Holiday Fun Picts

Here's a few pictures from the recent holidays. The first couple are from the Curtiss's visit to Reno. The rest I have to credit my co-worker (and snowshoeing fiend) Andy Szeto for the camera work. These pictures are all around the Mt. Rose area which is 30 minutes from our house.




First off are some hiking pictures from Kirk, Yee, and Calvin's visit to Reno over the holidays. Here Zoe shows the way up Evans Creek Trail.

The Curtiss family (Kirk has not gained weight. Thats Calvin buried in his jacket)

Santa brought Zoe some snowshoes. Here, a few days after Christmas, she gets ready to try them out in some fresh powder at 8500' in Sierras.

Hmmm... Are Mom and Dad trying to freeze me?

Zoe heading into the blizzard. This storm coming over the pass forced us out of the woods and back to the car. We didn't have chains but the Subi handled the conditions nicely.

These picts are from Christmas Eve. A sunny day with a tough crust makes snowshoeing easy. I headed out with several friends to tackle the backcountry around Lake Tahoe.

The crusty snow allowed us to tackle some seriously steep stuff. This "hill" on the backside of Slide Mountain is well over 45 degrees. I could not climb it without using my hands and taking full advantage of the crampons on the bottom of the snowshoes.

Getting close to the top our intrepid photographer Andy had me snap a picture of him looking out over Slide mountain and Washoe valley 4000' below.

Roy and I catch some winter rays after topping out. 

The New Years Eve 2005 Flood

Whoa! Been raining on and off for the last week. Over the last 24 hours its been really coming down in Northern California and NW Nevada. The resulting runoff is causing flooding along the Truckee River and playing havoc with Evans Creek in our neighborhood. Here are a few pictures taken this morning (12/31/05). Happy New Years everyone! We're staying home this year and contemplating filling some sandbags.



Backyard view from the deck

View looking east (downstream) on Evans Creek

A neighbor's house that's flooded out (note the high water mark on the garage door).

Evans Creek behind the flooded house

Lakeside and Evans Creek

Entrance to the Green Ranch development. This is overflow from Evans Creek (probably about 6-10" deep).

Standing in the middle of Lakeside Street

Evans Creek flowing under the wooden bridge at Bartley Ranch Park

The Ranch Loop HIKING TRAIL at Bartley Ranch Park! The old irrigation ditch is overflowing into the trail.

A peek behind an office building on Lakeside Street. Notice the water overflowing the decorative rock retaining wall

Lakeside strip mall parking lot. No Blue Moon Pizza today!

The corner of Ridgeview and Lakeside. Note that the water is covering the wheels on the silver truck turning right off Lakeside.

Washoe Valley in the fall

Just got done watching a mellow surf movie called Singlefin:Yellow. The movie got me thinking about all the ways that people enjoy life. Cyclings one way that I enjoy life and it doesn't get much better then a crisp fall ride. The leaves will be off the trees when you read this but here's a few picts from a morning ride several weekends ago.



The route out of Reno to Washoe Valley follows the route of this year's Tour De Nez; Reno's very own professional cycling road race.

Because we're in a valley between two mountain ranges there's lots of seismic activity. Here's a local geothermal plant that produces electricity. That's snow on the 10,000 ft peak of Mt. Rose in the background.  


The route to Washoe Valley involves a little highway time. No worries as the shoulder is pretty wide. My goal is the reach the base of Slide Mountain which is in the background of this pict.

Ahh.... Washoe Valley. This loop takes me around alpine mountains on one side of the valley and desert mountains on the other. The road allows for some very easy fall riding.

A look out across the meadows and ranch land. The morning sun has not burned off the haze on the far side of the valley.

The Bowers Mansion. Once a home for a Comstock mining baron. Now part of a county park.

Fall is definitely a good time to visit (and a good time to ride).

Looking back toward Slide Mountain to observe my progress.

Now on the far side of the valley riding through the sweet smelling desert sage of the high desert. 


Note - If you've made it this far into the blog and you've never been out to visit then you should really take some time off. If you've been out to visit in the winter then give some thought to visiting in one of the other three seasons. I talk alot about riding bikes but the hiking here is pure bliss (ask Zoe). There's plenty of camping, whitewater, and lots of adventures for you.