Nevada Rambler

Michael and I took off Saturday for a car trip to the Black Rock Desert in northwest Nevada. Great weather for exploring the playa and the hot springs. We didn’t run into any other people all day long except at a distance—a couple of jeeps, a group of amateur rocket enthusiasts, and some ATVs heard but not seen near Black Rock Spring. This is a very special place on the planet. Hope y’all enjoy the photos.

Photo Album

GPS Track

Black Rock Desert, toward Calico Hills

Black Rock Point from playa

Black Rock Hot Spring

Double Hot Springs

A wonderful overnight backpacking trip with Michael to Paradise Lake via the Pacific Crest Trail starting from Donner Pass on I-80.

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Track

Castle Peak from below Castle Pass.

View south from Basin Peak.

Paradise Lake.

Overlook to Warren lake from Paradise Lake.

Paradise Lake at sunset.

Statistics:

19.18 mi (8.18 mi uphill, 8.11 mi downhill, 2.71 mi flat)
2200 ft total ascent – 12.0 % uphill grade, 16.8 % downhill grade
1 day 4:05:36 total time (8:36:31 moving, 19:29:05 stopped)
0:26:55 pace (2.2 mph average speed)
25.235 difficulty, 46.878 effort

A nice day hike up Hunters Peak, north of Sun Valley, NV. With a little help from the expert, found Michael’s geocache. Bonus feature: Jets from the Reno National Air Races.

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Track

Trailhead: North end of Sidehill Drive. Park at the turnaround next to the elementary school. This area is slated to become a regional park.

Statistics:

5.43 mi (2.07 mi uphill, 2.55 mi downhill, 0.72 mi flat)
900 ft total ascent – 15.4 % uphill grade, 18.7 % downhill grade
3:14:10 total time (1:56:07 moving, 1:18:03 stopped)
0:21:22 pace (2.8 mph average speed, 35.6 mph max speed)
9.314 difficulty, 18.321 effort

Michael and I went on an Saturday excursion to Sacramento. The main events were two great 3D IMAX movies: Deep Sea 3D and the 3D version of Superman. The 3D effects are really great. We also walked around the state capitol grounds and did a self-guided tour inside the capitol building (photo of dome above), and did a little shopping for winter gear at REI.

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Jones Creek/Whites Canyon Loop Trail to Church Pond, starting from the Galena Creek County Park trailhead. Michael had done part of this trail before, but it was new territory for me even though it’s very close to Reno, just a few miles up the Mt. Rose Highway. We took the trail in the counter-clockwise direction, crossing over to the Whites Creek drainage first, then up Whites Creek, over a saddle point at 8300 fteet with a spur to Church Pond, and then back down Jones Creek to the trailhead. That is 10.2 miles total round trip. The shorter, steeper trail from the Galena Creek Park trailhead to Church Pond is 3.2 miles one-way. There is an alternative trailhead closer to Whites Creek, which also serves the Thomas Creek Trail. This was a very nice, moderately strenuous hike. Views would have been better except for the smoke from a fire in Placer County, CA. Michael was experimenting with long-exposure water photos, above, he’s not satisfied with the light exposure yet but I think it looks great.

GPS Track

Photo Album