Friday, June 19, 2009

Friday Field Photos: Tarn It!

A tarn is a special kind of lake, and on our recent visit to Wheeler Peak in Great Basin National Monument, we hiked up to two of them: Teresa Lake and Stella Lake.



We came first to Teresa Lake, pictured in the above three photos, after hiking up from the Wheeler Peak campground. Teresa Lake is at about 10,280 feet in elevation, or somewhat just below 3150 meters.
Between Teresa Lake and Stella Lake, we hiked over snow patches...
...and across a lateral moraine separating the two lakes. While we hiked, it snowed lightly.
Ah, our first glimpse of Stella Lake, with probable Precambrian meta-pelite littering the ground. Stella Lake is at an elevation of about 10,400 feet, or somewhat just below 3200 meters.
Hike, hike, hike - now we're probably on a terminal moraine below Stella Lake.
We found a great view of Stella Lake here, looking about due south across one of the lateral moraines separating the two lakes, toward the cirque headwall above Teresa Lake.
Spring flowers on an outcrop of probable Precambrian quartzite along the shore of Stella Lake, during a light snow storm: Precambrian and Quaternary in one view. The quartzite might be the Stella Lake Quartztite of Misch, now considered part of the Precambrian McCoy Creek Group.

Reference:
Hose, R. K., Blake, M. C., and Smith, R. M., 1976, Geology and mineral resources of White Pine County, Nevada: Nevada Bur. Mines and Geol. Bulletin 85, 105 p.

Other references at these two Wheeler Peak posts.

6 comments:

Andrew Alden, Oakland Geology blog said...

What a treat to see this exquisite backcountry.

Silver Fox said...

We braved snow and exposure danger to get these photos! Thanks!

Lockwood said...

Gorgeous! Looks like a lot of fun, as long as you're prepared and dressed for it.

Silver Fox said...

I used up two changes of clothes after this hike.

coconino said...

GBNP (and the Rubies) are some of my most favorite places. Thanks for sharing!

Silver Fox said...

We love having the opportunity to visit this area fairly often - will probably take visitors there sometime this weekend. Maybe it will be sunny and warmer!