The Nevada Traveler: Angel Lake is surprising discovery

Wonderful Angel Lake, positioned 12 miles from Wells.

1 of the very best points about wandering the broad expanses of Nevada is obtaining a put that exceed anticipations — like Angel Lake, located on Point out Route 231 in the East Humboldt mountain variety south of the town of Wells.

Angel Lake is with no a doubt 1 of the state’s most picturesque compact bodies of h2o. The lake is not named because of its heavenly attract but alternatively to honor of Warren M. Angel, who owned a significant ranch in the nearby Clover Valley in the 1870s.

The 12-mile push from Wells to the lake, which is just one of Nevada’s formal specified scenic highways, is well worth the journey. Steep and winding at occasions, the generate is however a enjoyable sojourn by way of rolling foothills of sagebrush and pinon pine trees.

As the street climbs larger, the surrounding terrain commences to change. Shortly, groves of mountain mahogany and fields of thick grasses substitute the scruffy pinon trees. At one spot, there is an spectacular grove of stripped, quaking aspen that is intersected by the street.

Above and forward is the crest of the East Humboldt Selection. Like the close by Ruby Mountains, which they resemble, the East Humboldts are between Nevada’s most lovely mountains.

There is a specific attraction in hunting at these rugged, historic rocks that appear to alter their appearance with
the shifting light-weight. A person minute, the imposing, snow-capped peaks resemble the jagged teeth of a big feline, and the subsequent, they are simply uneven, stone upthrusts carved by the wind and rain.

At about 9 miles, the principal street intersects with a more compact route that prospects to the Angel Creek Campground. Here, the perspective of the bordering hills and valleys is stunning, with the neighborhood of Wells small in the length.
Farther up the street is the turnoff to Winchell Lake, a small reservoir recessed on the side of the selection. Indicators show the mountaineering trails that guide from the highway into the mountains.

Condition Route 231 commences to level off as you get nearer to Angel Lake. To the right is Angel Creek Campground, operated by the Humboldt Countrywide Forest, which has 26 paved campsites and a 50 percent-dozen picnic tables.
Mainly because of snow, the campground is commonly open up from June to early September.

Angel Lake is not big nor is it completely all-natural. Surrounded by rock walls on 3 sides — a artifical dam on the east facet cups the h2o into a round basin— it resembles a glacial lake, which it was at one time.
The sheer partitions consist of a crumbly, cracked rock that exhibits the outcomes of the continuous heating and cooling observed at these a substantial elevation (the lake is at the 8,378 ft level). Scarecrow limber pines hold on the mountainside, someway surviving the severe winters.

In the hotter months, the lake is popular with fishermen, attracted by a healthy trout inhabitants, as very well as hikers who delight in the rugged backcountry.

The lake borders the 36,000-acre East Humboldt Wilderness Region and serves as a trailhead for climbing into the area. Trails operate north and south alongside the west flank of the mountains.

A indication indicates mileage to various details which includes Greys Lake, Smith Lake, Ackler Creek and Boulder Lake.
Two excellent sources of details for climbing the East Humboldt range are “Nevada Wilderness Locations” by Michael C. White (Wilderness Push) and “Hiking the Good Basin” By John Hart (Sierra Club Publications).

To arrive at Angel Lake, travel east on Interstate 80 to Wells, then Condition Route 231 for 12 miles to the lake by means of a excellent, paved road (it can, on the other hand, be closed in the course of the winter months).

For details, go to www.recreation.gov/tenting/campgrounds/232015.

Loaded Moreno writes about the locations and persons that make Nevada exclusive.