Incandescent Rocks (Washoe County, Nevada)

Another beautiful spring day; another day to get out and hike. With the forecast for a sunny 70+ on this early April day and a hike posted on one of the meetup groups I belong to, it seemed like a great day to get out and explore a new trail with some good people. I've heard of the Incandescent Rocks area previously, but I wasn't sure where it was. Luckily, the organizer for this hike was very knowledgeable of the area.

The group met up a the Starbucks on the corner of Pyramid and McCarran a little after 8:15 - 29 of us in all. With a huge group like this, we took a number of cars to the trail head, but I decided to drive myself, as I was planning to hit a couple of other destinations afterwards. Following Pyramid Highway to Grass Valley Road and then up a dusty dirt and gravel road to a fenced area with the colorful rock formation dead ahead of us. I think some of the cars struggle with this rough road a little bit, but luckily, my jeep has no such issues. 

We pretty quickly hit the trail with cattle on either side of us. The first mile or so is just more of the dirt track leading up into the red and white hills beyond. The scenery is amazing beautiful with the clear blue skies in sharp contrast to the colorful rock formations. After some distance the road turns into a single track and begins to follow along a nearly dry wash. A bit further up, there is a neat 25 or so foot waterfall, or at least it would be if there were any water running. With no way around the waterfall, we begin scrambling up the bank to the left of it. The gravel is loose and the grade is steep, but we manage. 

We continue a bit further up and then decide to wait for the rest of the group to catch up. Once we have regrouped, we decide to split into two bands, each heading for a clearly identified group of red rocks on top of one of the distant ridges, where we will meet and have lunch. Group one will head to the south and follow the ridge line, while group two, which I choose to go with, decides to follow the wash. We know the wash will be more treacherous, but supposedly there are some amazing pictures to be had going this route. 

The trail doesn't disappoint, as we are forced to scramble up and down loosely graveled hills, climb up small waterfalls, and make our way steep slopes to finally reach the top. It certainly proves to be the more difficult of the two, but some of the shots are amazing. The red and white hues of the rocks sing to us, as we capture some still shots.

Finally reaching the lunch spot, we rejoin our other band and the large groups begins to take in the magnificent view on this glorious day, which appears to be made for hiking. We sit for a bit and talk of past trails and other assorted topics before continuing on towards the backside of the ridge, from which a great view of Pyramid Lake can be found. The lake, approximately the same size as Lake Tahoe, but far shallower, is the norther terminus of the Truckee River, which flows from Lake Tahoe through Reno and eventually empties into Pyramid Lake, which sits on the Paiute Reservation of the same name.

The trip down turns out to be slightly more treacherous as the trip up was. A few of the more experienced hikers, including myself, begin pathfinding our way down, but there isn't really a trail. We do our best to find areas where we can scramble down the steep hillsides covered loose gravel without breaking our necks. After about thirty minutes of this scrambling, we eventually reach the jeep trail again and make for the cars. In all, it was just over 6.5 miles for the hike. The scenery was gorgeous though and may require a revisit someday, especially when that waterfall might be flowing.