Category: Sierra Canyon Hiking Group

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.

My first time

Duke and I went snow shoeing with the Sierra Canyon Hiking and Snow Shoeing Group Monday. Neither one of us had ever snow shoed before. Our route was generally along Ophir Creek which is southwest of Reno and then south off of the Mount Rose highway near the summit of the road. It was snowing and blowing but in spite of that and the cold we had a great time. I loved it. Just to be outside, in the mountains and to experience the world transformed by the snow was exhilarating. It turns out that snow shoeing is easy and fun.  Here is a picture of Duke and I at our lunch break.

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At one point Linda tried out a Hillside Self Heating Hot Cocoa that I think she said she got at Costco.. It sounds like a great idea for a winter outing doesn’t it? But guess what. The instructions say
"For best results activate at room temperatures (65 and 75 F)".  So much for that idea. After waiting 8 minutes for the hot cocoa to heat up, Walt tasted it and said it was cold! Yuck!

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If you would like to see the rest of my pictures from the hike they are available here on Flickr.

Sierra Canyon Hiking Group – Reno – Hike to Hunter Creek Falls

Seven of us from the Del Webb Sierra Canyon hiking group did the hike up Hunter Creek to the falls today.  The trip was only about 5 miles round trip with about 1000 feet of elevation gain but it was a really difficult hike because the trail was narrow and rocky with lots of steep parts on gravel. In spite of the difficulty the hike was well worth it.

One of the great things about this hike is that it goes through some wonderful wilderness but the hike starts only about a ten minute drive from home.The trailhead was at the end of  Woodchuck Court which we reached from Plateau Road. The trail followed Hunter Creek and canyon. There was lots of ice on the creek which made it really pretty. If you take this hike be sure to take the right fork about a mile in near a grove of Aspens. We went left and stayed near the creek which turned out to be a mistake. We had to make our way through thick brush and then scramble up a very steep bank to get back to the trail.

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We had lunch at the falls which were covered in ice but still had a lot of water flowing.

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This was one of the prettiest and wildest places we have hiked to and the amazing part is that we were probably no more than 5 miles from downtown Reno.

If you would like to see all the pictures from the hike you can see them on Flickr by clicking here.

Sierra Canyon Hiking Group – Monday hike – Steamboat Ditch


The Steamboat Ditch Trail is a 43-mile-long canal, finished in 1878, carrying water for irrigation. It starts on the Truckee River west of Reno and ends near the junction of the Mount Rose Highway and Highway 395 south of Reno. Today we hiked from the Verdi fire station across form Boom Town and Sierra Canyon and followed the ditch up stream. None of us had ever done this before and it turned out that much of the hike was cross country since there really wasn’t a trail. There wasn’t much water so we even hiked in the ditch for a while.
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The wind was really blowing. It was clear and sunny when we started but by the time we were done clouds had blown in it was getting colder and was starting to rain. Luckily when we stopped for lunch it was still a nice day.
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If you would like to see the rest of the pictures form the hike you can see them here.

Sierra Canyon Monday hike in the Donner Pass snow sheds

Last Thursday the Sierra Canyon hiking group hiked up to the railroad snow sheds over Donner Pass. We didn’t have flash lights so we didn’t go in very far. Today we decided to go to the other end of the snow sheds and hike all the way through them. We started at the top of Donner Pass right down the road from Squaw Valley ski resort and ended at the spot overlooking Donner Lake where we had lunch last Thursday.
You can see that the weather was a lot grayer and colder today.

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The snow sheds used to protect the trains from the big snow load over Donner Pass. About 15 years ago a new train tunnel was opened that goes through Mount Judah. The snow sheds were abandoned. The rails were removed and they now make a fascinating hike. In this picture you can see some of the sheds we hiked through. You can also see that there is a lot more snow up there than there was last Thursday.

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And here is a picture inside one of the sheds. If you would like to see all the pictures from this hike they are available here.

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Driving home we could see people skiing at Boreal. They just opened this weekend..