Nevada Rambler

DixieMountain Lookout

Photo Album

A driving excursion to the Dixie Mountain Fire Lookout, west of Frenchman Reservoir, near Chilcoot, California. It was clear enough to see Lassen Peak (75 miles away) and Mt. Shasta (142 miles). High-clearance vehicle recommended.

Lupines from Tahoe20090725

Photo Album

On our way to the Shakespeare Festival at Sand Harbor, Lake Tahoe, we did the 1.5-mile nature loop trail at Tahoe Meadows.

Statistics:

1.52 mi (0.65 mi uphill, 0.57mi downhill, 0.29 mi flat)
254 ft total ascent (205 ft descent) – 9.9 %  uphill grade, 10.3 %  downhill grade
0:48:11 total time (0:47:08 moving, 0:01:03 stopped)
0:31:03 pace (1.9 mph average speed)
1.536 difficulty, 2.957 effort

Emerald Lake from MammothLakes20090723

Photo Album

Tour of more sights around Mammoth Lakes, California: Inyo Craters, Earthquake Faults, a hike to Emerald Lake (beautiful in the picture above, but quite the mosquito haven), then a picnic at Horseshoe Lake.

From BristleconeForest20090722

We left Mammoth Lakes and drove down to the Owens Valley, then up again high into the White Mountains to the Ancient Bristlecone Pine Forest in Inyo National Forest, west of Big Pine, California. Some of these amazing trees are over 4000 years old and still living; tree rings of dead trees from the same area date to 9000 years ago. The cool air at 10000 ft was a welcome relief from the heat below. We did the one-mile nature loop hike, had a nice picnic supper, and stopped at an overlook on the drive back to see a glorious cloudy sunset over the High Sierras. It rained on us on the drive down the mountain, but no rain reached the low plains.

Photo Album

Statistics:

1.09 mi (0.50 mi uphill, 0.49 mi downhill, 273 ft flat)
360 ft total ascent (315 ft descent) – 16.1 %  uphill grade, 18.3 %  downhill grade
1:56:09 total time (0:54:25 moving, 1:01:44 stopped)
0:49:43 pace (1.2 mph average speed, 2.8 mph max speed)
2.490 difficulty, 3.857 effort

From DevilsPostpile20090722

Continuing a short vacation with Elizabeth and Mike: We hiked through Devil’s Postpile National Monument, west of Mammoth Lakes, California. Access to the National Monument is via a shuttle bus from the Mammoth Lakes ski resort. The Devil’s Postpile itself is an outcropping of columnar basalt, similar to Karnak Ridge except that was rhyolite and these “posts” are much larger. The impressive Rainbow Falls was an added bonus.

Photo Album

Statistics:

4.10 mi (1.63 mi uphill, 1.65 mi downhill, 0.75 mi flat)
500 ft total ascent  – 12.1 %  uphill grade, 24.4 %  downhill grade
3:19:16 total time (2:27:04 moving, 0:52:12 stopped)
0:35:51 pace (1.7 mph average speed, 10.5 mph max speed)
5.618 difficulty, 9.914 effort