Nevada Rambler

Photo Album

A very nice snowshoe loop to Klondike Meadow from friends’ cabin, in the Martis Peak area. (Sorry, private access, so no route information for this entry.)

Statistics:

3.68 mi (1.49 mi uphill, 1.56 mi downhill, 0.59 mi flat)
~700 ft total ascent  – 11.5 %  uphill grade, 14.0 %  downhill grade
2:38:45 total time (2:19:35 moving, 0:19:10 stopped)
0:37:57 pace (1.6 mph average speed, 7.1 mph max speed)
4.344 difficulty, 7.165 effort

Photo Album

A nice fall hike up to Red Rock Peak, at the northern end of Petersen Mountain. We started from the west side. Our intended entry road from US 395 was gated, so we went to the next road north (39.82755N, 120.03725W), took the right fork that is not on the USGS maps, parked on a small rise, and then walked cross country, actually mostly on a well-established game trail, rise toward Yellow Rocks.  Yellow Rocks are a group of–yellow–hoodoos on the California/Nevada border. The road goes up a broad valley between ridges, past several springs, and then enters the Petersen Mountain Natural Area (BLM). The difference in vegetation between the grazed and ungrazed area is striking (see photos). The final ascent is a cross-country scramble. On the descent, we chose the drainage north of Yellow Rocks, but ran into a very steep dry falls near the bottom and had to do a partial back-track to the road.

GPX Track File

Statistics:

12.14 mi (5.31 mi uphill, 5.05 mi downhill, 1.68 mi flat)
2300 ft total ascent (2300 ft descent)
20 days 2:52:12 total time (5:29:25 moving, 19 days 21:22:47 stopped)
0:27:07 pace (2.2 mph average speed, 48.2 mph max speed)
20.9 difficulty, 44.4 effort

Photo Album

This was a short hike at Tahoe Meadows, up to the ridge overlooking Lake Tahoe. Not enough snow for snowshoes yet. Gorgeous day, just a bit of fog over the lake.

GPX Track File

Statistics:

1.83 mi (0.75 mi uphill, 0.81 mi downhill, 0.25 mi flat)
360 ft total ascent  – 14.6% uphill grade, 14.5% downhill grade
1:14:36 total time (1:00:40 moving, 0:13:56 stopped)
0:33:07 pace (1.8 mph average speed, 4.2 mph max speed)
3.8 difficulty, 6.7 effort

Winter hike to Church Pond from Galena Creek County Park via the Jones Creek Trail.  Mostly clear trail, used spikes in snow to ridge above Church Pond, where there is a good view of Mount Rose in snow. Church Pond was frozen over.

GPX track file

Statistics:

7.44 mi (3.53 mi uphill, 3.40 mi downhill, 0.45 mi flat)
2534 ft total ascent (2481 ft descent) – 16.5% uphill grade, 18.7% downhill grade
5:03:31 total time (4:14:08 moving, 0:49:23 stopped)
0:34:07 pace (1.8 mph average speed, 5.3 mph max speed)
18.9 difficulty, 31.7 effort

Photo Album

Dogskin Peak in the Dogskin Mountain Range, from Bedell Flats north of Reno. We met all types of users of the public lands on this hike: Cowboy and cowgirl on horses rounding up cattle, chukar hunters, dirtbikes, all-terrain vehicles. We were the only ones who scrambled to the summit of Dogskin Peak, though. A register logbook is on the second peak from the north, which is about the same elevation of the first peak where the USGS benchmark is located.

Where did the name “Dogskin Mountain” come from? According to Alvin R. McLane in Silent Cordilleras, “A longtime Reno resident told the author that the range got its name because the mountain sides looked like the skin of a hound dog. This is especially true when the flanks of the mountains are viewed in the light of the western sun, the many mountain ridges resemble crinkled skin.”  Hmm, sounds far-fetched to me!

Track GPX file

Statistics:

4.77 mi (2.24 mi uphill, 2.31 mi downhill, 0.15 mi flat)
2291 ft total ascent (2291 ft descent) – 20.8 %  uphill grade, 84.5 %  downhill grade
4:26:53 total time (3:21:07 moving, 1:05:46 stopped)
0:42:11 pace (1.4 mph average speed, 3.1 mph max speed)
18.6 difficulty, 29.1 effort