Mt. Rose Summit (Washoe County, Nevada)

Originally, I had planned on hiking up Mt. Whitney (the tallest peak in the contiguous 48 states) this week, but Nick injured his back doing some home improvement. I wasn't about to let the my days off go to waste though. Reno has a grand view of Mt. Rose, the tallest peak surrounding the city, and I have often thought about completing the hike to the mountain's summit. A few years ago I attempted it with some friends, but it was an off year when I was out of shape and hadn't done any hiking for quite some time. Needless to say, I failed in my attempt. However, This day would see me at the top!

I made the short drive from Reno to the trail head and departed on my hike promptly at 8AM. I sometimes use an iPhone app called Walkmeter to time myself and map my trail. Since there is excellent reception all around Lake Tahoe, I decided to try it here and it worked perfectly.

The trail starts easy enough as it completes a semi-circle around a small hill behind the parking area. In fact, the first 3 or miles only have a slight grade, which makes for pretty easy hiking. At about 2.5 miles in, I heard a waterfall. This was actually pretty surprising to me. I knew there was a waterfall near the trail, but to see water spilling over it this late in the year was unexpected.

Somewhere between the 3 and 3.5 mile mark, the trail begins heading up a wash and the incline increases dramatically. Also at this point, I encounter the first of many noisy grasshoppers on the trail. My first encounter startled me a little, as I rounded a corner and heard what sounded vaguely like a rattlesnake. In fact, it was one of these grasshoppers quickly batting his wings to lift himself off the ground and then back down to the ground. With my encounter earlier this spring with a rattler, I was a bit timid at first hearing the sound, but after hearing many more along the way, the difference was obvious. It almost seemed like the bugs were trying to ward me off of their territory as I walked by them.

Continuing on, the trail begins a set of switchbacks before starting up the gravel southern face of the mountain. About this time, I encountered two couples slowly making their way to the summit. The courtesy and friendliness of hikers is always refreshing to me. In this world of cynicism and cruelty, just a friendly "good morning" or politely letting a faster-paced hiker pass by, reassures me that there is still goodness to be found in people. That was the case here, the woman in the rear of the group was struggling and offered to let me by her. We chatted for a moment, exchanging words of encouragement and I was on my way.

Reaching the top, I was greeted with several strong gusts of wind, as one might expect on the top of a 10k peak such as this. The landscape up here is mostly barren with what appears to be slate shoved out of the earth at a forty five degree angle to form something of a fortress. The two couples, including the nice woman that allowed me to pass her, settled into a primitive windbreak that someone had fashioned from the loose rocks. I opted to set on the top of the fortress and collect my thoughts while snacking on some jerky and almonds.

Almost immediately after sitting down to relax, the resident ground squirrel made his appearance and began braving near me for any hint of food I might be willing to share. While I was tempted, I know it's actually more harmful to give this penthouse dweller anything. It might make his day better, but in the end, it will hurt his species. I guess he will have to be content with my company instead of my food.

After resting for 10 or 15 minutes, I decide to start the trek back down and count a total of 23 more hikers nearing the top as I pass them on the return trip. They will soon run out of places to sit up top. I take a look at my Walkmeter and decide to shoot for a round trip time of four hours or less, which will require me to pick up my pace. Downhill is always easier though. In the end, I completed the 10.69 mile hike in 4:11, which is still a pretty good time. My legs are sore and I'm ready to head back home and relax, but now that I have complete this hike fairly easily, I suspect I will be returning many times to use it as a training vehicle, considering it's proximity to my home.

Brokeoff Mountain (Lassen Volcanic National Park, California)

In continuing preparation for Mount Whitney, I'm trying to push myself up more and more difficult mountains, both to stretch my endurance and to get more used to high altitudes. I admit the idea of hiking to 14+k feet on Whitney is a bit daunting. In that vein, I decided to visit Lassen Peak with my friend Brent, but upon arrival at the park we discovered that the 5-mile out and back trail to the summit of the 10.4k peak is currently closed for maintenance. Instead we opted to hike the second highest peak in Lassen Volcanic National Park, Brokeoff Mountain, which rises to 9235 ft. along a 7.4 mile out and back trail with 2600 feet of elevation gain along the way.

 
The trail starts in the very southern entrance to the park, actually before the check point and immediately starts climbing. Through meadows and forest the trail climbs. Approaching the top of the tree line and onto the rocky areas near the top of the mountain, the path continues to climb relentlessly. In truth, I have never hiked a trail that was so consistently uphill. Most mountain trails tend to gain and loose altitude along the way to the top, but of course gaining more than is lost. However, the trail to the top of Brokeoff Mountain never, not once, seems to loose any altitude. It simply goes uphill the whole way to the top.

Upon arriving, we are met with a divine view, much like what the Olympians might have seen from their citadels. From the top, we have a marvelous view of the entire national park, Lassen Peak, and even the mighty Mount Shasta in the distance. This alone was worth the effort to get here. I'm struck by the presence of animal life with so little vegetation. There are some annoying flies a few moths, and even a pair of ravens checked in on us as we rested at the top. Also, we noticed an odd manmade construct near the summit. It was as though someone had mortared together a number of the stones from around the area into a cylindrical well of sorts. I would suggest it was a fire pit, but with no sign of charring on the interior, we ruled that out. Brent was thinking it might be a water catch of some sort, as the interior walls appear to be plastered smooth. Whatever it was, it was left unfinished and we may never discover its intended use.

The path down was just as relentlessly downhill as you might expect. This was rough on the knees and toes, but we finally managed to return to the trailhead a bit tired, but feeling good for our accomplishments.

City of Rocks (Cassia County, Idaho)

Continuing on down the road from Castle Rocks, we enter the City of Rocks National Reserve, also made popular by climbers. Much like Castle Rocks, this area is littered with granite islands jutting up from the landscape. With peculiar names like Elephant Rock and Devil's Crack, this area is a mecca for climbers, of which many are here today. In addition to the rock formations themselves, early pioneers wrote their names in axle grease on the granite. It's interesting to see this early form of graffiti.

Castle Rocks State Park (Cassia County, Idaho)

City of Rocks National Reserve and Castle Rocks State Park sit side by side about two hours out into the middle of nowhere in southern Idaho. It was out of the way a bit, but I really wanted to visit both of these areas. Castle Rocks is a large area made prominent by rock climbers during the 1970's for the granite islands of rock that dart up from the valley landscape. Cass and I hiked around a bit and I scrambled up a few features looking for some mentioned Native American Pictographs. Eventually, we found them and while they were nearly washed away, they still offer some glimpse into the past peoples who lived in this beautiful landscape. I hope to return someday to take advantage of some climbs here.

Minidoka War Relocation Center (Jerome County, Idaho)

Not long after the Empire of Japan launched their surprise attack on Pearl Harbor, suspicion of spies among the Japanese-American population of the Western United States arose. At that point, we as a people decided to ignore our most cherished ideas and imprison all peoples of Japanese ancestry in interment camps scattered throughout the west. This is what remains of one of those camps and has been dedicated as a national historic site.

There are some stones remaining from the old guard tower, which checked in all new arrivals and supplies entering the camp. A few residential and supply buildings remain from this camp that once housed approximately 10,000 American citizens being held prisoner because of their heritage. A note on one of the placards bears repeating here:

"May these camps serve to remind us what can happen when other factors supersede the constitutional rights guaranteed to all citizens and aliens living in this country."

We must strive every day and in every action to be better as a people than our ancestors were.

Shoshone Falls (Twin Falls County, Idaho)

 Often called the Niagara of the West, Shoshone Falls is a multi-terraced waterfall along the Snake River just outside the city of Twin Falls, Idaho. A state park has been dedicated on the southern rim of the mighty Snake River Canyon, which Shoshone Falls has and continues to carve into the landscape. The waterfall is quite magnificent, though I wish there was less development on top of it. I guess I can't complain too much though about the clean acquisition of hydro-electric power generated by the falling water. Definitely worth the stop to see this wonder.

Hagerman Fossil Beds (Gooding County, Idaho)

Again, this stop had been planned for the trip to Yellowstone, but we caught it on the way home instead. The Hagerman Fossil Beds National Monument was dedicated primarily to preserve the rich fossil beds along the river bank in this area. The most complete and numerous examples of the America's Hagerman Horse were found in this area by paleontologists, along with fossils of many other ancient creatures. The small visitor's center has several replicas of the fossil's found here and the fossil beds themselves offer a terrific view.

Of note and also perhaps a reason for the protection of this area, the Oregon Trail pass through this park and wagon ruts can still be seen from that great migration.

Ernest Hemingway's Grave (Blaine County, Idaho)

I had originally planned on visiting Ketchum, ID on the way to Yellowstone, but we had to switch our plans around a bit and decided to catch it on the way home. While it was about an hour and half out of the way, I figured I owe Hemingway that much for all of the inspiration his writing has given me. His grave is very simple, which is probably fitting for this man, the most honest of American authors. No mention is made of his works like "For Whom the Bell Tolls" or "The Old Man and the Sea", but curiously, a number of coins and other decorations have been placed on the smooth slab of granite marking his burial place. Perhaps the cigar and small bottle of rum left by a admirer are all that is necessary to celebrate this man's colorful life. I'm sure Hemingway himself would have enjoyed it.