Southern Utah is famous for red rock canyons and towering cliffs. Descriptive words will never do this area justice. The massive sandstone cliffs of cream, pink, and red soar into a brilliant blue sky. Long before today’s landscape even appeared, streams,...
Cathedral Gorge State Park Hike
Cathedral Gorge’s beauty began with explosive volcanic activity that, with each eruption, deposited layers of ash hundreds of feet thick. About five million years after the eruptions ceased, block faulting, a fracture in the bedrock that allows the two sides...
Lehman Caves
The Lehman Cave system began forming around 550 million years ago while the area was still submerged in a relatively warm, shallow ocean. As sediment layers built up on the bottom of this sea, limestone was formed from the silt, sand and skeletal remains...
Sacramento Pass and Mine Shaft Hike
There is a fun little trail around the rocks and hills of Sacramento Pass. We hiked this loop on our last day in the area and it has some really interesting features. You can mountain bike it too, but...
Alpine Lakes, Rock Glacier and Bristlecone Pine Hike
The larger Great Basin ecosystem is a 200,000 square mile area that drains inward. All precipitation in this region evaporates, sinks underground, or flows into lakes. No water reaches the ocean. Great Basin’s lowest point is 6,195 feet at...
Strawberry Creek Hike
Strawberry Creek hike didn’t have any strawberries, but it had plenty of fall color. In August 2016, lightning ignited the Strawberry Creek Fire. The fired burned over 4,700 acres of public and private land, 60% of which was part...
Lamoille Canyon
There is a short little nature hike along the road to the lake hikes we did in Elko. It’s a fantastic way to learn about the valley. We stopped and took the time to walk the short half mile...
Thomas Creek Trail Hike
Our last hike in the Ruby Mtn Range left right from the Thomas Campground. It’s a quick but steady hike at 4.3 miles with1300′ in elevation gain. It tops out at 8900′ so take it slow if altitude bothers...
Island Lake Hike
After yesterday’s FANTASTIC hike to Lamoille Lake, we decided to hike to nearby Island Lake. Island Lake is a cirque lake, which is a lake that forms in a bowl-shaped depression carved into a mountain by a glacier. Who...
Lamoille Lake Hike
Lamoille Canyon outside Elko, NV is the most amazing place you haven’t heard of. These are the Ruby Mountains and they are no joke. Known as the “Swiss Alps of Nevada,” the Ruby Mountains are a glacier-carved paradise full...