Nevada

14—23 July 2021

With airfare still cheap (Covid, sigh), Jack, Evan and I headed to Nevada, for some mountain hiking. Why the $%#$ not?!

A spectacular 11 mile hike in the Island Lake area of the Ruby Mountains: first, second, third, fourth, fifth, sixth, seventh, eighth (video).

The Ruby Crest Trail is a 43-mile hidden gem along the spine of the Ruby Mountains. We hiked 6.5 miles (13 out-and-back) of it—a perfect afternoon. panorama video near the crest, panorama video above a lake, Evan, Jack (asking “Why?”), Jack, the thinker, Evan and tree, Jack and two trees, gnarled, Evan on the trail, Jack on the trail, brothers on the trail, lake, another lake, yet another lake, one tree, three trees, jagged peak.

Lamoille Camp Trail, Ruby Mountains: first, second (with Jack and Evan), third (with Jack and Evan), fourth, fifth, sixth, seventh, eighth.

A superb out-and-back, 12-mille mountain hike from Spooner Lake to Marlette Lake (on the Nevada side of Lake Tahoe): Marlette Lake, closer, with Jack and Evan, rays, Spooner Lake.

An ideal out-and-back, 12-mille mountain hike to the summit of Mt. Rose: the summit (from lower on the trail); Evan and Jack on the summit, closer; from the summit looking north, east, south (Lake Tahoe), panoramic video (with Jack and Evan); tree; part deux; rock in tree; tree in rock; tree with Jack and Evan; lichen; Mountain Gartersnake.

Lassen Volcanic National Park: Emerald Lake, meadow, Cold Boiling Lake, Mt. Lassen, Lake Helen, geology (video).

The Dixie Fire is (was) one of the largest fires in history. Started on 13 July 2021, still burning on 27 September (as I type these words), it has burned nearly a million acres so far. We stumbled into this fire on 20 July 2021, when we drove from Reno to Lassen Volcanic National Park then back again. The Park was remarkable, but the fired dominated our day. Here is a shot of this fire, taken from within the Park; here is another; and here is a video. The drive back to Reno that night was tense. We were among the last cars that evening let through on a number of different roads near the fire. Here, for example, is a photo (taken from the car, as I was driving), looking south on Highway 89, south of Greenville (later destroyed by the fire). Notice that the highway is empty. Visibility was rough. The evacuation notice for Greenville reached our cell phones a few minutes after I made this photo. No cars passed us during the fifteen minutes or so we stopped south of this spot, where I snapped this photo of the sun through the smoke (i.e. we were one of the last cars out that night). Coupled with the magnitude 6.1 earthquake that shook us in Anchorage two months earlier, we had quite a ride this summer.

Miscellany: Highway 93, geology (taken from our moving car), Walker Lake, Austin (Highway 50), Reno, Fallon, Great Basin National Park, Vegas! (at the airport before flying home).

A quick trip through Red Rock Canyon National Conservation Area before our red eye home: first, second, third, fourth, fifth, sixth.

A few animals from the trip:

(Desert) Bighorn Sheep, Churchill County, Nevada, 18 July 2021.