Elko NV & Lamoille Canyon

Some people advised me not to visit Nevada in July, August and I am so happy that I did not listen to them,NEVADA is amazing ,you just have to know where to look.

After visiting the East part we drove North to Wells and Elko.

Elko in a very nice town ,has all the services ,nice main street ,cowboy museums ,casinos and great restaurants.

   

But mainly Elko is a gate way to Lamoille Canyon also called “the Grand Canyon of Nevada”

Lamoille Canyon lies in the heart of the Ruby Mountains, Nevada’s wettest mountain range. This spectacular byway winds around the base of the 11,387-foot Ruby Dome, and climbs through the glacier-carved canyon to 8,800 feet. Four geology-interpretive panels lead travelers past meadows bursting with blazing wildflowers, abundant wildlife, waterfalls, and avalanche chutes. Mountain goats, big horn sheep and an array of birds can be seen carefully perched in the rocky outcrops above.

Today we hiked in the Canyon staring from site 31 in Tomas  Camp Ground all the way till the end of the Canyon,it took us 6 hours round trip with many stops along the way .A river runs all the way from the end of the Canyon to the C.G ,our starting point.

It is sure one of top 5 hikes ever,the majestic mountains,the smell of the flowers,the rushing falls make it a top hike.

   

The cherry on the top of a cake is at the end of the hike – A huge waterfalls feeding from the glacier .

 

At the end of the trail when we got close to the falls we saw a sign “wilderness from this point”, and the trail actually ended, but we made our way through the bushes passing few streams and made it even closer to this magnificent falls.

Start the hike in the morning not later that 9AM ,the sun will be at your back (good for pictures in front) and go back afternoon at around 3-4PM and have the sun again at your back (good for pictures in front ) ,ware good hiking shoes,take a lot of water ,sunscreen and of course a hat as the trail is mainly shade less.

We were surprised to learn that it was imposable to get a hike map or information about the area ,even from the tourist information in town,a guy that “knows” the area said that he thinks there is no water running in the canyon at this time….so to make it easy for ones that want to make this hike ,here are the directions:

Take Hwy 227 to Lamiolle and turn right to the scenic road just before the town (there is a sign) drive till Tomas Canyon C.G,enter the C.G and ask the host to park at the T/H,walk till site 31 and start climbing- ENJOY

There are many trails in the Canyon ,but for us it was an easy choice, we picked two hikes water related,to day it was falls and the next one will be to Alpine Lakes.