A storm had set in; great wind and slashing rain at StoneHeart throughout the night. And yet the Sierra seemed to have caught the storm by the tail keeping it from breaking further east. When this happens, the sunrise has promise. Hunting color at the edge of the storm, I…
Fall Color: A Rainy Evening in Hope Valley
Finally, rain. I spent the last week in the Mojave Desert, gouging around Las Vegas Valley, walking several ranges, and spending too much time in a casino conference center. I cannot complain about returning to in-person gatherings with colleagues and friends, but I still felt I needed the solace of…
Nevada High Points #91 – Spring Mountains
Charleston Peak 11,918 ft (3633 m) – 5300 ft gain 2021.11.09 We have not been on a big hill for a few months. The smaller, hidden gems are a pleasure, but nothing beats some elevation gain and ultimate altitude. I had a work week in southern Nevada, so we decided…
Nevada High Points #90 – Madelin Mesa
Rowland Mountain (‘Rocky’) 6911 ft (2107 m) – 650 ft gain 2021.09.24 The mornings have the feel of autumn, but the midday still holds the heat of summer; it is that time of year. Here, at the close of September, I had a landform mapping project in support of archaeological…
Nevada High Points #89 – Calico Mountains
Donnelly Peak 8533 ft (2588 m) – 2317 ft gain 2021.09.12 There is a problem with names in this part of the desert. And, as a geographer and some-time chronicler of Great Basin landforms, I strive to maintain a sense of where I am. It stands to reason that the…
Nevada High Points #88 – Butte Spring Hills
Peak 6507 6507 ft (1983 m) – 910 ft gain 2021.09.11 On Nevada Highway 34, a wonderful dirt road north of Gerlach, there is a steep right-hand turn just after the Lund Petrified Forest. The forest consists of a couple of upright trees trapped behind a fenced enclosure, but we…
Nevada High Points #87 – Anchorite Hills
Powell Mountain 9530 ft (2905 m) – 1988 ft gain 2021.08.13 It took a long time to get going today. Smoke from Sierran wildfires has filled Carson Valley for weeks it seems – now the typical summer atmosphere, and the heat has been oppressive, forged one-to-one with the unending haze.…
Nevada High Points #83 – Toiyabe Range
Arc Dome 11,788 ft (3593 m) – 4005 ft gain 2021.05.14 Sometimes life gets in the way. As Second Friday approached, it appeared the workaday world required more that its usual allocation. Although I am fortunate to have spent much of my career working outside and have been overlanding since…
Nevada High Points #82 – Mount Irish Mountains
Mount Irish 8473 ft; 2665 m. 2200 ft gain. 2021.04.11 It is April’s Second Friday, so that means it is time for a backcountry recce, but first, I get vaccinated. It is my second shot. Although I had no side-effects other than a sore arm the first time around, I…
Wildlife Photography: Getting Lost with the Red-headed Woodpecker
Ok, this is not a bird photography website. It just happens that this was an interesting week. Six-Mile Woodpecker Collection After our brief birding excursion along the East Walker River, Desna heard that a Red-headed Woodpecker had taken up brief residence in Six Mile Canyon in the Virginia Range, just…