Trail Outlook: Cold Spring Showers

• Winter hasn’t quite given up yet. As of writing this on Tuesday morning, snow once again blankets the mountain and stretches down to just above trailhead elevations. Temperatures during the week are expected to stay cool and rain or snow are in the forecast for most weekdays. Lower elevation trail centers such as Hidden Valley, Wedekind, and Sierra Vista Regional Parks, as well as most Carson City trail centers, are expected to stay dry or hero dirt. Above that, there is a big question mark about how much water will puddle versus soak. The best windows for excellent conditions on Peavine are probably Wednesday afternoon to Thursday morning as well as Friday afternoon this week.

• This winter has reshaped a LOT of trails. Keep your head up and speed down even on trails you knew well last season. Nearly every trail has new hazards this year.

• Other than the thin layer of fresh snow, the majority of snow on the mountain has pulled back to above the Total Recall Bench. Between TR bench and Mahogany Bench, snow lingers on many trails or indirectly is melting onto the trails leaving large mud sections. Mahogany bench itself is still encased in snow and the Mahogany Forest trail climbing to Peavine access road has a number of large snow fields covering it still.

• Tahoe Pyramid Trail in the canyon between Truckee and Verdi is beginning to clear up. There are some significant trail damage sections but TPT reports they are not closing the trail this weekend, just advising extreme caution. There are closures that started this monday. See below for details.

Truckee Meadows Trail Damage:

• Peavine’s Keystone Canyon is washed out for a couple hundred yards above the intersection with the Fisticuffs trail.

• Lower Thomas and White’s creek trails are dry but both feature major washouts and creek running in trail sections. Please avoid for the time being as there are no easy reroutes for the damaged areas.

Local Trail Closure: In Carson City, King’s Canyon loop and waterfall trails are closed due to a rock fall. Check out the monster boulder and debris field on Carson City Parks and Open Space’s Facebook page here.

Temporary Trail Closure: May 1-3, Tahoe Pyramid Trail from the Quilici Ranch parking area to the Fleish bridge is closed to allow heavy equipment to repair rock falls. Please plan to access the trail upstream at Farad instead of Verdi. More details available on TPT’s Facebook page linked here.

Trail Karma Opportunity:

• Saturday, May 20:

  • Silver State Striders are looking for volunteers to help staff their annual Silver State 50/50 trail race on Peavine. This is a great way to have fun outside, give back to the trail community, and meet a lot of very appreciative runners. For more information about the race and to contact them to volunteer, check out their event website linked here.

This Week’s Events:

• Tuesday, May 02:

  • 5:15 pm

    • Tuesday Night Ride Group is riding at Ballardini Ranch Park. This is a choose your own distance ride so do as many laps as you like. TNRG is a casual mountain bike ride group for all skill levels. They don’t wait for a mass start, so when you arrive, introduce yourself or just start riding as you like. More details can be found at their Facebook Group Page linked here.

  • 5:30 pm

    • Reno Bike Project are hosting their monthly FTWN-B Night at their Grove Street shop. This is free bike repair clinic time for ladies, femme, and non-binary people. No previous repair knowledge needed and a very friendly place to hang out and work on you bike. More information can be found by following @renobikeproject on Instagram.

    • Radical Adventure Riders (RAR) Reno are leading a Peavine mountain bike ride from the East Keystone Canyon parking lot. This is a ride open to all FTWNB riders and RAR has extra bikes available if you contact them ahead of time. To contact them and for more information, follow @rar.reno on instagram.

  • 5:45 pm

    • Silver State Striders are running trail from Rancho San Rafael. This is a very welcoming group for all skill levels. The planned route is 7-8ish miles and may feature mud. Check their Facebook Group Page for more details. You can also find their training schedule on their website at this link.

• Wednesday, May 03:

  • 7:45 pm

    • Bike Night Reno will be rolling out a group of riders of all kinds from the Space Whale in Downtown. As their name suggests, this is a night ride so lights are required. Whether it’s a simple headlamp and taillight or full on burner bike light-splosion is entirely up to you. This is a mostly flat road ride friendly to all wheeled contraptions at an extremely social pace. For more information, follow @bikenightreno on instagram.

• Thursday, May 04:

  • 5:45 pm

    • Silver State Striders will be running 8 ish miles of hills starting and ending at River Bend. Check their Facebook Group Page for more details. You can also find their training schedule on their website at this link.

  • 6:00 pm

    • The Reno Hustle will roll 30ish mostly paved miles around Southwest Reno starting and ending at the Wells Fargo parking lot at California Ave and Arlington Blvd. This is a social paced ride open to all. Bring lights and a be prepared to fix your own flats. For more information follow @therenohustle on Instagram.

    • Truckee Meadows Bike Alliance and Bike Night Reno will be hosting a special May the 4th Star Wars themed bike event at Craft Wine & Beer. As their name suggests, this is a night ride so lights are required. Prizes will be awarded to the first handful of riders who show up theme correct. For more information, follow @bikenightreno on instagram.

• Saturday, May 06:

  • 8:00 am

    • Silver State Striders will be running 22 ish miles of trails and hills starting and ending at River Bend and heading out into Dog Valley and Long Valley. Check their Facebook Group Page for more details. You can also find their training schedule on their website at this link.

If you are swapping the running and riding for a little back country sliding, check out the latest avalanche conditions over at Sierra Avalanche Center. Rapid temperature cycling and new spring snow are remaking the hazard landscape daily. Knowing where to look and when to stay home can make the difference of coming home.

That’s what’s on my radar at the moment. If you know of something I missed or is coming soon, send me an email  and it might get listed. See you outside!