftly to the shore of 9500' Overland Lake, perhaps the prettiest of all the Ruby Mountain lakes. Snow-fed waterfalls tumbled down the cliffs above the lake. The hunters had tipped us off to a great campsite on a rocky peninsula, and there we made camp at this supremely scenic spot. The only downside of the camp was that is was a bit overused (the lake can be reached by a trail coming up from the east), and that we lost the sun behind a cliff minutes after we arrived at 5 pm. I wished we had gotten to this fine spot sooner.

Aug. 10

We knew that this was going to be a long day of hiking, and set out early. Next to a crumbing log cabin, we located the continuation of the Ruby Crest Trail, and followed that down some switchbacks to a junction with the popular horse trail coming up from the east. A sign ominously pointed out that it was 18 miles to Favre Lake -- it appeared that we had greatly underestimated the mileage to the next camp. It was indeed going to be a long day!

We followed the RCT north through a succession of beautiful basins that fed the various branches of Overland Creek. Waterfalls tumbled down from the snowy 11, 000' high peaks above, a colorful assortment of wildflowers splashed color in the lush meadows.

The trail climbed steady for miles through this magnificent landscape, while we raved constantly over the beauty of the Rubies. A final tiring climb brought us to the top of a 10,200 ridge, where we stopped for lunch in the shade of a storm-battered whitebark pine. From here, the Ruby Crest Trail stayed on the very summit of the range, crossing over the tops of a series of tundra covered peaks - a exhausting but glorious trek through astounding scenery. Over and over, we panted our way up and over yet another summit, then descended to the next saddle, losing the fruits of our hard work.

Once the snow melts, this part of the RCT is completely waterless for 13 miles, something to take into account if you come here later in the summer.

At about 3 pm we arrived at the last of the ridge bumps before the final big climb to Wines Peak, the highest point of the RCT. While we were resting, we met a guy hiking from the north who had been camping in the Rubies for a month. We chatted him up, and found out that his wife would occasionaly come up Lamoille Canyon to resupply him with food...what a gal! Now he was ending his trip by hiking out to Harrison Pass. There are certainly some characters in Nevada, for sure.

We descended to yet another meadowy saddle near a spur that may offer a great if dry campsite, then trudged up the switchbacks to the 10,900' Wines Peak, which I felt should be called "Whines Peak" judging by the complaints coming from our exhausted party. After a rest, we commenced the long descent to 9600' North Furlong Lake, our destination. Tired and a bit crabby, I was anxious to reach camp, and started pulling ahead of the group. The topo map suggested a shortcut to the lake, so I left the trail and took a cross-country beeline down a whitebark forested slope. It was a happy sight when the sparkling waters of the lake came into view, though I was soon disappointed to find that the lake had no outlet and was a bit shallow and stagnant. It also had been hit pretty hard by grazing cows - the curse of the Great Basin hiker- that had left poop everywhere.

There was a good camp area on the south shore of the lake, near an outcrop of solid rock that descended down to the water's edge, a nice feature that made the otherwise mediocre body of water much more enjoyable. I gratefully set my pack down after this long (15 mile? ) day and awaited the arrival of my buddies. They arrived about 45 minutes later and reported that the spur trail to the lake was a muddy, nasty mess due to the cows. Even though the lake itself was nothing special, its setting was quite nice. Behind the camp was a rugged, cliff-walled cirque cut into Wines Peak. Unlike yesterday, we had a good view toward the setting sun, and were able to enjoy its warmth well into the evening despite our late 6 pm. arrival.

Aug 11.

Unlike yesterday, this was going to be a short day of hiking, so we dawdled around camp and didn't start hiking until 11:00 am. I took time to explore the cirque above the camp, and found a couple of ponds and a meadow with a nice campsite. Leaving camp, we followed a cross-country route to bypass the cow-churned portion of the N. Furlong access trail. Soon we were back on the RCT (good campsite at trail junction), which gradually climbed to a scenic pass and camera snapping photo op near Lake Peak. Next, the trail descended to the next basin on those infamous, overly gentle 10% horse grade switchbacks that the Forest Service sometimes indulges in, then traversed into the basin containing Favre Lake.

We were now in a heavily-used area easily reached from the major trailhead in Lamoille Canyon. To find some privacy, we bypassed Favre Lake, a large meadow-rimmed body of water supposedly good for fishing, and climbed cross country to Castle Lake, located in a pretty cliff-walled cirque 300' above Favre. At Castle Lake, we found some excellent, moderately-used campsites, with no one around - very nice. Arriving at 2 pm, we had plenty of time to lounge about and do a lot of nothing. Jim wandered around in a futile search for the garnets that the Ruby Mountains were named for, and Leo climbed the ridge above and found a double arch in the rock. I don't know what I did. The only "fly in the ointment" was a cloud of annoying gnats that appeared immediately when the sun set behind the ridge. Later in the day, some yahoos somewhere in the Favre Lake basin started shooting a variety of guns, creating an unholy racket for about an hour. Camping at Castle Lake was a good choice.

Aug 12.

Final day, not too hard. We reluctantly left lovely Castle Lake and headed back down to Favre Lake, where we picked up the RCT once again. The trail made an easy, well-graded climb up to big and deep Liberty Lake, dark blue and apparently bottomless. Along with Overland Lake, Liberty is one of the finest lakes in the range. From here, the lake climbed up rock shelves and steep meadows lush with wild onions to 10,500' Liberty Pass.

While Jim rested, Leo, Chuck, and I scrambled up to the scenic summit of 11,000' Liberty Peak, which offered a 360 degree view of the rugged Ruby Mountains and the highest point in the range, Ruby Dome, 11,387'. A multitude of alpine lakes sparkled in every direction. Even at this altitude the air was mild. In fact we had hardly seen a cloud on our entire trip - nothing but blue skies and warm temps, at least during the day.

Back down at the pass, we rejoined with Jim and headed down into Lamoille Canyon, encountering increasing numbers of hikers coming up from the popular trailhead below. And this was a Friday - I can't think of how many people one might encounter here on a weekend. Definitely avoid this place on Saturday and Sunday if you come here. Where snow and fallen logs blocked the trail, bypass routes had developed, causing a lot of damage to the official trail-more sloppy maintenance by the Forest Service. The gently graded trail eventually eased its way down to pretty Lamoille Lake, rimmed with massive snowbanks on one side. This was a supremely scenic spot to eat lunch, except for the crowds of happy day hikers lounging everywhere.

After lunch, we strolled down the final three miles of heavily used trail, passing the tiny Dollar Lakes along the way. Passing through groves of whitebark pine and flower-strewn meadows, the trail was beautiful to the very end. Arriving at the big paved parking lot filled with a multitude of cars and big RVs, after such a long trek in wilderness, was quite a shock. We located Chuck's Ford Focus, luckily undamaged after being parked for 5 days. We managed to jam all of our packs into the car's trunk and headed off back to Harrison Pass to fetch Jim's RAV-4. Down Lamoille Canyon we drove, back through the suburban sprawl of Spring Creek, back along the lonely road through Jiggs, and up the winding road to Harrison Pass.

Now we faced a three mile, 1000' elevation gain walk up the hot and dusty jeep road to get back to the RAV-4, as the Ford Focus couldn't have driven up the rough road even a hundred yards. We were not looking forward to this walk at all. Several guys in our group are pretty brazen, however, and seeing a guy loading an quad ATV on his truck nearby, Chuck ran over and begged for a ride! Josh, the ATV driver, was friendly and willing (and the ten dollar bill that Chuck offered for the ride must have helped, too). In an instant, Jim hopped onto the ATV with Josh and disappeared up the jeep road. By coincidence, the guy camping for a month in the Rubies that we had met earlier was waiting for his wife to pick him up, and we chatted with him while waiting for Jim to return.

In about 45 minutes, Jim came down the hill with the RAV-4, and we drove back to Elko. Since it was pretty late, we stayed another night at the Thunderbird Motel and enjoyed another huge meal at a Basque restaurant, this time at the Star Hotel.

Aug 13.

After another great breakfast at JR's, we drove back to Seattle all in one day, arriving at about midnight. We stopped for lunch in Ontario, Oregon, which had an interesting ethnic history. Many Japanese were interned in Idaho during WW II, and many ended up moving to Ontario afterwards. Now there is a heavy mexican influence: the taqueria that we ate at was very good and authentic. Later, we searched in vain for a charming coffee shop in the downtowns of La Grande and Pendleton. Finally ended up eating dinner in a burger king in Yakima.

Map of our route on the Ruby Crest Trail (scrollable, zoomable )

http://www.mappingsupport.com/p/gmap4.p ... 0202b&t=t2


And a link to "Ruby Tuesday":

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eUKz2fvb6jY

[Sally]

Wow, great TR and pictures! I love that alpine stuff. One doesn't usually think "alpine" when thinking "Nevada." You've just made me very impatient to get going on my annual Sierra trip in September.

[guest]

Thanks for the TR Whitebark, like Sally, I didn't realize Nevada had this splendor, another one to add to my bucket list, great pics to really get the feel of the beautiful area.

ss

[Cy Kaicener]

Thanks for sharing a great trip report with us Whitebark.
Here is a website you might enjoy
http://backcountry-explorer.com by Courtney Purcell

[KathyW]

Thanks for the report. I'm hoping to head to the Ruby Mountains around Labor Day; so your report is timed nicely.

[whitebark]

Hi KW,
What part of the Rubies are you going to?

[KathyW]

Ruby Dome is my main destination in that area, but I'd like to do a second short hike the day before or after while I'm in the area - maybe Lamoille Canyon hike. I'll likely do Ruby Dome as a day trip via the trail that goes up Hennen Canyon to Griswold Lake.

[whitebark]

Ahh, Ruby Dome...the high point of the Rubies. I've haven't done that climb, but it sure sounds fun. Lamoille Canyon hikes are pretty but crowded, of course.