Nevada Rambler

Mt. Como (background) and a Desert Peach bush

Photo Album

The Pine Nut Mountains lie east of Carson Valley, near Carson City and Minden/Gardnerville, Nevada. Mt. Como is a 9004-ft peak in the remote central area of the range. (The high point, Mt. Siegel at 9420 ft, is at the southern end of the Pine Nuts.) Our route followed a fire road up to the final ridge, a long steep ascent. We came down a different canyon, intending to follow a trail on old topo maps, which however was largely non-existent and covered by dead tree-falls. Because the drive from Reno is a bit far, we car camped on BLM land after the hike. The Pine Nut Mountains, true to the name, are forested by pinyon pines, many of which however have died due to recent infestations of pests combined with drought. Because the area was very dry already in late May, we passed on having a campfire.

Statistics:

9.21 mi (4.68 mi uphill, 3.60 mi downhill, 0.83 mi flat)
2600 ft total ascent – 15.8 %  uphill grade, 62.3 %  downhill grade
6:38:24 total time (5:12:26 moving, 1:25:58 stopped)
0:33:55 pace (1.8 mph average speed, 24.2 mph max speed)
20.440 difficulty, 34.177 effort

Directions: From U.S. Hwy 395 south of Carson City, turn east on Johnson Lane. Go to the end of the pavement (an OHV  area), follow the primary dirt/gravel road until you reach Sunrise Pass Road. Stay right on Sunrise Pass Road at the fork with Juniper Pass Road (neither is signed). At about 14.5 miles from Hwy 395, turn south on a 4WD road that winds it way through the valley between Mt. Como and Mineral Peak. High clearance vehicle recommended. We parked on a side road at the 20-mile mark from 395. A full GPS track is available here.

GeoLocator for latitude 39.0101509 longitude -119.5098495

Camping excursion to Soldier Meadows in northwest Nevada.

Photo Album

(Off) road map (click to enlarge):

GeoLocator for latitude 41.3573189 longitude -119.1930923

Overnight carcamping and dayhiking trip with Michael to Wall Canyon, in the Buffalo Hills west of Smoke Creek Desert, part of the Poodle Mountain Wilderness Study Area. Very interesting area. We saw wild horses, and signs of deer and/or antelope and also sheep. Besides scat, a sign for sheep was that several large boulders near the trailhead had strands of wool hanging on the sides – - apparently from sheep scratching themselves in shedding season. Also near the trailhead: an intact horse skeleton with some skin and hair left – - didn’t survive the winter.

A dozen years ago Joe and I hiked here, up Wall Canyon to Button Mountain according to my old log book. M. and I didn’t make it that far because the canyon was very slow going, with no trail, dense vegetation in the creek bottom, and loose rocky sides. It’s hard to see how J. and I could have made it that far back then. But that was at the end of a long drought, and likely cattle were grazed in the canyon then, so quite possibly the dense vegetation in the bottom of the canyon just wasn’t there back in the mid-1990s.

Michael wrote up a nice trip report with details on the hike on his website.
Photo Album

Track and Profile

We drove to Wall Canyon via the scenic route past Pyramid Lake

and Smoke Creek Desert.

This 100-mile route took 3 hours (with a few stops for photos) from Reno to the turn-off on the main Smoke Creek Desert Road. The dirt/gravel road starting north of Sutcliffe was well graded; it would take longer with the more usual washboard conditions. The return route via Gerlach and NV Hwy 447 and I-80 was 20 miles longer but took only 2 hrs 15 minutes.

GeoLocator for latitude 40.6837387 longitude -119.5966034

(Above) Panorama from Peak 7219. Left to right: Michael, Mt. Rose, Martis Peak, Verdi Peak, Castle Peak, Babbit Peak, Dixie Mountain. [??]

Michael and I car-camped overnight and spent Sunday exploring this isolated area west of Peavine Peak and east of Dog Valley. From a campsite on NFS road 134A, we hiked part cross-country and part on roads up to Peak 7219 (same destination as last year starting from the Copperfield trailhead). Great view of the Sierras from this high vantage point. Also hunted down a geocache near the peak. Returned via Meadow Valley (where we originally intended to camp, but were thwarted by a creek crossing we judged to be impassable–by wimps like us without skid plates), and then NFS road 192 which is on the USFS topo maps but is now mostly non-existent. Saw five deer, two rufous-sided towhees, a herring gull, some hawks, and several ATVs and dirtbikes. This is a great area, and it was nice to be out on a warm if windy weekend before the snow returned this week. What a great place!

Photo Album

Track and Profile (with glitches at border between UTM zones coincident with the NV/CA border, longitude 120.000 deg W)

Geocache: The Peaks from Peavine

Statistics:

7.67 mi (3.31 mi uphill, 3.24 mi downhill, 1.02 mi flat)
~1670 ft total ascent – 18.9 % uphill grade, 87.3 % downhill grade
5:09:17 total time (4:00:15 moving, 1:09:02 stopped)
0:31:19 pace (1.9 mph average speed, 33.3 mph max speed)
21.642 difficulty, 40.468 effort

Trailhead camp directions: Take Bordertown exit from U.S. 395 at the California/Nevada state line. The access road on the west side of the highway heads north, then turns back south across the railroad tracks to Long Valley Road. Follow Long Valley Road about 4 miles to the Forest Service border signs, turn left at the junction and go about 1.5 miles to a 4-way intersection. Turn left onto NFS road 034A, which dead ends at a creek in about a quarter mile. (Coordinates on Geolocator below). This is a well-used campsite; it required a lot of cleanup to make it comfortable, but was a nice place despite that. Brought home a big garbage bag full of shotgun shells, broken glass, and practice targets of various ilks. It’s not really a trailhead either, but crossing the creek led east through the forest to an open area that was easy to traverse cross-country until reaching roads.

From PeavineWest20…

GeoLocator for latitude 39.6064186 longitude -120.0092773

For Nevada Day weekend, Michael and I and Spaz the dog went on a hiking and car camp trip to the Jones Valley and Babbitt Peak area of the Tahoe National Forest, just west of Reno. The lookout station (above) was closed for the season. A chilly night in Jones Valley. Here are a few photos from the trip.

Photo Album

Track and Profile

Statistics:

8.63 mi (3.96 mi uphill, 4.15 mi downhill, 0.43 mi flat)
~1700 ft total ascent – 11.8 % uphill grade, 68.5 % downhill grade
4:44:20 total time (3:44:50 moving, 0:59:30 stopped)
0:26:02 pace (2.3 mph average speed, 3.8 mph max speed)
11.297 difficulty, 21.594 effort

GeoLocator for latitude 39.5592117 longitude -120.1215897