Ruby Crest Trail – Part 2: The Awakening

Tammy looking into the Overland Creek drainage.

The Decision

Read Part 1 Here.

I awoke to my wife proclaiming “It’s five o’ clock”. With a 1,050 foot ascent of Wines Peak looming ahead, whether we turned back or went on, we needed to get going. We left camp on the Ruby Crest Trail just about 6:00 am with surprisingly good spirits. Maybe it was the naproxen sodium we took the night before, but we both left camp pain-free and ready. As we slogged up the trail on the north side of Wines Peak, Tammy noticed a pair of mule deer worrying around about us.

The view as you reach the ridgeline above Ruby Valley is amazing. Ranch and farmland stretch out to playa from the mountain mahogany-dense canyons near us. The cliffs on the east side of the Ruby Mountains are scary big and filled with snow. Ruby Crest Trail hikers will get to see a lot of cliffs from a lot of angles! As we climbed the ridge, ol’ eagle-eye (not me) spotted a small herd (herd?) of mountain goats about 350 yards up the ridge. Now we  were alpine! Clearly, we were going to finish the Ruby Crest Trail. We just felt too good to turn back.

Wines Peak

Ascending Wines Peak from the north is pretty easy, as the switchbacks are graded well. Wines is one of the taller peaks in the Ruby Mountains at 10,940 feet above mean sea level (amsl).

Log book on Wines Peak.

The topo maps told us we weren’t quite summiting the mountain. Having ascended both Ruby Dome (11,388’) and Thomas Peak (11,322’), we were torn. Do we walk an extra 200 yards and climb another 20 or 30 feet to officially summit, or do we conserve and keep going?

The choice wasn’t too hard. At 8:00 am on Wednesday July 4, 2018, we put our names in the Wines Peak logbook. It was tucked into a mason jar at the base of the rock cairn. We took some photos, including some horrible selfies (I just haven’t practiced selfies enough to know how) and enjoyed the view from the top. What a panorama it offered with Mound Valley to the west, Ruby Valley to the east, and many huge named peaks south and north. So cool.

Roller Coaster on Ruby Crest Trail

Looking south, we got a view that was a bit intimidating. It was a view of three peaks we knew we had to climb and descend. Actually, it turns out the one we contoured around courtesy of the nice folks last century who designed and built the trail. Ultimately, we had four peaks to summit that day above 10,000 feet. The trail system here is exceptional and the grades are tolerable for most anyone. We did crest one peak and stumble right into a big herd of 20 or so mountain goats at 60 to 70 yards. They were so beautiful  and so close, I was just amazed by them.

The roller-coaster of peaks to the south of Wines, viewed from the summit.

We upped-and-downed what seemed like a dozen times, meeting some trail runners and through hikers on the way. All seemed in great spirits and all hikers were headed north. The first group of runners was headed our way, but we only saw them for a brief time…wow! When we got to the last peak before dropping into Overland Creek basin, we were able to get AT&T coverage and texted our family. The view of Overland Lake and the crazy sidehill trail that led us there was intimidating. The peaks had nothing on this trail when it came to oppression…we could see our goal so many canyons away. Between North Furlong junction and the second canyon of Overland Creek, there is no water except snowmelt. We got lucky with cool but violent winds that kept us from getting hot and our water held out to Overland Lake.

Overland Goal

Having endured about eight or nine miles of constant ascending and descending, the path in the head of Overland Creek was painful. The worst part was being able to see the goal so far away. The vegetation thickened along the trail until we were pushing it aside. The fragrances were amazing, but the accompanying heat and humidity made it difficult to appreciate. We slogged on.

Finally, we navigated our way to the last pull into Overland Lake. Although it was a few hundred feet of ascent, the heat, humidity, and miles made them the most painful yet. When we reached the lake, we really didn’t stop to smell the roses. We simply started unpacking camp from our packs and I filled water bottles. I wolfed a few squares of dark chocolate, some nuts, and jerky which quickly made my stomach the focus of my attention. Not to belabor it, but I quickly went to bed hoping not to lose my meager dinner. On the bright side, I found I could sleep on my left shoulder. On the not so bright side, it wasn’t until 3:00 am that my stomach would allow me to sleep on the right. Go figure…something new learned every day. No more chocolate before bed. I wonder if my Mom is reading this?

Selfies aren’t my strong suit. We pose for a photo with the big named peaks in the background.

Good Morning

Again, we left the rainfly off our tent. This time we kept it off to avoid a Wizard of Oz moment in the face of some gale-force winds. All night the wind shot right through our tent, but it was a warm wind that seemed to come with no real penalty. At 5:00 am, Tammy announced it was time to go once again. Reilly, our golden retriever, was clearly feeling not so well. He limped along stiffly for the first half of the ascent and briefly started packing his left-hind foot. We checked his foot for problems and could find none. He sure didn’t want it touched, so we knew it was the foot itself and not a hip or something. We later found a stick jammed in between his toes and drawing blood. Be careful about bringing Fido on this trip as it is long and there is no “off button”.

The moderately-graded trails led us quickly to the saddle above the lake where we had breakfast. A pair of Himalayan Snowcocks (Snow Partridge) busted into the sky and flew away just before we summited, scolding us much like chukars would. Too cool! Reilly seemed to be better as we descended switchbacks into the North Fork of Smith Creek. Again, humidity and heat started to play an increasing role.

Smith Creek

Down the north fork we went along a very moderate to level trail that cut through aspens and thick forbs and grasses. Hereford and Angus moo cows kept us company along the way until we rounded the ridge into middle fork where we found good water. We couldn’t find any likely camping spots as we considered the next step, so after a brief rest we kept on. We bumped into a crew spread out in four small groups between north fork and middle fork. The last of that crew sported the coolest conical bamboo Asian hats! The father and two daughters were a sight and Dad told us about how breezy they were. I’m buying one. Thanks guys!

At middle fork, we sat down at the creek with three young ladies who had stopped for a break. Tammy and I had been debating whether to camp here or try to get our dog home that night. I was fearful that the distance was too much, but the seeming leader of the girl-group helped us out. She told us they had camped at a nice location on McCutcheon Creek, about halfway to the trail head. Perfect, now we had a contingency if we ran out of gas! Thanks girls!

Hot Ascent

We took a break, rested feet, and did some math. Tammy and I made the decision to try to get to the truck that day and avoid another night out for our pup. My best guess was three liters of water would get us to McCutcheon, so we filled ‘em and headed out. As soon as we broke away from the creek (BTW, take a hard turn up-canyon at the cairn 100 feet from the creek, rather than wander through the trails to the various campsites…I’m just sayin’), it got HOT. I mean really hot. Slogging up through humid aspen groves, I started to really get concerned. All three of us were getting seriously hot. We started taking down water and the dog began hunting shade at every pause.

We bumped into two more Ruby Crest Trail groups on the way up. Actually, we were taking a break when Tammy exclaimed “here come more runners!” Well, they weren’t runners, but she’d heard a heavy thump-thump. When she had a chance to look up, she noticed a kid picking himself up and dusting himself off, thus the thump-thump which she mistook for heavy running footfalls! We laughed hard about that later when she told me!

Hot Ascent X 2

This heat-thing got worse. After we left the hot humid aspens, it got hotter again. Well, not hotter, but more exposed to the sun. Combined with the steepest long stretch of trail, the middle part of the ascent out of Smith Creek was causing me a heap of concern. The dog wasn’t doing well, Tammy was hot, and I wasn’t feeling so tough either. We kept drinking water and pausing, using 2.5 liters on the way up. Finally we caught a tiny clump of small aspens that gave shade for a brief cooling nap. Lucky us, the next few hundred yards yielded a pine tree with shade and grass. This was all we needed to rejuvenate and keep on keepin’ on the Ruby Crest Trail.

In truth, we weren’t dehydrated. We were fine, but we were nudging toward heat exhaustion en route to heat stroke. Truly, we weren’t in any danger based on the way we approached it, but the worrywart in me had his day in the sun, so to speak. We had enough water and found shade just when it felt the best. I only mention some of our difficulties to provide something to consider for those intrepid souls who take the trip.

This ascent turned out to be about 1,575, the largest single ascent we faced on the whole trip. With my excellent logistics and planning skills, I managed to put us on that largely western exposure at the peak of the heat of the cloudless July day. Freakin’ brilliant! Check out part three to see what we decided next. I will give my best slices of advice, albeit from a relative neophyte. Some observations are just too obvious for even me to miss, and my wise wife always weighs in with sound thoughts! I’d like to be sure to pass along any tips we think might help on your next adventure here or somewhere else!

Part 3 provides the conclusion!