Month: January 2008

Update from the middle of the BIG storm

If you watch the news or the weather you know that we are in the middle of a giant storm here in Reno. Last Wednesday I picked up my grandson Aidan (16 months) in the Bay Area and brought him back with me to spend a few days in Reno with Grandma and Grandpa. His parents were going to come up and pick him up on Friday. I knew we were  in for a big storm but decided to bring him home with me anyway in spite of the fact that it was unlikely that Bill and Shannon would make it up here.

The storm started yesterday (Friday) with exciting big winds and torrential rains. About five o’clock the rain changed to snow and when we woke up this morning we were buried in about 18 inches of beautiful white powder. Duke went out to shovel and I took Aidan out to experience snow for the first time. He is not at all sure about the stuff but he has added the word snow to his growing vocabulary.

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Interstate 80 which goes back to the bay area has either had chain requirements or been closed since the storm started. Once I can drive over the mountains without needing chains I’ll take Aidan home. It is snowing hard again now so that may be a while. Until then we are having fun with him here.

Snoeshoeing with the Siera Canyon Hiking Group – Andesite Peak

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Now that we have snow the Sierra Canyon Hiking Group goes snow shoeing every Monday. The people in the group range in age from the early 50s to 70+. We have a lot of fun. Yesterday, New Year’s Eve 2007, we snow shoed to Andesite Peak. The trail head is just north of Interstate 80 at the Castle Peak exit (176). It was a Calendar picture kind of day. The snow was sticking to the trees and each person kept commenting on how gorgeous it was. 

On our lunch break near the top we opened a bottle of champagne and toasted the new year. Thanks Jeff and Linda! That is me in front. We were sheltered and in the sun so it was very pleasant.

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Here we are on top. The wind was blowing but as you can see the views were stupendous.

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On our way down.

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You can see all of my pictures from the hike on Flickr here.