Nevada Rambler

Photo Album

Spring hike to Pah Rum Peak, in the Fox Range north of Pyramid Lake. The Fox Range is surrounded by deserts on the west (Smoke Creek Desert), north (Black Rock Desert), and east (San Emidio Desert). The forecast was for temperatures in the 60s and moderate wind, so neither of us carried full winter gear…big mistake. At elevation, the temperature was below 50 F and constant gale-force winds made it seem much colder than that. Glad I had my GoLite jacket. The wind also blew up a lot of dust so the views were hazy. But it was nice to explore this remote area.  Wildlife count: one coyotes and a bunch of cattle on the drive. Two antelope (a pair together) and 21 wild horses (in groups of three to six) on the hike.

The drive to the south end of the Fox Range where we parked is on the Pyramid Lake reservation, day-use permit required. The last 20 miles of the drive are on rough gravel and dirt roads; map and GPS helpful for navigation. The Needles area on the north end Pyramid Lake, pictures in the slide show, has been closed to the public for years.

Statistics:
8.45 mi (4.15 mi uphill, 3.63 mi downhill, 0.59 mi flat)
2200 ft total ascent
5:24:46 total time (4:12:13 moving, 1:12:33 stopped)
0:29:49 pace (2.0 mph average speed, 4.4 mph max speed)
33.644 difficulty, 64.664 effort

Photo Album

Desert hike to Topog Peak, in the West Humboldt Range in Churchill County, Nevada.  Topog Peak is at the confluence of the Humboldt Sink (where the Humboldt River ends) and Carson Sink (the end of the Carson River), which make up the 40-Mile Desert of infamy on the pioneer California Trail.  Steep slopes and very interesting geology. Parked near an Earthscope GPS Station, which tracks the motion of the earth’s crust at this location (10 millimeters north and 20 millimeters west since 2007). The hiking route is entirely cross country and quite steep in places. The roads would be treacherous when wet.

Statistics:

3.83 mi (1.85 mi uphill, 1.55 mi downhill, 0.38 mi flat)
1290 ft total ascent – 20.3 % uphill grade, 62.3 % downhill grade
3:35:28 total time (2:28:26 moving, 1:07:02 stopped)
0:38:42 pace (1.5 mph average speed, 5.1 mph max speed)
13.925 difficulty, 23.537 effort

We headed north from Reno looking for access to Haskell Peak, a foothill of the Bald Mountains on the east side of Hwy 395. Unfortunately, the California wildlife refuge on the east side is closed to humans from February through June for mule deer habitat protection (July will be too hot at this elevation, maybe next Fall), and to north it’s mostly surrounded by private land with No Trespassing signs. So plan B was a hike in Plumas National Forest up to Snow Lake, a pond near Adams Peak south of Frenchman’s Reservoir. Much of the hike was cross country up a steep ridge, then on snow covered forest roads. Not sure what the rock above is doing in the middle of a meadow.

Photo Album

Statistics

5.87 mi (2.39 mi uphill, 2.59 mi downhill, 0.85 mi flat)
1010 ft total ascent  - 16.6 % uphill grade, 151.9 % downhill grade
3:45:12 total time (3:16:17 moving, 0:28:55 stopped)
0:33:23 pace (1.8 mph average speed,)
13.516 difficulty, 22.865 effort

Photo Album

Early spring hike to an abandoned fire lookout (now a microwave antenna farm) near US 395 north of Reno.  Part of this area, the Seven Lakes Mountains, burned in the Trailer 1 Fire in July 2009. For the descent from the burned crest area above the lookout, we followed a road on the USGS topo maps that is now abandoned, then hiked cross country through sagebrush back to the highway.

Statistics

5.63 mi (2.54 mi uphill, 2.48 mi downhill, 0.57 mi flat)
1260 ft total ascent – 14.0 % uphill grade, 36.1 % downhill grade
3:06:56 total time (2:49:26 moving, 0:17:30 stopped)
0:30:05 pace (2.0 mph average speed, 3.5 mph max speed)
10.289 difficulty, 18.671 effort