Cold Lakes

The Cold Creek drainages don't get visited much. The only people who really get up there seem to be hunting guides and their clients, locals setting up a fishing camp and a resident rancher whose family has run sheep and now cattle up there for generations. It's really too bad, because Cold Creek offers all of the spectacular beauty and intimate loveliness that Lamoille Canyon does, without the highway, cars and madding crowds.

I haven't wandered around that part of the range since I was a kid. My dad used to hunt deer along the sagebrush benches in that area, and it's still a popular spot with hunters. I'd never been up to Cold Lakes, although it's been on my Ruby Mountain bucket list for many years. My friend Bruce had a rare day off in town, and I was feeling a bit spunky, and so we decided to head out on a voyage of exploration and see if we could make it up to the lakes.

This trip is usually done on horseback and as an overnight (at least), and after having walked the route I can understand why. It is an absolutely fantastic hike in the autumn - really hard to beat - but there's not a lot of shade and there is a fair bit of elevation gain. It'd be hotter than Hades in the summer. Not only that, but there are three big stream crossings that would be pretty challenging when the water's up, making a spring or early summer trip hard to manage. There's a lot of evidence of huge stream flows along the creek. If walking's your bag, wait until fall, when the sunshine is a welcome partner rather than a gumption-drain, and the creek crossings are fun places to teeter on river rock as you cross.

COLD LAKES

Length:  13.4 miles round trip from trailhead

Elevation Gain:  3520'

Difficulty:  Class D - R (difficult with route finding)

Time required: Day hike or overnight

The Cold Lakes are a pair of lovely glacial lakes at the head of Middle Cold Creek canyon, nestled beneath one of the iconic and most photographed peaks in the Ruby Mountains, the Old Man in the Mountains. It's a remote, beautiful area, with a decent old trail that's generally easy to follow, and good trout fishing in the lakes once you get there.

There are a couple of obstacles you'll need to overcome, however, before you even set foot on the trail to Cold Lakes. One, access to this trailhead is through private property and you'll need to get permission from the property owner to go through. The good news is that these guys are long time local ranchers, they're great about access, and if you can catch them at home they're generally happy to give you the combination to the gate. The only caveat to that is when it's really muddy up there - they don't want it trashed and they'll keep the gate locked if it's wet. I won't do them the discourtesy of posting their phone number here, but you can call the rec manager at the USFS, 775-752-3357 or Joe Doucette with the Nevada Department of Wildlife, 775-777-2300 and they'll tell you how to reach them.

The second obstacle comes with trying to find the actual trailhead. There was a sign, once upon a time, but it's not there now and if you don't know how to find it you're in for some very steep ups and downs. Fortunately there's a bridge crossing right off the bat, and if you can find the bridge you're golden.

To get to the Cold Lakes trailhead, head south from Elko on Lamoille Highway, drive through the town of Lamoille to the T intersection at the Lamoille Church. Check your odometer. Turn left at this T onto a gravel road, turn right at the next T, and follow this road as it zig-zags through Lamoille's beautiful ranch country. You'll pass a nice ranch house at the bottom of a hill, with haystacks across the road. Follow the road as it climbs and curves around to the right. At 6.3 miles or so, you'll see a right turn that goes up a hill to a microwave station. Take this road to the locked gate, and open said gate with the combination you got from making all of those phone calls. Check your odometer again.

Drive through the gate on the good two-track road (passable by passenger cars) and follow it to an old homestead ranch. Drive past the ranch house through the gate by the corrals. You'll come to a fork in the road with what once was a pretty useful directional sign, now missing. Take the left fork and drive up a hill, paralleling an irrigation ditch. At the top of the hill, at about 1.6 miles from the locked gate, look for a bridge crossing the ditch on your left. That's your trailhead... park here.

It's pretty easy to get turned around right off the bat, because there are a lot of very predominant cow trails leading off of the main trail, and no signs or rock cairns differentiating the real trail from the rest. Count the drainages and don't take any turns. You'll cross one little dip right after the bridge, and you'll climb up and over to an almost immediate second drainage. That's the south fork of Cold Creek. Cross it, climb up again and over another hill to a much larger drainage - the main Cold Creek drainage, which is the one you want. Cross the creek onto a private ranch road and hang a right into a beautiful tunnel of aspens.

There is a lot of evidence of very high stream flows here. The rancher who runs cows here told me that the creek flooded big-time a few years ago. It took him a long time to clear this out. He and the local hunting guides are pretty much the only ones keeping this trail brushed out these days. The USFS trail crews rarely, if ever, get up here.

You won't go far along this road before you come to a new "National Forest Boundary" sign, followed by a much older sign marking the trail fork to North Cold Creek Canyon and to Cold Lakes, which are at the head of the Middle Cold Creek canyon.

The North Cold Creek crossing, right before it merges with the much larger middle fork.

Once you cross the creek, the trail starts climbing up the spine of a sagebrush and mahogany ridge. The trail right here pretty much goes straight up the fall line, as do many sections of the Cold Lakes trail. There's been significant trail damage over the years, from water and from the thousands of hooves that have pounded it for a century or so. By far, though, the majority of the damage has been done by water erosion.

The trail flattens out when it reaches the ridge, giving you a welcome respite from the climb. It starts contouring around the ridge on a very wide bench that has the look and feel of having been a road many years ago. It is quite plausible that it WAS a road once upon a time, as local lore says that the Southern Pacific Railroad used to take timbers out of this canyon back in the 1800s. There are a lot of very old stumps here and higher up the canyon, giving credence to the story.

At about 2.5 miles you're back in the aspens again, heading towards two more crossings of Middle Fork Cold Creek. Immediately after the first of those crossings you'll come to a trail junction. It isn't on current maps, but the 1967 USFS Forest Users Map shows a trail that leaves from about here and goes over the ridge to the South Fork Cold Creek drainage. We didn't follow it, so I couldn't tell you if that's the old trail or not. There are easier ways into that drainage these days, in any case.

After the next creek crossing you'll walk into an aspen wood with another unsigned trail junction at about 3.4 miles. Take the right fork, and you'll eventually reach a hunter's camp at about 3.7 miles.

It's obvious that the Basque sheepherders used this camp before the hunters did, because there are a lot of great old tree carvings through this stretch. We found legible ones dating back to the 1940's. This one, left by a fairly prolific gentleman named Pierre, was apparently his annual calendar.

Once you pass the hunter's camp, the trail gets quite a bit steeper, averaging an 18% grade. There are significant areas of water damage on the trail from here to the lake, as well as a few opportunities to lose the main tread and utilize cow trails as you continue upwards. The cow trails are in better shape than the main trail in a lot of spots. Generally speaking, once you leave the hunters camp, the trail leaves the creek and hugs the climber's left side of the drainage.

There are great views of the back side of the Old Man of the Mountains through here.

After a couple of steep, erosional climbs, you'll come to a set of rock cairns marking your way through a spot where the tread is pretty much missing. When you reach the first cairn, look to your right for the next one. The cairns in front of you mark what is essentially a cut switchback... the right route is much easier.

Once you pass the cairns the tread is very easy to find, even when snow-covered. There are some switchbacks and rock work to show you that someone did, in fact, construct this trail once upon a time.

It's truly lovely through here, with the austere alpine beauty that has made the Rubies famous. Best of all, you'll very likely have the place to yourself.

The final approach to the lake is pretty steep with a lot of trail damage, and runs along the climber's left side of the outflow stream from the lake.

Last few steps - you won't see the lakes until you're about standing in them.

The Cold Lakes sit in a rocky glacial cirque at just short of 10,000'. There's great fishing up here, and most visitors come up with horses and plan on staying several nights. We found a fully-stocked fishing camp between the lakes, complete with saw, shovel, tent, MREs, pots and pans, fishing pole... and wall art. Quite homey.

Overall, this is a great hike - well worth doing. Next time I'll bring a backpack and fishing pole, and head up a few weeks earlier before the lakes freeze up. This trip, though, was a fast one, and Bruce and I had to take off from the lakes pretty quickly to get back to the truck and beer before dark.

Here's a map of the route. Click on it to make it bigger.

John Day Trail

If you're looking for an easy - really easy - day hike full of fall color, then the John Day trail is your hike. I wanted to get out yesterday but didn't have much time, so figured I'd re-visit this lovely small canyon. What a treat... surprisingly rarely visited given its accessibility and beauty.

John Day is the small canyon looker's right of Soldier Canyon, and the easiest public access is from Soldier Canyon itself. This means two things to visitors... one, fall is hunting season and the Soldier Canyon area is one of the few places hunters can access without having to arrange for permission from private landowners. That means that it's heavily used, often by hunters who don't have a whole lot of experience. Keep yourself safe by wearing day-glo orange - a lot of it. And if you're not absolutely certain your pooch will stay right at your heels, leave him at home.

The second thing to remember about Soldier Canyon is that the access road is closed to motor vehicles from November 15th through May 1st. A lot of people can - and do - use the canyon in the winter, but they park on Lower Lamoille Road and access the canyon on skis and snowshoes. If you want to drive to this trailhead, keep this closure in mind.

Here's some trail beta for you:

JOHN DAY TRAIL

Length:  4 miles RT from trailhead in Soldier Canyon

Elevation gain:  1100'

Difficulty:  Class A (easy)

Time required:  Half-day

The John Day trail is in good shape and is easy to follow. The Backcountry Horsemen and local hunting guides have done a good job keeping this trail brushed out, at least for the first couple of miles, and there are only a few spots where you'll have to step over or duck under deadfall. One guy with a chainsaw could have it cleared in about half an hour.

You'll find the trailhead you're looking for about 3.2 miles along the Soldier Canyon Road after it leaves Lower Lamoille Road. It's the first obvious grassy parking spot once you enter the canyon, and the trail itself is marked with a sign. The trailhead of the John Day Trail is all that's left of the old Secret-Lamoille Trail as it crossed Soldier Canyon. That trail ran from Secret Pass to Lamoille Canyon, largely across the benched foothills of the range, and the John Day Trail junction was about .2 miles in on that trail as it headed south and west from the Soldier Canyon Road.

The first .2 mile of this trail is quite steep - a 21% grade - because it is, in fact, a cut switchback. The original trail actually intersected the Soldier Canyon road a few hundred yards upstream. David Ashby, the former local USFS rec planner who inventoried all of the Ruby Mountain District trails a few years ago, told me that there wasn't a lot of point in re-establishing the old trail since the cut switchback was fairly stable and led to a natural parking area. So - unless you're interested in rooting out the old benched trail bed, this steep little climb right off the bat will be the beginning and the ending of your day. It's not as bad as it looks, and there's thankfully not a lot of dust and loose rock to jeopardize your footing.

Once you gain the top of the little ridge you'll see an old cairn fading into the grass. This old cairn marked the S-L Trail/John Day Trail junction, and if you look you can see the old trail down to Soldier Canyon road off behind the cairn. Unfortunately, the junction it marked no longer exists, as John Day Creek flash flooded a few years back, destroying the crossing and creating an impressive, steep-walled gully barring you from reaching the S-L Trail. It's uncrossable without a rope and a belayer, and dangerous to try. Fortunately, a old subsidiary trail takes off from the John Day trail a little upstream. There's no cairn marking it and it wasn't readily obvious, but I'll chase it down and do a write-up on that one another day.

After you pass the old cairn the trail maintains a steady 10% climb, but the trail's so good and the grade is so consistent that you hardly notice you're gaining elevation. The first half mile or so contours around the climbers' left side of the canyon, through sandy soil with only infrequent shade provided by sparse mahoganies. It's pretty hot and dry through here in the summer, but the views make it worth the walk. There's a relatively new cairn along this stretch - not sure what it marks, perhaps an easier crossing of John Day Creek. Worth exploring if you have the time and aren't afraid of rattlesnakes.

It doesn't take long for the trail to dive into a tunnel of aspen, and this is where it becomes truly lovely. The trail crosses the creek a few times, and you will probably have wet feet if you do this hike during high water.

At 1.7 miles, you'll reach the end of the nicely brushed-out trail at a grassy hunter's camp. Unlike some others, this one's pretty clean and is still a very pleasant place. I was more than surprised to find it unoccupied.

Past the camp, you can walk another quarter of a mile along the creek to a lovely little spot where the stream babbles and laughs in the summer. In the fall, it provides a peaceful spot and a great photo opportunity.

The map shows that the trail goes on for another half-mile, but there's very little evidence past this point that it ever existed. I was able to follow it for another quarter mile, but it was completely overgrown and a full-on bash through waist-deep brush. This trail would be easy enough to reclaim, if anyone were interested. It's a shame to lose the rest of such a nice walk.

Here's the map - click on it (and on any of these photos) to make it bigger.

Flower show in Soldier Canyon

With the dry, dry conditions we've been "enjoying" this year, flowers have been few and far between, much to my dismay. However, usually reliable Soldier Canyon is coming through, and those looking for flowers will do well to head to this somewhat off-the-beaten-path destination.

There's no possibility that Soldier or any other canyon in the Rubies this summer is going to have the riotous display that we saw last year. But, I saw a very nice array of arrowleaf balsamroot, penstemon, rock geranium, columbines, chokecherries, etc. etc. etc. Certainly plenty to provide happy respite for my flower-starved soul.

It's gorgeous up there right now, and spring is slowly marching to higher elevations. As I gained elevation walking up the trail, the flower show morphed into blooming serviceberry bushes, and then into a generous scattering of buttercups. And then into plants just coming out of winter dormancy. There were butterflies everywhere, and a symphony of birds, bugs and chuckling creek... dappled sunshine and wide open Nevada blue skies. And I had the whooooooooooole place to myself.

It doesn't suck living here, truly.

++++++++++++++++++++++

If you're going to head up Soldier Canyon, or to any lower-elevation destination in the Rubies, be aware that there are rattlesnakes around. This isn't a deal-killer as far as trip planning is concerned, because they're every bit as interested in avoiding you as you are in avoiding them. Just stay on the trails, be deliberate about where you're putting your hands and feet, and give them plenty of room to get away.

Rattlesnakes are very courteous animals, when you think about it. They let you know they're there, generally before you get close enough to cause problems for them. Show them the courtesy of not harassing them, and let them get back to their jobs of keeping the rodent population under wraps.

A bit of rattlesnake lore from my rancher dad, who knew these mountains better than I ever will: common "knowledge" among the old timers here is that there aren't any rattlesnakes above the elevation of Scout Camp in Lamoille Canyon, at about 7200'. Couldn't tell you how accurate that is, but the fact is that I've never seen a rattler above that elevation, and I'm willing to bet that my dad didn't, either.

Another tidbit from my dad: stay out of rattler territory in late July/early August, when they're shedding their skins. He always told me that they were a lot more irritable at that time of the year, as well as about half blind. I was never interested in testing the theory and so have avoided lower-elevation trails that time of year. Those trails tend to be hot and dusty in August, anyway.

Here's a write-up on today's destination, Hidden Lakes.

++++++++++++++++++++++

HIDDEN LAKES

Length: 10.5 miles RT from Soldier Creek trailhead

Elevation gain: 2734'

Difficulty: Class C (moderate, all on trail)

The Hidden Lakes are a pair of glacial gems tucked up on a bench above Soldier Basin. Now that they've signed the trail turnoff they're not all that hidden any more, but back in the day you pretty much had to know they were up there to go looking for them. They're not all that obvious until you're almost standing in them.

This hike is quite different from many in the Rubies. For one, it's much lower elevation, meaning that you spend a fair bit of time walking through the dappled sunshine of aspen groves. You walk uphill through a narrow canyon, alongside the boisterous Soldier Creek, until suddenly the canyon opens up into a beautiful mountain basin, with gentle slopes and only a scattering of trees. The grade slacks off considerably and it becomes a very mellow walk. The lack of shade makes this a better hike very early in the morning or at times of the year when it's a bit cooler out. You'll be sharing the area with a lot of hunters in the fall, so if that's not your gig you might want to find another destination.

To get to the trailhead, drive through Lamoille until the pavement ends at a T intersection by the Lamoille Church. Turn left, and then turn right when the road makes another quick T. Stay on this road as it roughly follows the line of foothills at the base of the range. After the road dips to cross Cold Creek, look for a small brown sign at about 10 miles that says "Soldier Canyon" and points to the right. Go through the gate onto a somewhat rougher road (still passable by passenger car) about 6 miles to a small turnaround with an outhouse and a hitching rack. Park here unless you have a high-clearance vehicle and don't much care about your undercarriage.

You'll immediately cross Soldier Creek and then walk up the jeep road for another 3/4 of a mile or so until you reach a USFS kiosk and a gate blocking access by the ATVS that were continually encroaching on the trail. (Thank you, Backcountry Horsemen).

The trail is a bit rocky at first as it climbs through the aspens, gaining elevation at a 13% clip. It smooths out pretty quickly, though, and is downright pleasant walking. The canyon gets narrow and the creek gets closer, until fairly suddenly at about 2.25 miles in the canyon opens up, the grade slacks off a bit, and you leave the aspen forest for a scrub hillside.

For the next 2+ miles, you'll follow the creek as it and the canyon bend around to the right, still gaining elevation but not steeply at all. The plant communities will change as you gain elevation, until you start to see limber pines and skunk cabbage.

You'll pass the turnoff to Ross Creek and the Krenka Creek trailhead at about 3 miles. Those rough trails will get you to places very few people other than hunters go. Good stuff for those with adventure in their souls.

At a little more than four miles, you'll see the first of the tarns that have collectively earned the name Soldier Lakes. There are five of these tarn-sized lakes up here, all of them lovely in their own ways. Soldier Basin itself is fairly treeless and windswept, and very open.

At 4.5 miles you'll see a new-ish sign marking the turnoff to Hidden Lakes. It's pretty obvious which of the two forks gets more traffic - and it's not the fork we're planning on taking today.

The trail to Hidden Lakes pretty immediately overlooks the largest of the Soldier Lakes, and makes its way up a mellow grade on wonderful tundra slope. The tread is very thready but it's impossible to lose your way as it's marked by the most obvious rock cairns in the Rubies. They immediately brought to mind the signal fires of Gondor. If you do manage to lose track of the next cairn, just stop where you are and look around. You'll see it.

Oddly enough, the cairns will dump you onto a beautifully benched trail that contours around the hillside and takes you the rest of the way to the lake. If I had to guess, it looks like somebody started rebuilding the old trail from the lake on down, and ran out of money, oomph or weekends about half-way into the project. At any rate, the trail's great and will get you where you need to go.

You'll come up on the twinned Hidden Lakes right at 5.25 miles.

As at most lakes in the Rubies, there are far more fire rings than necessary, all of which are filled with burnt cans and broken glass. I didn't have a garbage bag with me today... if you head up there, bring one along and pack some of that stuff out of there. If we all take a little none of us will have to take a lot and eventually it'll get cleaned out.

There are tent sites at the south end of the southern lake, if you're up for an overnight. There are cutthroat trout in these lakes, although they had a big winter kill event in 2010-2011. They re-stocked the lake last year with fingerlings... too small to keep. Give them a couple of years to grow up before trying to tempt them into your frying pan. There are lots of brookies in Robinson Lake down the hill, though, so you don't have to go hungry. To get to Robinson, walk back downhill to the main trail, hang a right, walk past (fishless) Soldier Lake a few hundred yards to Robinson, the last (and largest) lake on the bench.

Here's the map. Click on it to make it larger.

One final note: this is a great opportunity to give a shout-out to the Backcountry Horsemen, who have been the ones maintaining the Soldier Creek Trail for years. Without this group of volunteers the trail would be ridiculously overgrown, much more eroded, and a significantly less pleasant place to visit. Thanks, folks, for all of your hard work over the years!

Hike classifications

It's been a while since I've posted an update. I tore up my left Achilles tendon several weeks ago - how, I couldn't tell you, but likely from not being as conscientious about stretching as I could/should be. Getting old ain't for sissies, and my days of bounding out of the truck and onto the trail are likely over. Warm up first, please.

At any rate, I've gotten a bit of grief from folks for the (extremely subjective) ratings I've given some of the hikes for which I've provided beta on this blog, most particularly my most recent write-up on Griswold Lake. What's "easy" for me may be less so for other folks, and what I might consider something that should earn a "difficult" rating could be a cakewalk for another person.

Fair enough. Let's take the subjectivity out of it.

Back when I lived in Colorado, I was a member of the Colorado Mountain Club. They have tens of thousands of members and needed a workable rating system to make sure that people signed up for the hikes they were interested in and/or qualified for. Their rating system did a pretty good job in letting folks know what they were in for, so (since plagiarism is the highest form of flattery) I'm going to steal it wholesale. Not only that, but as a courtesy I'll go back and update the ratings I've given various hikes on this blog to reflect this rating system.

Fair enough?

OK, here it is, straight from the CMC website:

Hike Classifications

Hikes (including some trips that require rock-climbing skills) are normally classified as A through D:

Class A: Up to 8 miles round trip and 1200 ft. elevation gain. (Prior hiking experience is usually not necessary.)

Class B: Up to 12 miles round trip and 2500 ft. elevation gain. (Moderate to strenuous physical activity. Some prior experience is beneficial.)

Class C: Up to 15 miles round trip and 3500 ft. elevation gain. (Strenuous to very strenuous physical activity. Prior experience and training is beneficial.)

Class D: Over 15 miles round trip or 3500 ft. elevation gain. (Very strenuous physical activity often including exposure or requiring use of technical skills. Knowledge based on prior experience and training is highly beneficial.)

If you also see the letter "E" after the classification (such as C-E or D-E), the trip involves exposure (i.e., risk of falling) and may require advanced climbing skills.

Got it? That should be easy enough. Since a lot of the hikes around here require route-finding skills, I'll add an "R" after the classification to indicate that, too.

I'll put a link to this post at the bottom of my trail beta from here on out. FWIW, I pretty much considered Class A and B hikes to be "easy" hikes back in my CMC days, C hikes to be "moderate" and D hikes to be the ones most worth doing. ;)

Griswold Lake and the Hennen Canyon Trail

I've always kind of "dissed" Griswold Lake as a hiking destination, largely because I generally have more distant goals in mind: Ruby Dome and Lee Peak, to be exact. The trail up Hennen Canyon to Griswold Lake is the easiest way to access those two peakbagging goals, and so Griswold tends to be a snack stop along the way.

That said, the hike to Griswold is well worth doing. I had a chance to walk up there this weekend, and really enjoyed the snow, the silence, and the herd of big bucks I saw along the way. ATVs won't make it up this canyon, so the bucks are largely safe from Elko County hunters. Given the sometimes slippery footing and the late start I managed, I was happy to have a headlight along. It got pretty dark around 4:30pm. The trail's so good, though, that getting back to the truck was easy-peasy.

Here's a little beta for those interested in making this trip.

























HENNEN CANYON TRAIL TO GRISWOLD LAKE

Length: 6 miles RT from Spring Creek Association campground trailhead

Elevation gain: 2750'

Difficulty: Class C-R (moderate with route-finding)

Time required: Day hike or overnight
The Hennen Canyon trail is a great day hike or overnight for those interested in an easy-to-moderate, accessible, low-commitment trip away from the mass of people that populates Lamoille Canyon. Because this trail is the main access to Ruby Dome, it sees regular use in the summer and a fair bit of use in the fall and winter. Most people don't go far up the trail when the snow comes, though, and you can just about be guaranteed of having the place to yourself as the days start growing short.


Hennen Canyon Trail


If you choose to make this an overnight, there is good camping at Griswold Lake. The lake itself is very shallow, with a mud bottom and a rock in the middle that makes for an excellent swimming goal. There are fish in the deepest part of the lake. An overnight at Griswold and a hike up Ruby Dome makes for a fun weekend trip.

The Hennen Canyon trail is a non-wilderness, non-motorized trail, meaning it's open to hikers, horsemen, mountain bikers, skiers, etc. However, while the trail clearly sees some maintenance from USFS crews, there are some large-diameter deadfall logs that make the going pretty difficult for the horsey set. In addition, once the trail leaves the trees, it spends a lot of time traveling through some very rocky terrain. While I know that horsemen can and do occasionally get their animals up there, it's very difficult going in places and there's a high probability that your horse will be injured. Be advised. As far as MTBs go - it's well beyond the capacity for my legs and lungs. If you're up for a steady 16% grade, have at it. I've never seen a bike up there, or even tracks... that doesn't mean that it can't be done, but it certainly isn't an entry-level MTB trip.

I couldn't begin to tell you the "official" USFS name for this trail. It is located in the bottom of Hennen Canyon, along Butterfield Creek, up to Griswold Lake. I'll call it the Hennen Canyon trail, but if you ask at the ranger office they may well call it something else.



The hike is rated Class C-R (moderate with route-finding). The hike itself isn't difficult - there's not much elevation gain in the scheme of things, it's not that long, there's no scrambling or exposure. The first two miles or so are on good, reasonably well-maintained trail that's easy enough to find, even in winter. That said, you will be spending some of this hike off-trail following rock cairns, some of which are difficult to see. Not only that, but you will need to be comfortable out there on your own - there's no road up this canyon, no way to get an ATV up there, and you'll need to be prepared to self-evacuate if you have an issue.

One other note - if you are not a Spring Creek property owner, you are technically trespassing using this trail. You have to go through a section of land owned by Spring Creek Association to get to it. I've never heard of anyone being hassled about this, but if somebody does get in your face about it, don't say that you haven't been warned. Stay low-profile, be a good guest, and hopefully their non-harassment policy won't change.


GETTING THERE:
Hennen Canyon is accessed through the Spring Creek Association campground. To reach the SCA campground - from Elko travel SE on Lamoille Highway (5th Street) approximately 17 miles to Pleasant Valley Road, a dirt road that takes off straight as an arrow towards the Rubies. The road will make a 90-degree turn - at this corner you'll see a locked green gate to the left. If you have a key to the gate you can save yourself some walking by driving in. Otherwise, park here and climb over the gate.

THE HIKE:
From the gate, walk or drive up the dirt road and take the right fork up to the campground. The road switchbacks up past some pull-out campsites and eventually dead-ends at a flat turn-around with a nice view of the valley. There'll be a large sign that says "Ruby Dome 4 mi, Griswold Lake 3 mi". Follow the arrows, cross Butterfield Creek on a nice new-ish bridge, pass through the man-gate and you'll be on the trail proper.

The trail maintains a pretty steady 16% grade overall. This can be a little... eye-opening... right out of the gate. It can also be fairly annoying in August, when the trail tread is dusty and somewhat slippery, particularly on the downhill. It does get better when you get past the initial sagebrush rise. The grade doesn't really relent but the trail surface improves. Other times of the year, when the trail isn't dusty, it makes for fine walking.

You'll pass through a second man-gate somewhat more than half a mile up the trail. At this point, you're on the Forest proper and are no longer trespassing. Be sure and close the gate behind you.


Butterfield Creek

The trail climbs up to the left of Butterfield Creek, weaving in and out of the aspens and mahoganies on the way up. It's easy to find, even with the snow - follow the tree carvings and cut logs if you can't see the tread itself. There are carvings by Basque sheepherders dating back to the 1930's that are easy to find without much looking. You might find even older ones if you look hard enough.


Old carvings























At about two miles in you'll reach the end of the aspen grove and will be faced with a large, flat rock outcropping. This is a good turn-around spot if you're on a horse or are interested in a shorter, easier hike. If you're interested in pressing on, head up the rock, walk uphill and start looking for rock cairns.


The rock bench begins

There are some really nice views of Spring Creek, Elko Mountain and the Adobe Range from here. Don't forget to take time to gawk.


Valley view

There are about four lines of rock cairns that will eventually lead you up the rock bench to the lake. They all follow roughly the same path, so it doesn't really matter which line you follow. The cairns pretty much hug the left bank of the draw in the middle of the rock bench - if you lose the line it is no big deal, it just might take you a couple minutes more getting up there.

You'll go through a bit of a squeeze right next to the creek, and then the canyon will widen out again. At this point, there are two draws below the lake. The cairns, again, hug the left bank of the left draw, the obvious snow-filled gully in this picture.


Final approach to Griswold Lake

Once the grade begins to relent, you'll know you've all but reached the lake itself.


Griswold Lake


Griswold campsite

If Griswold Lake is your goal for the hike, hang out for a bit, have a snack and enjoy the day before heading down. If Ruby Dome is your ultimate goal, I'll do a real write-up for you one of these days. Generally speaking, though, the easiest way to do it is to circle around the left of Griswold Lake, making your way uphill to the wide saddle between Hennen Canyon and the right fork of Seitz Canyon. Stay on the rocks, stay off of the plants! Once you've gained that saddle, skirt to the right of the large knob, then start picking your way across the boulders up to the obvious low point to the west of the Dome. Once you've achieved that low point, Ruby Dome is to your left, Lee Peak is along the ridge to the right.