Heading north up Great Basin Highway (US93) a rugged snow capped mountain range comes into view, the Ruby Mountains.  They jut up majestically from the sage brush covered desert floor.  Our destination is Elko Nevada at the foot of the Rubies with a special eye for the Lamoille Canyon just above town.  The scenic drive glides up through the rugged, glacier formed canyon, past hanging side canyons and through thick aspen groves.

We rounded a corner to find snowmobiles parked in a high icy drift stretching all the way across the pavement. End of the road for us.  No Ruby Dome or mountaintop trails today.

Lower elevation trails lead to many beaver ponds. The aspen groves provide about perfect dam building materials and food.  Stumps stand 4 or 5 feet tall where they were gnawed off at snow line when they were retrieved to supplement mid winter food stores.  Ambitious engineers those furry fellows.  There work greatly changed the flow of the mountain streams.

Our hike for today, Baker Creek trail. The dirt road is pretty smooth but we roll along at the 25 mph speed limit keeping and eye out for critters.  What is that sign?  Marmot crossing!  Really?   Sure enough as if on cue they appear both on the road and atop rocks near by.  They are cute and very social so it is fun to watch them interact.  One fellow absolutely would not leave the middle of the road.  When we got close we saw that he was digging little depressions and eating something he found in the roadbed material.  That’s a pretty dangerous craving he was having.

We move on.

Only one car at the trail head; this promises to be a pretty quiet walk. Notes in the trail sign-in log warn of numerous hikes “turned back by snow”.  Hmmm.  We will see.  Baker Creek gurgles and tumbles along side the trail.  We climb evenly but not too steeply.  Before long we loose the jackets and hike in shirt sleeves and shorts.  Very nice.  A few switchbacks and we find ourselves in a near silent mountain meadow.  It is amazing how the pines block all sound of the creek.  Birds sing. Turkeys gobble somewhere near by.  With a bit of looking we spot them.  Pretty odd looking fellows really.  Wildflowers abound on the sunny slopes.  We encounter our first snow.  It isn’t deep, no biggy.  We walk on through the scent of clear mountain air sometimes filled with the thick smell of pine.  Snow-chilled breezes slide down the mountain and swirl past us.  There is more snow now.  Sometimes more than boot high but we are doing ok.  We are back along the snow melt swollen creek and it is bigger now since we have moved above where it forks on its journey downhill.  Sunlight dances of the water as it tumbles over boulders and fallen trees.  Snow drifts line the banks.  It is beautiful.

More snow. Too much?  Not yet.  Keep going a bit more.  Fortunately there have been hikers through here before us so we can follow their tracks else route finding would be very difficult.  Feet are getting wetter.  Let’s try to make it to the tree line so we can catch the wider view.

Nope. This is it.  I sank so deep in snow that it filled the cuff of my shorts.  Time to head back.

It is only noon so “just for fun” we take the fork to the right to try an alternative route back to the trailhead. Reports were that it is snow covered but it looks passable.  First a snow covered foot bridge.  Ok.  Some snow covered trail steps, a bit un-nerving.  Oh, oh, no more tracks to follow and none of these trails have any markings visible with snow cover.  We are turned back again.  We retrace our steps to the trail junction and head on back the way we came. Turkeys are still around.  It is warmer now and snow on the trail is mushy and muddy.

Our feet are wet and we weren’t able to take the paths we planned but it was a wonderful hike in a beautiful place. Another fine day of exploring.

The trail through Ash Canyon in Echo Canyon State Park is a beautiful rugged canyon walk.  A shot set of switch backs got us to the ridge summit with views of the distant mountains, some with snow on them!  Then we got to the business of canyon hiking.  It was twisty with some boulder climbing but the trail crew has added some well placed steps and handholds so it was fun, not scary.  Side canyons joined us along the way until we had to bypass a 25 foot drop-off that leads waters to the river below.

We had company, mule deer, black tailed jackrabbits, cottontails and the usual juniper forest and canyon birds.

I would rate it as a perfect hike if the return portion of the loop along the river had not been so overgrown. We actually had to turn back and take the last 3/4 mile on the road.

So, not perfect but still a great hike.

Wind and rain continue to sculpt the spires and columns of this clay, badlands gorge. From afar the shapes are majestic and very much cathedral-like.  Close up, the intricate cracking, lumps, hollows and over hangs are fascinating.  Ravens and falcons lay claim to air space among the spires.  Sparrows and flycatchers dart among the bush.  Jack rabbits and cottontails emerge from hiding places if we get too close.  Game trails criss-cross the gorge.  The mule deer didn’t make a showing during our mid afternoon stroll.

Dark skies threatened off and on all day but we got only a sprinkle. It brought a rainbow!

The star attraction here, red sandstone in seemingly limitless formations.  The scenic drive and hikes let us move among the magnificent rock.  There are petrified trees too…ancient pines.  Splotches of white sandstone appear in stark contrast. 

This desert country is all about rocks and these huge sandstone formations don’t disappoint.

The BLM manages a section of land just 15 miles outside of the Vegas city limits. It’s all about the geology and a wonderful thing that they have managed to save it from development.  “Young sandstone monoliths are overshadowed by the ancient La Madres all courtesy the keystone thrust, a huge geologic movement millions of years ago that got the rocks all “out of order”.  Our hike around white rock mountain gave us some great views.  It was a bit overcast so colors don’t photograph so great and it’s really the scale of it all that makes the impact.  Pictures will just have to serve to conjure up the more complete memories.

Mule deer watched us curiously as they munched on some choice morsels. Antelope ground squirrels scurried across our path.  The raucous cries of a hungry raptor fledgling escaped from somewhere high in the cliffs.  Scrub jays noisily darted tree to tree along the trail.  Not bad on the wildlife front considering the number of hikers.  This place must really be busy on weekends.  Many of the trailhead parking lots were overflowing on a Wednesday.