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.

sycophancy

The New York Times (I love that you don’t have to sign up for or pay for the online edition now) has a cool feature. You can double click on a word and a new window opens containing a definition of the word. So when I read in a David Brooks column that "Presidents are buffeted by sycophancy, criticism and betrayal."  I double clicked on sycophancy. A new window opened and it made me smile when I saw  sycophancy defined as "fawning obsequiousness". I do know what that means but just for the fun of it I check to see if I could double click on obsequiousness. You can’t.

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.