Notch Peak

From the Snake Range, over fifty miles away, Notch Peak can be seen prominently on the horizon. It rises like a blade. The sheer face of the cliff appears as if the summit was sliced in half. The sight not only demands attention, but investigation.
 
But the journey begins in Sawtooth Canyon. We travel ten miles on a graveled and sometimes rough road. Near the mouth of the canyon is an old cabin. I notice some tailings on the hillside and wonder if the structure was used by miners.
 

Old cabin in Sawtooth Canyon.

Sawtooth Canyon.

It is hot outside. They say the temperature is supposed to rise to ninety-six degrees. It is ten o'clock already and we are in the West Desert in July. Not too far away is the hardpan of a huge dried lake. Everything here seems to be dry. It is quite a contrast from the patches of snow we found yesterday.
 
The trail follows a dry stream bed. Some of the canyon walls are tall and sheer, and one of them even resembles a sawtooth. There are three of us and we stop from time to time under the shade of a tree to drink from our water and munch a bite or two of trail mix.
 
They say there are various trails to Notch Peak, but being unfamiliar with the area, we remain on the prominent path. As we walk along I think of the Indians who lived here hundreds of years ago and wonder how many of them ascended the summit. The old-timers found a lot of artifacts in this general area, so I would assume that a landmark as distinguished as Notch Peak would hold a level of sacredness with the Natives.
 

Juniper tree growing from solid rock.

An arch in the canyon.

Bark of a white fir.

I am pleasantly surprised that the canyon narrows and a wider variety of vegetation begins to grow. We find cliffrose, mountain mahogany, pinyon pine and juniper. It is amazing how many trees seem to grow directly out of solid rock from the canyon slopes. Dave teaches us how to tell the difference between white fir and Douglas fir by the direction the needles are growing.
 
As we advance, some parts of the wash become steeper and we have to climb up layers of rock to reach the upper level. Dead trees and boulders clog portions of the canyon, having been washed down during flash floods.
 

During this section we meet a man from Pleasant Grove who has just ran a sprint-triathlon in Delta this morning. He is catching a “quick hike” before he goes home. He is in much better shape than we are, but appears to be exhausted. We let him pass, as he seems to be anxious to complete his hike. Other than him and two other hikers, we encounter no one else.
 
Eventually the trail leaves the wash and we follow a couple cairns that lead to nowhere. We walk up the hill, hoping to cross the path, but find nothing. At this point, I will admit, we have lost the trail. I will also admit that I didn't prepare as well as I should have. One internet site that stated that the trail to Notch Peak was well marked. In hindsight, I should have spend four bucks and bought a BLM map and researched the path on my own. Now we stand half way up a ridge, not sure which direction to head. We know we can see the back side of Notch Peak, but aren't quite sure which hill that would be. Our strategy is to walk to the top of the ridge and follow it all the way around. By doing that we are sure to find the right place.
 

Back side of Notch Peak.

As we hike up the slope, we can see the man from Pleasant Grove way ahead of us at the base of a pointed hill. He stands in one place for several minutes, then walks back and forth. He appears disoriented and perhaps lost. We worry about him becoming dehydrated and exhausted after having ran a race. As we continue, we keep an eye on his location.
 
We walk toward the pointed hill and on the backside find a grove of bristlecone pine trees. I am very surprised to find these, as they usually grow at higher elevations (we are probably at 8,000 feet now). Bristlecone pines are among the oldest trees in the world, some dating back before the time of Christ. They are shorter than most pines and have gnarly trunks and branches. The needles grow in bunches and resemble fox tails.
 

Bristlecone pine trees are thousands of years old.

Needles of a bristlecone pine tree.

Even though we are tired, we climb to the top of the pointed hill. From here a new world opens up and we realize that Notch Peak is on the next hill over. It is much higher. But from here we can see the sheer cliff face, having a much better view than if we were on the summit itself.
 

Notch Peak as seen from the east side.

The man from Pleasant Grove makes his way toward us, finally having found the peak himself. He admits that he didn't know where he was going either. We take a picture for him and then he heads back, telling us that he's running out of water.
 
We move on, down the pointed hill and then up an even steeper mountain side toward the peak. It looks pretty rough from a distance, but once climbing up, we find it very manageable.
 

At the peak.

This is about as far as we dared peer over the edge.

At last we arrive at the top, and what a view it is! Looking west we can see the Snake Range as well as several other mountain ranges. All around us are chains of hills with dry valleys between. To the southeast is the massive dry lake bed of Sevier Lake.
 
Notch Peak has the second tallest sheer cliff in the United States next to El Capitan in Yosemite. The cliff face is 2,200 feet high! To look over the rim we get down on our bellies and scoot our heads over the ledge. Needless to say, the view downward creates a feeling of vertigo. There is absolutely nothing to stop an accidental fall. After just a few seconds, each of us back up and retreat to terra firma.
 
By now the hot July heat has retreated also. Monsoon clouds cover the sun and a cool breeze begins to pick up. We spot a couple patches of isolated rain on the valley before us. Every few minutes a rumble of thunder fills the air.
 
There are no trees at the top. Just short, stubby bushes. One small plant catches my attention as there are hundreds of lady bugs swarming all over. I consider pulling out my camera and snapping a picture, but as that thought crosses my mind, the rain drops begin to fall.
 

Sevier Lake as seen from Notch Peak.

Looking directly north from Notch Peak.

We pack up in a hurry. One of the storm cells with lightning is headed our way. At the top of a peak is nowhere to be during an electrical storm.
 
The rain comes down, but not in torrential fashion. Just enough to dampen our clothes and packs. The rocks are a little slippery on the steep slope down to the bottom. Once we arrive at the dry wash bed the rain stops. But the thunder continues to roll, and with each peal the rumbles echo off the canyon walls. ♠

Notch Peak as seen from Highway 50 & 6 near the Utah / Nevada border.

Wheeler Peak

Most people are surprised to learn there is a summit that rises above the Great Basin to over 13,000 feet—complete with a glacier and 2,000 year old pine trees. But then again, most people have never heard of Wheeler Peak.
 
We begin our journey just above the 10k line. The trail slants upward through a grove of aspen. There are three of us and we enjoy conversation as we walk. Occasionally a trickle of water will cut across the the path, but other than that it is dry. We've had an extremely heavy snow year, so at some point we expect to find snow, even though it's mid-July.
 

Wheeler Peak on right; Jeff Davis peak, left.

The first couple miles are beautiful, but nothing out of the ordinary for a mountain setting. The trail cuts back and works its way up into an expansive meadow. From here Wheeler Peak comes into full view, along with its companion, Jeff Davis Peak. (Personally, I feel that in our P.C. sensitive world we need to work on getting that peak renamed!)
 
The trail then climbs onto a ridge where we get our first views of Stella Lake, one of a few alpine lakes in this area. It is here that we cross our first patch of snow and also where we begin to encounter other hikers.
 

Stella Lake, with Jeff Davis Peak in background.

I was curious before this hike as to how many people we would encounter. Great Basin National Park is relatively remote and one of the least visited national parks in the country. The first man we pass is resting next to a tree and admittedly out of breath. He is a bit overweight and after we pass him we quietly agree with each other that there is no way he'll make it to the top.
 
The second man we pass appears to be more ambitious, but is insistent that he doesn't want to stop for long, or his legs will shut down. He is from Florida. For us, that's all we need to know. We bet against him, too. The air is too thin and cold for a flat-lander Florida man to make it to the top.
 

Deep patches of snow on higher slopes.

Next we pass two older intellectual types who are on their way down. They look miserable. Jackets are zipped to their chin and their cheeks and ears are red. “Did you make it to the top?” we ask. Their answer is an emphatic, “No!” They say that once they began climbing the ridge that the wind blew gusts around forty to sixty miles per hour. They don't seem to anxious to talk, but continue on down.
 
From this point the hike begins to change. We gradually leave the sheltering comfort of pine trees and enter a steeper climb of shale rock. The bare nature of the mountain leaves us exposed to the brute force of the wind. I add another layer of clothing, including a beanie to cover my ears.
 
Large swaths of snow cover portions of the trail. We can either walk over the top, or choose to walk around. Some of the drifts are over three feet deep. 

By now we are well above the tree line and can see for miles in every direction, except south. On the west a wind farm spreads across the valley like rows of white toothpicks. North of us rises another massive mountain range, with a bald hill crowning the summit. This is Mount Moriah. Far to the east I can see Notch Peak, a massive fissure in the skyline. That is our destination tomorrow.
 

Wheeler Peak getting closer.

About half way up someone has built several wind-breaks using shale rock. They are in U-shapes and could prove beneficial on such an exposed ridge. This is certainly not the place to wear a ball cap. It's kind of funny how the wind will blow at near hurricane speeds, then stop on a dime.
 
We pass more people coming down. These are in a group from Vanderbilt University in Tennessee. They have come for a one-week field trip to visit the national park and nothing else. They flew into Vegas and are flying out tomorrow. There's about a dozen all together. We give cordial gestures as we pass each of them. We talk to the lady who organized the trip. Apparently they are part of an outdoor rec class. They seem nice enough, but I just can't imagine why you would need outdoor rec classes in a university! And yes, they all made it to the top.
 
The last person we pass on our way to the peak is a solo hiker. He appears to be limping, but only slightly. Each step is placed carefully. We greet each other in passing. It is then that I notice his footwear. He is only wearing open-toed sandals! This guy is crazy! No wonder he is limping. His right big toe is swollen and white as a ghost. This is certainly no environment to be wearing footwear like that. This whole mountain is nothing but rocks. He is going to have a long, miserable hike down.
 

The final ascent.

The final portion of our ascent leads us over large boulders, sometimes having to use all-fours to complete the task. At last we reach the top. I would like to say that we have a grand 360 degree view, but that's not the case. Yes, we can now see the rugged mountain valley to our south, but there is an east-west running ridge on which we stand that blocks part of our view. And our view to the east is now blocked by the aforementioned Confederate peak.
 

Panorama view from the top.

But what a beauty it is to be 13,065 feet high, having the entire peak to ourselves. There is a very deep ridge of snow along the summit, and I find how truly deep it is as I try to walk on top and fall through, my right leg being completely submerged in the snow.
 
On the east side of the peak is the most precipitous side of the summit. To get to this ledge I have to jump over a steep chute that likely would kill me if slip. There is a chasm between here and Jeff Davis Peak, with the glacier being out of sight and directly below us. We humbly spend time admiring the ruggedness of this location. Here footsteps are placed carefully and we are mindful of ourselves at all times. I am a bit nervous about recrossing the chute, but luckily Devon finds a safer crossing over the ridge across a snow bank. It is a majestic location, but I am relieved to leave.
 

Relaxing at summit with Jeff Davis peak in background.

Debris at the summit.

Surprisingly the wind is not too strong here at the top. A couple of wind shelters have been built and we use one to sit down and eat our lunch. After eating half an avocado, I toss my peel over the edge, only to watch it rise up like a helicopter and and then boomerang back in the opposite direction! Obviously there are still pockets of strong wind.
 

Now it is time to work our way down the mountain. Of course, the descent is much easier. The only eventful moment comes when we decide to take a shortcut by sledding down a snow field. I am skeptical at first, fearing that it only takes one sharp rock poking through the melting snow to do some serious hind-end damage. But Dave goes first down the slope, probably a sixty-yard run, and safely reaches the bottom. When it's my turn I sit down on the one-rut track and begin to slide down. The ride is a bit bumpy, but by the time I come to the bottom there is a big smile on my face.  The back of my pants are sopping wet!
 

Sledding down the mountain!

Instead of returning the exact way we came, we opt to take the Alpine Lakes Loop Trail, which passes by the two major lakes we could see from the peak. At the junction to the loop I find my biggest surprise of the hike. A huge four-point buck is loitering about the meadow with a doe. They take their time cropping the green grass. The doe seems more concerned than the buck about our presence. He is still in the velvet and his antlers are thick. I'm guessing he's about thirty inches wide.
 

Nice four-point buck still in the velvet.

Stella Lake is our first stop on the loop, and then about a mile later, Teresa Lake. Both are beautiful and maintain a reflection of pine trees when the wind isn't blowing. We even spot another smaller lake that is hidden beneath a copse of forest.
 

Stella Lake.

The other pleasant surprise comes when icy-cold streams begin to crop up everywhere—and I mean everywhere! At one point it seems like they are all around us. Some from melting snow and others shoot forth from underground fountains. They crisscross the trail, creating a mud-mess. And they are bitter cold. I stoop down and fill my water bottle, submerging the neck into the rushing water. By the time it is full, my hand and fingers are numb.
 
There are more hikers here, which is an indication that we are getting closer to the main road. It is still a far cry, however, from the busy national parks. At last we cross the bridge at Lehman Creek and walk upon the pavement. It is just another half mile to our vehicle. We hope a nice person will drive by and we can hitch a ride, but that doesn't happen. ♠ 

A slew of running water coming down the mountain.

Wheeler Peak in black and white.