Back to the hot spring at Willow Creek for a birthday bike-n-hike-n-soak retreat. I spent Saturday thru Friday alternately soaking in the hot spring, biking up BLM roads, or hiking up roads, trails and x-country in an exploration of Willow Creek and Whitehorse Butte. Highlights include snow, wind, rain, sun, wind, flying alkali grit, amazing Milky Way views, geology, archaeology, botany, and even being lazy.
Arriving at the campground just after 3 PM, I quickly set up camp (in a most primo site no less) and then took off for a hike. I only ventured about 5 miles up the BLM road, but really enjoyed the views along the way, and the night sky on the return. The soak under the stars afterward was sublime.
The next day, I retraced my steps on my bike, going further, down to cross Little Whitehorse Creek, up the ridge along a BLM road, then back down to Little Whitehorse Creek again, where I explored the canyon a little bit and found a spring emerging from the cliff base. Next, across the creek and up the next ridge to a BLM road for a long ride down a gentle grade back to camp. The weather was cloudy, but mild, and I stayed dry thru the day. The canyon exposures provided good view of the Steens Basalt and it’s underlaying contact layers, while the ridge tops provided lots of interesting rocks including obsidian by chunks and shards, and lots of vesicular basalt – all scattered across the ground. I didn’t see much for wildlife, but saw the signs of plenty – hare trails thru the sagebrush, lots of coyote scat and tracks, rodent burrows, antler sheds and the various scattered skeletal remains of ungulates of some kind. I flushed what I think was a pair of sage grouse. Killdeer zoomed about. Ravens abounded.
The weather intensified overnight, with snow much of the next day. I hoofed it around Whitehorse Butte – with no real destination in mind, I thought to wander up the road toward two cairns visible from camp. It ends up these mark an entrance to Whitehorse Ranch, and are marked ‘No Trespassing’, so I didn’t. Instead, I followed the fence around and over a hump to a gully, where I found a game trail which took me up to a saddle, then back down to and along the fence, and finally out to the same road, but back on BLM land. I followed this road down a gentle grade down to Little Whitehorse Creek, only to be turned back by fence and signs again.
From here I followed the edge of an alluvial fan up the flanks of Whitehorse Butte, my path following a line of large boulders that had tumbled down the slope. I spooked a herd of antelope, they ran off toward the north and out of sight. Eventually, the gully got steep and turned into cliff, so I crossed back over onto the main body of the ridge to sidehill around the butte. Here, I encountered the only wildflowers of the trip – and I don’t know what they are!
The weather this day has been mixed, snowing off and on, but the wind has been mild. My view of the far horizon suggested the day would remain much the same, so I was in no hurry to get back to camp. I decided to descend the butte and head across the broad ridge toward Willow Creek, following the BLM road back to camp. Along the way, I found a cave in the cliff wall that simply begged to be explored, but was behind fence – I’m not certain if it was public lands or not… Back to camp before dark, I wolfed down a PBJ sandwich and headed for the hot spring – that was one very thoroughly enjoyed soak.
Whitehorse Butte is accompanied by a long ridge that stretches from its western flank northward. I had realized the previous day that I really wanted to hike that ridge, and that it would be quite easy to get up onto. After a leisurely morning of coffee and a long soak, I dressed and headed out, marching right up the toe of the ridge where it points toward the camp. In just a few minutes I had made it to the top – a broad, slightly rounded area with much exposed vesicular basalt. The snow was light and intermittent, but continued thru the morning and afternoon, dusting the summit of the butte with white, but above the elevation I was at. I rambled across the length of the ridge, then descended to the saddle onto the butte, continuing for a short distance along its flanks, then descending down a shallow gully. I met up with and followed the BLM road for a short distance, then struck off thru the sagebrush again to ascend a small butte over Willow Creek, and the next butte with even higher prominence, this last providing a nice view of the knoll at my campsite. Descending from this knoll, I encountered a hole-in-the-rock formation, which must be somewhat known, as a short road led to it. Having explored that a bit, I continued across the sagebrush directly toward the small knoll, encountering the overflow of Willow Creek along the way, getting a bit muddy.
The next day, I set off on my bike to the north, heading for the Whitehorse Ranch road, and following that SW toward an un-named BLM road, providing access to the area south of the Little and Big Sand Gaps. The road was in fine condition, but my bike, with its skinny wheels, is not set up for off-road travel. I travelled only a short distance up the road before turning back to explore the north side of Willow Creek, biking along what was labeled as the Shortcut Road. Along the way, I explored a marked spring sitting all by itself out in the sagebrush – it was nothing more than a small pond surrounded by a high berm and vegetation. Shortcut Road provides access to the Willow Creek Ruins – homesteading cabins built of local raw stone by a ‘confirmed bachelor of Willow Creek’. It’s beautiful stone work. I was able to cross back over Willow Creek at an un-mapped crossing for my return to camp. The weather was gorgeous – sunny and breezy. The night sky was freaking amazing.
The next day, I rested, and noticed how sunny it must have been the day before, with my skin getting pinkish and rather tender to the hot water and sun. I did nothing this day but laze about, soak, eat, nap, soak, eat some more, and soak yet again. I built a campfire in the evening, and enjoyed that for some hours before the rain and wind drove me into the tent, where I continued gazing into the flames until sleep overtook me.
Finally, on Friday morning, as I’m drying off and dressing from my morning soak, I realize I am done, and it is time to make my way home. I had been trying to decide if I wanted to drive south into McDermitt, NV for gas and a drive up the Trout Creek road, or perhaps the road toward Little Sand Gap, or if I should just drive north back to Hines for gas, then head home – I did not have enough gas to wander without a trip to McDermitt. Hines won, and I had a very enjoyable drive back north, setting out at noon and arriving home just before 11.
I am very excited to get back to this area – but I’ll do things a bit different next time. I now realize that hot spring is not isolated enough to provide the solitude I’m looking for. I’ll visit, but not stay. Next time, I’ll camp some distance up in the Trout Creek Mountains. I expect in 2-3 months, the higher elevations will have melted out and spring will be waking the wildflowers. I’d also like to camp at Big Sand Gap… I would really like to see/explore the playa from that side, and Tule Springs Rims sound like an amazing escarpment to check out.
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