Jenessa
Member
- Joined
- Sep 13, 2017
- Messages
- 10
We had a September snow storm in the Ruby Mountains here, so I decided to take a quick hike up to Lamoille Lake. This is the first decently sized alpine lake that you can hike to from the Lamoille Canyon side of the Ruby Crest Trail. Due to the amount of snow I decided to start up the stock trail on the west side of the canyon. This trail gets more sun and was more melted off. On this trail it is about 1.5 miles to Lamoille Lake.
There was a group of parents and young kids headed down the trail as I went up. The kids seemed pretty tired and most were being carried. Other than that the trail was pretty empty. As I approached the lake the trail started to get much slushier.
Lamoille Lake is not my favorite lake in the Rubies as it tends to be more crowded since it is a short hike. Nonetheless it is a very pretty spot, especially when surrounded by fresh snow. There were only a couple of other people at the lake this day. I stopped for a snack and took some pictures. The wind was chilly so I did not stay too long.
I decided to turn my hike into a loop by hiking back down the regular hiker trail on the east side of the canyon. This trail is part of the Ruby Crest Trail, a thirty some mile trail through the Ruby Mountains which I can elaborate on some other time. Lamoille Lake is about two miles up the trail on this side of the canyon. At first the trail was slushy, but not too bad to hike on. This side of the canyon is prettier in my opinion. I hiked down past the Dollar Lakes, which are a scattering of smaller ponds.
Once past the Dollar Lakes the trail starts to switchback down the side of the canyon. This side is much shadier and I was wishing I had brought my microspikes since it was getting pretty slippery in spots. I passed a few other hikers on my way down, but overall the trail was not very busy for a Saturday.
A mixture of fall colors and snow looking back up the canyon.
The rest of my hike was pretty uneventful. On my drive back down the canyon I did spot one area where the trees were changing into their fall colors so I stopped to grab a picture. Overall though, I was pretty surprised at how green it still was in the canyon for being the last day of September.
While I often wish we had more hiking trails around my area in northeastern Nevada, at least the Ruby Mountains are a gorgeous area with several developed trails. It's a short drive up there from Elko so its a very convenient place for day hiking.
There was a group of parents and young kids headed down the trail as I went up. The kids seemed pretty tired and most were being carried. Other than that the trail was pretty empty. As I approached the lake the trail started to get much slushier.
Lamoille Lake is not my favorite lake in the Rubies as it tends to be more crowded since it is a short hike. Nonetheless it is a very pretty spot, especially when surrounded by fresh snow. There were only a couple of other people at the lake this day. I stopped for a snack and took some pictures. The wind was chilly so I did not stay too long.
I decided to turn my hike into a loop by hiking back down the regular hiker trail on the east side of the canyon. This trail is part of the Ruby Crest Trail, a thirty some mile trail through the Ruby Mountains which I can elaborate on some other time. Lamoille Lake is about two miles up the trail on this side of the canyon. At first the trail was slushy, but not too bad to hike on. This side of the canyon is prettier in my opinion. I hiked down past the Dollar Lakes, which are a scattering of smaller ponds.
Once past the Dollar Lakes the trail starts to switchback down the side of the canyon. This side is much shadier and I was wishing I had brought my microspikes since it was getting pretty slippery in spots. I passed a few other hikers on my way down, but overall the trail was not very busy for a Saturday.
A mixture of fall colors and snow looking back up the canyon.
The rest of my hike was pretty uneventful. On my drive back down the canyon I did spot one area where the trees were changing into their fall colors so I stopped to grab a picture. Overall though, I was pretty surprised at how green it still was in the canyon for being the last day of September.
While I often wish we had more hiking trails around my area in northeastern Nevada, at least the Ruby Mountains are a gorgeous area with several developed trails. It's a short drive up there from Elko so its a very convenient place for day hiking.
