Like a kid who can't wait for
daylight to open his presents, Larry was up Sunday morning, grousing at Greg
and shouting at the "group" to hurry up. East up Echo Canyon we hiked - at one
point climbing 80-100 feet above the trail to avoid thick brush. Actually the
mountainside is striped with game trails and the brush is only knee high
chinquapin. We maintained elevation - about 7,200 -, 7,500 feet for two miles
to another creek coming in from the north. Here we left Echo Canyon and went
northeast, crossing the creek aforementioned. Three quarters of a mile further,
another creek came in from the northeast. We followed along this creek with
RUBY DOME in plain view. It is a beautiful Canyon with lots of water coming
down. Camping sites are plentiful. Deer abound. We jumped a fine, healthy doe
and at about 10, 000 feet we startled three beautiful young "spike" bucks.
There were glaciated, granite slopes for us to climb over, but nothing more
than class 2 stuff. We went directly for the peak itself on the way up, but
descended via the cirque west of the dome. Either way is class 2.
The
weather was good- even a bit warm - the views of the other peaks of the Rubies
were piquing - The excitement of the list-finishing was subdued (I think its
better to finish on Pleasant or Nelson and have 300 people and 50 bottles of
champaign). The climb required 4 hours - the descent 2 1/2. Ice-axes were not
required, though they could have been - another year. One of the conditions of
the permit to cross tribal lands was that we close all gates and refrain from
littering. The latter was easy enough, but stretching those barbed wire gaps
required an engineering degree and hydraulic jacks.
From Elko, we took IH 80
to (almost) Reno and dropped down to South Lake Tahoe and south to a national
forest campground near Carson Pass to spend the night. Ah! The Sierras! There
is no mistaking them. Gentle Wilderness. Monday we hiked Mt Roundtop from
Carson Pass before taking the long drop down U. S. 395 to the 'Two Sisters in
Inyokern where the three of us did real justice to the $5.85 buffet.
Lou
Brecheen |
