More exploration of the Reno surroundings today. The Mount Rose ski area is closed, but it’s obviously still getting skied daily, and is not yet a pee stop.

2011.05.21 Mt. Rose Hwy, NV to Tahoe exploration – 1

Lake Tahoe is big, the biggest “alpine lake” in North America. Someone told Ann it holds enough water to cover California 14 inches deep.

2011.05.21 Mt. Rose Hwy, NV to Tahoe exploration – 5

We locate Trippy Rock, which is just melted out enough for climbing, but not our destination today. The snow melting in the ponderosa forest smells fantastic.

Navigating the tourist mobs on the north lake shore and Truckee, California, we head back east on I-80 and take our best guess at the right place to pull off (very quickly) and park. The crag we’re looking for is across the river, and we see no sign of the “bridge”, so we just wander around. Then:

Suspension Bridge

Ann Considers Bridge

Fun! The River Rock is a little busy, but people are friendly and we enjoy the granite routes. Especially “Africa Flake”, which has really diverse and interesting moves.

Ann, Crag, River, Trail, Road

River Rock or UNR Rock

This is a pretty wildly diverse region. The Truckee River is a river that connects Lake Tahoe to Pyramid Lake, where it stops. This was a new concept to me, but apparently not unique in Nevada. It’s a river that provokes questions. It historically floods in the winter rather than spring, but I have no idea why. This year is way (200 – 600%?) above normal for snow levels, but the river seems mellow compared to what we saw up north on the Boise and Snake rivers.

There are famous desert areas, hot springs, and peaks to investigate around here too. I don’t know how long we’ll be here, but it won’t be long enough to find everything!

Routes: The Old TR 5.8 (TR), Head Case 5.10+ (TR), On Safari 5.7, Africa Flake 5.10a (TR)