Griswold Lake and Ruby Dome

“This is the hardest three miles I've ever done with a pack on." That was my cousin, Cotie, as we made what we expected was the last bit of ascent up the trail toward Griswold Lake. We were climbing up rocks and through small fractures in the canyon that housed Butterfield Creek about 20 miles south of Elko and a mile west of the more popular and famous Lamoille Canyon in the Ruby Mountains. Cotie would later revise his statement to this: "That was the hardest three and a half miles I've ever

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Climbing Mount Whitney

On June 25, 2014, Jim Scripps and I hit the road from Reno to Lone Pine, California and west from there to the Mount Whitney Portal to embark on what would be a test of our physical abilities, mental fortitude and a test on our already fragile friendship. Not really. We just decided that we wanted to climb Mount Whitney in a day and figured this would be as good a day as any to give it a try. Not really there, either. Just read on to see how it all went down. I am sure I forgot some stuff that

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Hiking the Hunter Creek Trail

I took Sunday morning to hike Hunter Creek Trail to the falls with my daughter. Just a couple of weeks ago, there was a fire in the area that grew bigger than I ever thought it would. That shut the trail down for a while. In fact, we were supposed to go last weekend, but the trail closure forced me to switch this trip with the trip up Mount Rose. Being an easier hike up than Mount Rose, we traveled a bit lighter. She brought her hydration pack, which holds two liters and I brought my same pack

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Climbing Mount Rose

Mount Rose is the highest peak in the immediate vicinity of Reno. It stands over Reno somewhat unnoticed most of the time and is often confused with Slide Mountain. Slide Mountain contains the Mt. Rose Ski Resort with its very visible slopes standing out no matter the time of year. Hiking Mount Rose is something a bunch of people from around here have done. It's a nice day trip without a major amount of climbing and has some tremendous views throughout the trek. I've wanted to get out and climb

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