Rock Lake in Winter (Washoe County, Nevada)

 

A couple of years ago, I hiked a great 15 mile hike up the Ophir Creek Trail from Davis Creek Park to Tahoe Meadows and back. At the time, I wasn't aware of a side trail to a rather unique little alpine lake called Rock Lake. As it's the season of conditioning, I figured today would be a great day to head up to explore this little gem.

The trail head at Davis Creek Park is only 10 or so miles south of Reno and so, I didn't start until about 9:30, figuring it would warm up a bit by then. When I arrived there were only a couple of other cars in the park's parking lots. I slung on my day pack and started up the trail. Just a short ways in, I was cursing myself for forgetting how steep this part of the trail was. While there are some flat spots, there are also some very steep ascents, and those are in the majority. 

Making my way to the crossing of Ophir creek, I am forced to navigate a series of wet granite stones to cross the creek's two branches. Not terribly difficult, but I imagine that snow-melt supplied water is frigid, and I'd rather not take a dip today.

Continuing on, it's more uphill, but the scenery is outstanding as I wander through this pine forest. The trail, while well-maintained, obviously hasn't seen much traffic so far this year, as indicated by the number of brown pine-needled carpeting the trail, and the forest floor in every direction. The trail is fairly easy to navigate, but continues putting some brutal climbs in front of me. I'm forced to stop to catch my breath more often than I would have liked, but then again, that's what this is all about - getting back in shape.

Finally reaching the side trail fork to Rock Lake, I head down into a shady valley that sill has a small amount of snow here and there. After a short distance, the lake comes into my field of vision. And finally, I see another hiker on the trail, a backpacker putting away his gear. We wave and I continue on toward the lake. 

Unlike most alpine lakes, this one is littered with golden colored boulders of varying sizes, making almost a rock stew. And while I'm so accustomed to seeing the white granite so prevalent in this side of the country, the rocks here have a unique golden hue. Not just a few of them, but everything in sight is this color. The water itself still consists of a slushy ice mixture down in-between the stones. I had read that this lake can boast a number of lily pads in spring, but I scan the surface for them, and come up short. I think I will need to come back to this site in a couple of months to check again.

The return trip is uneventful, though I do pass a number of other friendly hikers making their way up the mountain to whatever destination they have chosen for the day. After just about an hour and a half, I am back at the jeep. I little tired, but not too bad overall. All in all, it was a great hike on a beautiful day. Looking at the GPS, I logged just shy of 8 miles - not bad.