After a glorious day on Wheeler Peak the day before; Steve, Margo, and myself headed out of the Wheeler Peak Campground right at our planned 6:30am planned departure time.

Our next peak goal was 2.5 hours away (closer to home) and would get us another ultra prominence peak (meaning it has over 5k of prominence).

North Schell Peak sits at 11,883 feet in elevation. It is the highpoint of the long stretching Schell Range, which sits north of Ely and on the east side of US 93 as one travels through Nevada. I had seen this range on my half-a-dozen drives to Las Vegas, but had no idea the peaks reached above 11,000 feet!

We made our way to the trailhead, which is in the gorgeous Timber Creek canyon and set off. We were tired from the day before, but the green slopes, aspen groves, and the views of alpine basins and peaks to our south got us re-energized.

We continued hiking up the trail until around 10,200 feet or so. Then we decided it was time to head up the west slopes of the peak. We sat for our first break after one hour and 6 minutes of hiking... we had gained 1400'. Not bad for following a trail and on tired legs from the day before.

After our break, we were on steep, but open terrain for about 1,000 more feet before we finally broke out on top of the ridge. Here, the views improved to spectacular, we could see the peak, and the ground was easy to navigate tundra. We made quick time over to the peak, admiring the cornices and snowfields dropping off the east side.

The summit had a register. The peak sees a lot of visitors, most talking about chasing ultra prominence peaks.

We enjoyed the views and debated ways down, but ultimately decided it would be the most scenic and easiest on us to head back north and follow Timber Creek all the way down. On this route we found a perfect glissade of about 250 feet. Once we hit the trail again, we motored back to the trailhead, knowing we had a lengthy drive ahead of us.

It was the perfect scenario once back at the trailhead. Warm sun, great views, cold beer, feet soaking in the creek, and sharing stories with friends. A great end to a great trip!

The turnoff for Highway 486 is 5 miles north of McGill on US 93. The sign said something about Duck Creek. Follow the paved Highway 486 approximately 8 miles to a sign for Timber Creek Campground. Go left on forest road 425. Follow this road for about 4 miles to the Timber Creek Campground. Continue past the campground until you see an information center. Park here. A sedan can make the drive if driven cautiously over the last 1/2 a mile.

See my GPS tracks for the exact route, but basically, we followed the trail (marked 4WD road on the topo) north to about 10,200 feet. We then climbed up the west slopes to the ridgeline just north of North Schell. Once on the summit block, the route is obvious and a climber's trail exists just below the ridge.