Hendrickson Lake

Kent enjoys searching around on Google Earth.  Recently he discovered a lake southeast of Parowan that we have not yet seen . . . imagine that!  Friday morning we headed up Second Left Hand Canyon, off Hwy 143, enroute to the Hendrickson Lake Trailhead.  Almost immediately we were surprised by the scenery along the way; a fast moving creek and colorful rock formations. What took us so long to find this place???  It's another hidden gem of Southern Utah.  

This is where our adventure begins

We forded Center Creek . . . that's a lot of water!

All of a sudden there were formations everywhere

Lots of different shapes and colors

It was 39° when we arrived at the Trailhead ... no wonder there was ice in the creek

Very cool

The sun is coming over the ridge as we start out on the trail (8,550 ft)

The views along the trail were amazing, we are looking north toward the Tushar Mountains 

This could be a map of the trail, but it's just evidence of insect damage

Awesome formations we enjoyed along the trail

At less than a mile, I would call this trail short and steep . . . 
800 ft elevation gain

Kent couldn't resist proving that he could do a chin-up

The trail levels out here . . . we are getting close to our destination

Our first glimpse of Hendrickson Lake

We are at about 9300 ft. elevation

It didn't take long for Kent to hook this Brook Trout

And another Brookie, then he released them both

We might have to return next Fall when the leaves are changing

Time for a quick selfie . . .  today is my birthday!

We hiked around the lake, there are a lot of great places to camp

Time to head back down the trail

More great views 

It almost felt like a mixture of both Bryce Canyon and Cedar Breaks

We never saw another car coming or going

Left Second Hand Canyon Road is an amazing scenic drive

Pussy willow catkins along the creek

Center Creek was really flowing and it was cold

Look at the size of this wild Rainbow Trout

Beautiful coloring

One last peek before he went back into the creek

We're just about out of the canyon and on our way back to Parowan

Parowan's Fall Fest features 50 Scarecrows on Main Street

Most of them are cute enough to chase away scary spirits, or so they hope

South Schell Revisited

They say the second time around is easier, I say it depends on what you're talking about.  Kent and I just completed an ascent of South Schell Peak and it was not easy.  Last summer we made it to within 300 ft. of the top before a thunderstorm forced us to turn back.  This time around, the weather was perfect, as far as hiking goes, there was no wind.  We climbed 2,600 ft. in 2 miles, it took us about 3 hours.  My dad always asks us why we push ourselves so much on these crazy hikes; it's because the views from the top are amazing, as you will see in this post.  We enjoy all kinds of hikes, but it feels good to know that we can still climb mountains. 

The sun was just coming over the mountains as we drove to the Trailhead

After looking at the map, we have decided this was the best place to start

Wouldn't you know, it was steep from the get-go 

We weren't expecting a trail, but it looks like we're on a horse trail

It was quite cold in this shady ravine, after all Ely was 20° this morning

Beautiful morning for a hike

The sun warmed us right up

These could be Basque sheepherder carvings

These unique trees made great trail markers

We came upon this coyote, it looks like he got caught in a trap

We are climbing higher

This is where it really got steep

Although the top looks close, it really isn't

Follow the snow line . . . it will lead you to the summit.
Extra points will be given if you can find Kent!

South Schell Peak 11,778

We made it!  This is our second attempt

We added our names to the register
N. Schell Peak (11,883) and Taft Peak (11,736) can be seen in the background

                                              Click once to open, click again to play 

Looking to the west towards Ely

Looking east towards Mt. Moriah (12,073)

We enjoyed a few snacks before heading back down

Starting our descent

It looks like Kent is on top of the world

I'm always looking for interesting rocks and the lichen on this one caught my eye

This was a welcome sight, back to where we started from ... woohoo!

The aspens were shimmering in the afternoon sun

This is an aerial view of the route we hiked

Looking back to where we hiked ...wow!

We drove up to Bird Creek on our way back to Ely

 Bird Creek is a really nice campground

The next morning we decided to check out Big Warm Spring

What a neat place, in the middle of nowhere

Can't wait to get in .....

This is the largest thermal spring in Nevada .... a perfect 94°

Big Warm Spring Waterfall