Alpine Lakes Loop, Bristlecone Trail, and the Rock Glacier

Great Basin National Park

(map link)

Since I didn't have time for it after I climbed Wheeler Peak, I had to come back to make my way around the Alpine Lakes Loop and see the rock glacier. What's a rock glacier? Well, I would find out. It would be later than expected. I wanted to go there first for the better light, but the trail was closed for an indeterminant amount of time in the morning due to unforeseeable circumstances. I decided to reverse my plans and made it take extra long by trying out a map editor (Vespucci) on the handheld. Since I had no signal and hadn't tried it at all before, the best I could do was take notes for things that weren't on my OpenAndroMap. I started with the ADA accessible Island Forest Trail, which has a number of interpretive signs and benches and needed some route corrections. I got the first two all marked although the last part was complicating things.

The Island Forest Trail, an ADA trail of rubbery mesh mats and a few boardwalk sections with benches and interpretive signs.

The boardwalk areas are for where the trail gets very close in the riparian areas.

The signs focus on ecology of the area, including how special water is in the desert.

That didn't take all that long, even with figuring out bits and pieces of a new app. The trail splits for the Alpine Lakes Loop shortly after that. I went right toward Stella Lake (which I had visited on the way to Wheeler Peak), which is the longer portion of the trail before the junction with the Bristlecone Trail.

Yellowing grasses with the greens of moss and evergreen, some of the lesser photographed fall colors, on Lehman Creek.

Gaining a little view on the way to Stella Lake.

Stella Lake below Wheeler Peak.

From Stella Lake, the trail winds through rocky glacial moraine areas downward toward Teresa Lake. A spring feeds a trickle of water that starts Lehmen Creek, the creek seen before.

The trees of the moraine.

Spring water on the way to Teresa Lake, lined with what was once shooting stars.

In spite of the spring filling, Teresa Lake is also very low.

Well used trail past the depression of Teresa Lake.

Teresa Lake below Wheeler Peak.

Tiny tundra asters grow in the lake bed.

The Alpine Lakes Loop doesn't take all that long either since it is under 3 miles long. From Teresa Lake, it is a short way along more moraine to the junction with the Bristlecone Trail. This is Great Basin National Park's most accessible grove of ancient trees and includes another interpretive trail on a little loop through the grove. I followed it up with quickly increasing views.

The northern portion of the Snake Range comes into view over Snake Valley.

New sharp peaks come into view with entry to a new glacial carved valley.

Now with more basin view.

Trees and the remnants of trees along the slopes on the way up.

More to map at the second interpretive trail.

I decided to leave the interpretive trail for later when I got to it. Time to learn about rock glaciers!

A patch of bright, but drying, Ross' avens.

Just trying to make a living.

At a viewpoint with a bench is one more informative sign, this one describing glaciers and the rarer rock glacier. So, what is it? Basically, there's a layer of ice on the bottom and more holding the rocks together, so that it erodes away the land beneath like a normal glacier, but rocks above help to give it enough weight to move.

The rock glacier below Wheeler Peak and Doso Doyabi.

From the viewpoint, the trail continues across rocks to the very edge of the glacier, at least that's what the map says. It feels a little like the clutter of rocks on the way might already be on the glacier. It really is difficult to say where the edge is, at least with my tiny bit of knowledge from the sign. There are icy edges, but they look more like permanent snow rather than a part of glacial ice.

Some of the ice in the valley near the rock glacier.

The erosion patterns of the edge of the cirque do not appear to have been from glacier most recently.

But the wide valley does speak of glacial erosion patterns.

And then I headed down to the loop trail among the bristlecones, full of information. Actually, there's two generations of interpretive signs around the loop. There's new ones with colorful pictures and denser information and older metal ones presenting information in a more solid way to go with their more solid substance. There is some overlap in the information presented. Coming at it from the top, I do get the signs in the reverse order to that intended.

Besides general information, the new signs also contain specific information about a nearby tree. This one, still living, is 3200 years old. Determining that required five core samples to piece together the sequence of rings.

An important one to me, describing the difference between the bristlecone pine (right) and the limber pine (left).

The bristlecone on the left has a much more regular needle creating a look like a new bottle brush while the limber pine on the right has varying needles making it look like a well used bottle brush.

They have picked some lovely trees to illustrate the information on the signs.

The logs are also of interest and may have spent over a thousand years weathering away instead of rotting in this harsh environment.

The afternoon left the sun glaring into my face for the rock glacier and the trees in shadow. It would have been better to go as planned, but you can't always get what you want. It's informative any time of the day. I headed down again, finishing off the Alpine Lakes Loop, then off to find my next stop.

*photo album*




©2023 Valerie Norton
Written 23 Dec 2023