[John Morrow]

Nevada at its best: big sky, big views, mountains rising up out of nowhere, miles of Aspen forests, meadows, meadows, meadows. With a passenger car one can carefully make it to the Barley/Cottonwood TH 60 miles northeast of Tonopah. My plan was to go up Barley Creek to its head, explore the Table Mountain Plateau highcountry, and return via Cottonwood Canyon. It didn't turn out exactly that way on account of my discovery at 5:30 PM, 4 miles up Barley Cr, that I neglected to pack my sleeping pad! I wasn't going to rough it 3 nights so I humped it back and slept at the TH. Barley gave me a taste of sage, mahogany, rhyolite rock, and streamside greenery that I would find again the next day up Cottonwood Cr.

Getting started Rhyolite walls

I like the rocks

Barley Creek Canyon

Cottonwood Canyon was nice and fast easy trail hiking and got me to the plateau jsut as rain began. It continued for the next 20 hrs or so!!! I started to see so many elk and deer like I haven't even experienced on our Table Mountain back home.

Starting up Cottonwood Canyon

Spooked this guy

Geting higher into Aspen

Here follows the rain

The rain is gaining!

Another bull

Mt Jefferson across valley

Camp ahead

The next day was a long one continuing north on the plateau with a daypack to tag the summit of Table Mountain 10,888' with its 3500+ feet of prominence. Great walk on unmarked trails even if it rained most of the day. I made a loop out of it by staying low in tributaries of Mosquito Creek on the ascent and doing the plateau top on the way back. That is until a scary thunderstorm overtook me and I bailed for the aspens!

Another bull! Table Mountain Wilderness, NV

Mosquito Creek

Table Mtn enshrouded

Big Sky; Table Mountain Wilderness, NV

Climbing Table Mountain

Humboldt Toiyabe National Forest; Summit view

I've seen these names!

Table Mountain Wilderness, NV IMG_5102

self timer

Darkness looms

Covering up Jefferson

Dang, time to descend!

Humboldt-Toiyabe National Forest. After a drenching

Hello

Table Mountain Wilderness, NV

Lees Camp meadow

On the last day I completed the loop by hiking down Barley Creek to where I left off on day 1.

Basque shepherd

headed out Barley Creek

Big Meadow

[whitebark]

Nevada sure has a lot of interesting desert mountain ranges...thanks for posting your trip report.