The playa passes quietly beneath the truck, a narrow path traced by the headlights in the predawn darkness. I had left Desna at Planet X to see what the sunrise might bring on the Black Rock Desert playa. A canopy of bright stars suggested that the desert sunrise would be…
Nevada High Points #96 – Sahwave Mountains
Juniper Mountain 7475 ft (2278 m) – 1960 ft gain 2021.11.27 Juniper Mountain – Sahwave Mountains Collection Desna, my wife and partner, was at Planet X for the weekend, it is winter sale time. Although the forecast remained stable with blue skies as far as any meteorologist could see, I…
Nevada High Points #95 – Palmetto Mountains
Harvey Peak 9285 ft (2830 m) – 1775 ft gain 2021.11.12 Harvey Peak – Palmetto Mountains Photo Collection I had planned to get out early for Second Friday, but because my brother, Darren, could not join this weekend and my back has spasmed oddly yesterday, I slept late. The schedule…
Fall Color – Smith Valley, NV
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…
Nevada High Points #94 – Bird Spring Range
Peak 5695 5695 ft (1736 m) – 1050 gain 2021.10.15 Peak 5965 – Bird Spring Range Photo Collection Thankfully, my time in Vegas was about over. Leaving the conference hotel in the early evening, I worked my way south toward Jean, Nevada, eventually turning west toward Goodsprings. I hit the…
Nevada High Points #93 – River Mountains
River Mountain 3789 ft (1155 m) – 1013 ft gain 2021.10.13 Away from hotel early, going for two days in a row. If I must hang around Vegas for the week, I can focus on a few highpoints in some of the smaller local ranges. Continuing east of the city,…
Nevada High Points #92 – Frenchman Range
Frenchman Mountain 4052 ft (1235 m) – 2400 ft gain 2021.11.12 I slept much better in Kyle Canyon the other night. The past two nights, however, have been strange. I have a room at the Flamingo in Las Vegas; it is a perfectly fine room with a nice view, but…
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…