The Nevada high point has proven to be my first real mountain climb. It was really incredible ... and a lot of hard work. Randy and I started the trip in Reno, NV and pulled into the trailhead (at 9,000' above sea level) parking area late Saturday afternoon. Since I had come from 45' above sea level and Randy 4,500', we decided some further acclimatization was in order. We hiked the first mile or so of the approach to gain nearly another 1,000'. We came back down in time to eat a makeshift meal and headed off to bed even before it got dark.

"Popping" the ridge didn't turn out to be as simple as we had imagined. The guide book had advised we would climb a scree slope of 20°-25°. However, we had unknowingly gotten slightly off route and found ourselves tackling a 31°-33° scree slope. We both got fairly frustrated because on scree, one step forward results in sliding 3 steps back!

We hung out at the summit for 30-40 minutes getting our fill of the views and signing the register. Since the day was clear enough we could even make out the Sierra Nevadas on the horizon. We realized our time at the summit was waning since we knew the altitude would begin to affect us. We headed down, taking the correct route this time, and managed to reach our camp by 5:45.

In addition to seeing fascinating vistas and pretty flowers, we got our fill of the local wildlife. We saw several chipmunks, a bunny, and even an owl. We knew wild horses populate the area and we were lucky enough to spot some off in the distance. We even saw a humming bird hovering over a patch of blue irises. But the highlight of our wildlife sightings were the pair of antelope that raced along side Randy's car, crossed our path, and raced off into the distance! Per the sign's warning, we kept looking for some "prancing steers" but never got so lucky.