Jarbidge Wilderness
Elko County, Nevada
Larry Morales

Okay, it’s February in northern Utah and I am well past the point of being tired of all this snow and cold. Winter sports are nice, but a couple of months of it are plenty for me. To relieve this cabin fever, I submit the following account of a trip I took in summer 2002 to the Jarbidge Wilderness in Nevada.

So the 4th of July weekend was rapidly approaching and I was looking for an area less-traveled. A place where there wouldn't be throngs of people and ATVs. After doing some research on the web, I settled on Jarbidge, one of the least-visited wilderness areas in the contiguous US.

I was traveling with Bob, a fella who fancies himself a character from a Charles Portis novel. He’s an amazingly fit guy and always ready to go on an adventure. We made the drive from Ogden, Utah, through the farmlands of Idaho along the Snake River to a long dirt road leading to Jarbidge. We arrived n the town on the 3rd of July expecting some pre-fourth hoopla, but it looked like business as usual.

Bob’s car, an 85 Honda Civic begging for retirement, was low on gas and we were a long way from the next nearest town so we seek out a gas station. After two dusty runs through “the drag” (there are no paved streets), we stopped at what I had first thought was antique gas pumps used for ambience. But these were the real deal. A note on the door of the little grocery store beside the pumps directed us to a house a couple of streets away to find the operator of this establishment. After getting some gas, we decided to wet our whistles at the local bar. Upon walking in, there were about a dozen people sidled up to the bar ranging in age from about 40 to 140. These are locals and although it’s only about 6:00, most of them are pretty pickled already. We wanted some color. We sat at the bar and the guy next to Bob started talking to him in a funny cartoon-like voice. I don’t remember what he said, but I tell everyone it was something like “Boy, you shore got a purdy mouth” ala Deliverance. We finished our beer and exited as the old guy next to me, in a stained T-shirt, had struck up a conversation that was a sure bet to have no conclusion.

We camped at the trailhead that night.

The next morning, we started for Snowslide Gulch on the way to Emerald Lake. As we started hiking, there were signs of avalanches all over the place. Fallen trees littered the bigger canyon floors and it was apparent that this place is prone to some big avalanches. Another notable thing was that this little mountain range has a lot of water. Just about every canyon has a stream flowing through it.

We hiked about 45 miles in three hot days across the rugged landscape. This was not intentional but we got off course and were forced to make our way back over some less than hospitable terrain. Our first camp was by a little lake which we mistakenly thought was Emerald Lake. This is July 4, 2002 and we made a fire and drank some firewater to celebrate. It was a nice little spot to camp by, but the next day we ran into a small group of backpackers who had stayed at Emerald Lake and listened as the cute women bragged of their skinny dipping exploits…Dooooh!

Our next campsite was nestled in some trees by a water trough used for horse expeditions in the area, I assume, anyway. It made a good place to wash up and even though the elevation was above 9000 feet the night was warm and pleasant.

The last day was another day of forced marching, back to Jarbidge this time. As we finally hit the dirt road that leads to the town, there were scores of ATVs and dirt bikes kicking up clouds of dust as this is a big rally point on the 4th of July weekend. Eating dirt the few hot miles was not something we relished.

Jarbidge wilderness is a beautiful, isolated, and rugged area that fits the bill if you like to get away from it all, but I would recommend to anyone planning to go backpacking there to use another trailhead and avoid the town itself. At the edge of town there’s a big sign which reads “Slow Children”, but I don’t think the adults are too swift either.
Larry Morales
mo4@mo4.org
Website: http://mo4.org

Dave's Comments:
Finally, a trip report on the Jarbidge. This is a place we have discussed and wanted to go for many years, but have yet to make the trip ourselves--hopefully soon! Larry's contribution satisfies the conspicuous void on this site, as Jarbidge is one of the most pristine and wild places left in the lower 48. Look for more on this amazing area--we will be getting there one of these days.

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