Hike to Lagomarsino Canyon (Washoe County, Nevada)

 

While I have visited this amazing petroglyph site before several years ago, that trip was via 4x4. I recently joined the Reno Hiking Meet-up group and received an email stating the group would be hiking to this desert site. I have often considered returning and this seemed like an excellent opportunity both to revisit the site as well as take my first trip with the group. Arriving at the agreed upon location, we car pooled to the trial head deep in the Lockwood area and started our trek. From what I understand from the organizer today's group is uncommonly large (24 hikers), but each and everyone of them were incredibly welcoming.

 

The trail starts up the bed of Long Valley Creek and follows it for about five miles. While the group attempted to follow a uniform and established route, it was often a matter of path finding as we zig-zagged back and forth across the creek looking for firm footing. I have to say that it was actually pretty refreshing to not have a well defined route. I was also surprised to find water in the creek this time of year after such a dry summer. I was informed that the creek is fed by a number of springs. Obviously, the local wild mustangs are aware of this as we encountered several of them along the journey.

 

I'm always amazed at how docile mustangs are. While they are feral, they generally encounter humans enough to not be terribly skittish around us. They are out here just trying to scrap a living off of the land, just as we would do. Unfortunately and as witnessed by the many carcasses we stumble across on the trail, this sometimes proves futile. The desert just isn't a hospitable place during these years of drought.

 

The group seems to be progressing pretty well, though there are definitely different levels of experience, as many of us push the pace to a point where the group fragments. The organizer, Mel, does a great job of trying to keep track of everyone and ensure no one gets lost. As we cross the creek at an especially problematic section, one of the ladies with the group looses her grip on the stone steps and falls into the mucky water. Two other gentlemen and I do our best to help her out of the water. Luckily, only her pride was injured.

 

Mel tells us that we should be looking for a set of power lines and an abandoned red car, which are the prime indicators of the site's location. Seeing the power lines in the distance, those of us leading the pack realize we are close and begin looking for what remains of a old red junker (though it has faded from red to pink over the decades). At the site of it, we take a sharp left turn and begin making our way up a rough 4x4 road to the petroglyph site.

The site is much as I remember it. Isolated and home to the one of, if not the, largest collections of ancient Native American petroglyphs in the state. According to documentation I have seen, the site contains approximately 2200 designs, most of which date to around 10,000 years ago. As I always do when viewing petroglyphs, I can't help but wonder about the artists that created them. What were they thinking? Who were they? And, why did they need to leave their mark on the world? I suspect their reasoning is no different than our answers to those same questions. Still, seeing art created so long ago and by a people, we know next to nothing about is quite humbling.

 

I spend a few minutes scrambling over the talus boulders and taking pictures, eventually making my way to the top of the ridge. the plateau above the canyon is as barren as any I have every seen in the Nevada desert. Why was this spot so special for the ancient inhabitants. While it could have been the creek below, the much larger (though still small by my standards) Truckee river is only a few miles away. We may never know, but it certainly allows us to ponder time immortal.

 

Many of the slower hikers are just arriving, as a few of us finish our snacks and explorations. I relax for a bit and share tales of the trails I have traveled, until a couple of gents decide they are going to head back in advance of the group. As I have plans for this evening, I ask if they would mind giving me a ride back to my jeep, to which they generously agree. We double-time it back to the trailhead, stumbling and loosing the trail a few times along the way. Eventually, we arrive at the parking lot and the Kens take me back to my jeep. Overall, a very pleasant 11.5 mile hike and overall experience. It's wonderful that so many like-minded hikers have taken to organizing trips like this. I hope to do more trips with the group in the future..