Originally, Deanna (the meetup group organizer) had planned to hike the Rubicon Trail today, but with an incoming winter storm, she changed it to Seven Lakes Mountain, which is just a few miles north of Reno. Driving up to our meeting spot, the clouds darkened and freezing rain started to hit my windshield. I went ahead and met the few brave souls willing to rough it in this weather and we decided to move the location once again to Jumbo Falls, south of Reno. Radar showed that the area was clear of precipitation.
Driving down to the trail head, we geared up and started down the jeep trails on foot. Earlier in the spring, I did a fair amount of exploring to find this waterfall and became somewhat familiar with this maze of jeep and dirt bike trails. This time though, we were on foot as opposed to off-roading it. Leaving the trail for a short distance when we discovered we were on the wrong one, we crossed a muddy wash by hanging onto a barb-wire fence. I was lucky enough to find the one soft spot under the fence and as my foot sank six to eight inches into the mud, I grabbed for whatever I could to keep from falling. Unfortunately, I grabbed the barbs and cut my hands up a little bit - nothing serious.
As we continued on, a light sleet began to fall. Undeterred, we bundled up a bit and continued on, but as the precipitation began to come down a bit harder and the dirt trail became more muddy and slippery, we decided to only go as far as Eagle Rock, which is a column basalt formation in route to the falls. Like the much more famous Devils Postpile, south of Yosemite, volcanic activity has created a pile of hexagonal columns rising from the ground. I've seen several of these formations over the years and they are all quite interesting.
Making the turn, we started back towards the trail head. With the mud building up on our shoes and the cold wind blowing through us, we quickly covered the distance and arrived at the parking lot to dry off and warm up. Though not as far as we had intended, the 8.1 miles we covered still provided a decent workout, though the weather made it a little uncomfortable. Not a problem for us die-hards.
Another day, another hike. This time, I joined the meetup group for a trip up Smith Peak overlooking Davis Lake, north of Portola, CA. Meeting the group just north of Reno, we carpooled up to the Davis Creek Recreational Area. Originally, we had intended to circumnavigate a large portion of the lake, but one of the hikers suggested hiking up to the fire tower on top of Smith Peak, which overlooks the lake. We all agreed and after arriving at a pull off area on the forest road, we hit the trail.
The trail itself is actually just a service road, which made for easy going. The incline was noticeable, but not overbearing. As we made our way up the mountain, I noticed some smoke rising from the hillside above us. I left the group to investigate and found a couple of smoldering piles of loose brush. I guessed that the forest service had been doing a small controlled burn in the area yesterday. With little to no risk of it flaming up and spreading, I returned to the trail and double-timed it to catch up to my group.
As usual, the group starts to fragment a bit as some of the faster hikers, including myself, break away from the group. It's not so much about racing up the hill as it is wanting to get a great workout in from the trip. No one seems to mind though and when we reach the top, we all take a few minutes to grab a snack and absorb some of the views. Unfortunately, the fire tower is locked and we are unable to walk around the balcony as I have been able to do at some locations.
To the east, we can take in the full measure of Davis Lake, though years of drought have affected the water level significantly. A view north, gives us a nice view of the snow-covered Lassen Peak. I suspect Mount Shasta would be visible from there too, but looking at the map, I think it is hidden behind Lassen from this angle. Finally, to the west, we are offered an outstanding view of the Sierra Buttes.
After a short time, we make our way back down the mountain, but as we had kept a really good pace both up and down the mountain, we decide that we aren't quite done for the day. After a hike just short of 9 miles to the fire tower, we decide to drive a short distance to the lake to explore the shoreline and visit a bald eagle nest that Deanna had discovered on a recent photography trip to the area.
The drive to the trail head is not much more than a mile and as we park and head across the road, we cross over Lake Davis Damn, which controls flow into the tiny thread of Big Grizzly Creek below. As we enter the pine needle carpeted floor of the forest, we struggle a little bit to find the trail, but eventually do and then start making our way around the fingers of the shrinking lake. In the distance, we can see the large eagle nest in the very top of the tallest tree on a small peninsula sticking out into the lake waters. We make our way around to the area below the nest, hoping to see the majestic residents. Once we arrive, we begin searching the skies and finally spot a pair of our national bird in the distance. They soar over us, most likely looking for food in the lake and forest below, but never actually land in their nest, though we wait for a good twenty minutes or so. As the eagles move onto better fishing grounds (with less spectators), we decide to head back to the cars.
Combing the long hike up to Smith Peak with this short trek around the lake, we put in about 10.4 miles today. Not bad. As we prepare to depart, we discuss the possibility of hiking a much longer hike around the lake in the near future . . . or perhaps a snowshoe adventure.
Hidden Valley is an area on the eastern side of Reno. Tucked away behind Rattlesnake Mountain, a number of neighborhoods have grown up here in over the last few years. The hills above the residential areas are truly representative of Nevada's terrain with a few steep inclines. I have hiked this area many times over the years and even use it as for some training routes to get in shape for bigger trips, but when I saw one of the meetup groups was planning a hike, I thought it might be nice to put some miles in with some friends and maybe even summit a couple of peaks above Hidden Valley that I hadn't visited before.
Eighteen of us met at Hidden Valley Regional Park at 8 AM and quickly hit the trail. Our first destination was Road-to-Nowhere, which I have visited a few times, most recently in the spring. Though, we took a shorter, but much steeper route. There are very few switchbacks as we climb from the valley floor at about 4,200' to the top tall rock cairn at the top of the mountain, which reaches about 6,100'. The view of Reno from up here is always outstanding, with Mount Rose and Slide Mountain in the distance.
Regrouping, we head back down to the trail along the saddle and pass by some wild mustangs grazing nearby. One more reason I love living here. There is such a diversity of life all around us, even here in the high desert.
Following the ridge line, we follow the ups and downs of the small peaks and saddles, some of which are extremely steep, but we eventually reach a jeep trail leading up to another tall peak that overlooks I80 looking East. A few of my fellow hikers slip on the loose gravel and dirt, but luckily no one is hurt. The jeep trail is incredibly steep, but we reach the top to find another tall rock cairn constructed in years past.
Taking a few minutes to rest and get a quick snack, we survey the landscape in front of us. From this elevation, we can see interstate 80 far below us snaking alongside the Truckee River. Soon though, we are back on the trail and head down the mountain. We take a different route on the way back, but quickly loose the trail. Scouting around, we re-find it below us and must scramble down a steep hillside layered with tiny gravel. It's a little challenging, but all make it without incident. The remaining portion of the trail follows a small wash before finally dumping us out in the neighborhoods near the park. A short road walk finds us back at the cars.
As we put on more comfortable shoes, load our cars, and say our goodbyes, I review the mileage of day - just under 8 miles. Not a bad morning.
Early this year, I read about another collection of rock art just above Sparks in the hills above the Pah Rah Range. In the spring, I had done some exploration in the jeep, but I was unable to find any sign of the ancient Native American carvings, but I was not deterred. However with reports of high rattlesnake populations in that area, I wanted to wait until the late fall or winter to take my next shot and finding them, since I intended to do it on foot. When I mentioned to my plans to my buddy, Bill, he was more than ready to join the adventure.
We met up at 8 AM and drove to Golden Eagle Regional Park, which is home to a lot of our local softball tournaments. We parked our jeeps and started up the rocky hills on foot. I was hoping we would encounter some signs of a trail, but unfortunately, we never found one. That's not so much a problem, as we are both pretty capable hikers and navigators, but the lava rock strewn terrain was really hard on the ankles and feet.
Climbing to the first ridge above the park and then the one above that, we make a line for our intended destination, which is at the northern end of the highest ridge, but below a medium-sized peak towering over the local landscape. The rocky grasslands go on as far as the eye can see in all directions and paint the landscape a light golden yellow, with the occasionally orange-brown boulder large enough to stick up higher than the grass.
On the way, we encounter our share of wildlife. The first is an extremely young bull snake stretched out on a rock. I might have missed the little guy in the tall grass, but I nearly stepped on him. As it got below freezing overnight in these hills and has only reached the mid-forties by the time we reached this point, the little guy was still frigid and didn't even move to acknowledge our presence. Almost immediately after encountering the young snake, we raise our heads to see a buck and two doe off in the distance. The look back at us to determine if we are a threat and then continue on up the hillside. As we follow the topography of the hills, we weave around above a small canyon only to see a heard of antelope racing away from us. I can't help but think of the song "Home on the Range", which talks about a place where the deer and the antelope play. Apparently, the songwriter was talking about this place.
One saddle to one peak and then on to the next, we keep searching the rocks for any sign of figures carved into the desert varnish. I convince Bill to keep going for a bit further, and then finally, I stumble across a single panel low on an outcropping. It's fairly typical of most petroglyphs of this region, but a couple of the figures are slightly odd to me. I have to wonder if they were modern additions, but it's impossible for me to tell.
Finding the first panel only inspires us to keep looking, but after a couple of more saddles and peaks, we finally decide to turn back and head for the park. As we aren't looking for more rock art on the way back with any real dedication, we do our best to head straight for the jeeps. The way is somewhat treacherous as we cross rock flow after rock flow, but we eventually make it back covering just over 10 miles on this rocky terrain. Only finding the single panel was a bit disappointing, but at least we found that one and saw some beautiful creatures along the way. Perhaps, I'll return again at some point and look for more.
