Winter has come to the Sierra's. A decently strong storm is in the process of dropping a foot or so of snow in the Mountains above Reno. What should we do? Go hiking in it, of course. My friend Nate and I meet up at a Starbucks on the way up, and hop in the jeep to continue up to the sprawling Tahoe Meadows, which is just past the saddle between Slide Mountain and Mt. Rose.
The roads are pretty slick, as the plows haven't had a chance to clear any of the newly fallen layer just yet. Making our way to the southern edge of the meadows, we pop a u-turn and park the jeep alongside the huge snowfield. It's cold up here with a strong, cutting wind delivering more snow by the minute. We pack on the layers and head out along what we believe to be the established trail. Both Nate and I have hiked this area quite a bit, but with a few inches of snow on the ground and more in our eyes, finding the trail requires a bit of path-finding.
We make for the treeline in order to get some cover from this wind. It's nice. We are the first ones here, as the lack of any footprints or other disturbance in the snow provides testament to. Some might think us a little crazy for wanting to be out here in this weather, but I can think of no better time. The smell of the forest, the cleanliness of newly fallen powder, the solitude - all these things make this the best place to be right now.
Skirting around the meadow, we hike out to an overlook above Washoe Valley. From there, we should have a great view of the valley below, but the storm clouds obscure it quite a bit. After taking a few pictures, we turn and head back to the jeep. Round trip, we only put in about 3.5 miles, but considering we were trudging through 6-10 inches of snow the whole way, it was a decent workout. Both of us being pretty hungry after our adventure, we stop by a local cafe for a quick breakfast before parting ways to get on with our days. Good times!
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