To celebrate National Public Lands Day I join a friends of Nevada wilderness trip to improve some trail in the Santa Rosa mountains north of Winemucca. I’m curious what these mountains will be like. From a distance they appear to be treeless. On the dusty drive in, the road dust seems to make pools in…

On the first of two friends of nevada wilderness trips celebrating national public lands day, we head for the Black Rock desert after Ann gets off work on Friday. Arriving on the playa at night is intimidating. Aside from the occasional orange cone, nothing shows up in the headlights except flat white playa. We can’t…

Castle Peak rises just northeast of the intersection of Interstate 80 and the Pacific Crest Trail. We figure it will make a good day hike, but thunderstorms get there before we do. Of course we see many interesting things anyway, including a couple of insects I haven’t seen before: a mourning cloak butterfly and a…

A few people we’ve met while hiking in the Carson pass area have recommended the Thunder Mountain hike, so we decide to try the loop variation of it. This is a definitely a more developed area with campgrounds, roads, and the Kirkwood ski area, but we’re won over by the views and interesting cobblestone rock…

We liked last week’s Round Top hike so much that we invite our friend Grace and her friend Sharli return there with us to hike the scenic loop. The flowers are starting to fade a bit, and with them the mosquitoes, but there’s still plenty of life on display. The curiosity of our guests spurs…

Hat tip for this hike to republican president William McKinley, who established in 1899 the Tahoe Lake Forest Reserve that preceded the Lake Tahoe Basin Management Unit where we wander freely today. Ann navigates to the attractive ridge she spotted yesterday, which in turn has nice views back to Round Top, west toward the hazy…

Hat Tip for this hike goes to republican senator Thomas Kuchel who was among the sponsors of the Wilderness Act of 1964 that established the Mokelumne Wilderness. The air is hazy early on, due to fires in Yosemite I guess, but clears up a bit for us as we make our way up Round Top…

As usual, we haven’t made any attempt to reserve a campsite. We thought we might try the Mount Rose campground, but we find it’s closed (no reason given, but Ann finds something on the web about construction). Everything we know about Lake Tahoe so far tells us that the Nevada Beach national forest campground will…

This hike is the main attraction in the area for good reasons. A waterfall, wildflowers, and a good climb culminate in a view that encompasses both Reno and Lake Tahoe. It puts us in a good mood for goofy pictures. Lake Tahoe Us on Mount Rose 1 Us on Mount Rose 2 Us on Mount…

Ann and I spend the morning exploring the crags on Donner summit, but never settle on a route to climb, and eventually decide to swim instead. It’s pretty windy when we arrive at King’s Beach on the north shore of lake Tahoe. Breakers are rolling in, and it feels good to put on long sleeves.…