Mountain top hike off Liberty pass Ruby Mountains August 13, 2010

The blue of Liberty lake taken part way up mountain

Location: Today's hike will take at the road's end trailhead in Lamoille Canyon to the south of Elko Nevada. This part of the Ruby mountains is spectacular and offers many off-trail hiking opportunities.

The hike: Today I will attempt to scramble up two peaks from Liberty pass. At eight am I left roads end and hiked on the Ruby Crest trail by Dollar lakes. The weather was beautiful and temps were cool. I easily made it up to the pass by 10:30 in the morning. The scramble up to the top of the peaks was not very hard except I was hiking on loose rock and straight up. After approximately an hour and half I summitted the tallest of the two mountains where I ate lunch. The wind at the top made me cold and I was glad I had brought my coat. The view was spectacular. To the south I looked toward Wine's peak and Harrison pass. To the north I could see Lamoille canyon and Ruby Dome along with Spring Creek thousands of feet below. Probably the most special aspect of the view for me was the number of lakes I could see. Among them were Liberty, Favre, and Castle to the south, Lamoille, Dollar and Echo to the north. After over an hour on top I hiked back to the pass, down to Lamoille lake and back to the car.

At the shore of Lamoille lake

Looking down at Liberty and Favre lakes

The incredible view to the south

Looking toward the north-west from on the mountain

Looking back toward Elko and Spring Creek

Sprucemountain, Nevada August 12, 2010

Old cabin on the upper part of the mountain

Today I returned to Sprucemountain to explore more of the extensive mining remnants of the area, especially the historic Ada and Bullshead mines (for driving directions refer to my May post). I arrived after nine in the morning and hiked passed the Monarch mine ruins seeing some of the ruins of the Ada mine high up on the mountain. The weather was spectacular with 80 degree temps and clear blue skies. On the upper parts of the mountain I could clearly see the Ruby range to the west and the Pequop and Goshute ranges to the east. Remember all Nevada desert is rattlesnake country so be vigilant. Also be careful around all historic mining remnants.

Looking west high toward the Ruby range

Beautiful mountain desert scenery

Stereotypical Nevada: Sagebrush with mountains