More Wet Weather

• The good news is… the ice might go away for a little while. The bad news is that the rain is what will take it. More water expected Tuesday evening through the weekend with a round of blustery wind beginning before sunrise and carrying on till after dark on Thursday. In the avalanche community, this series of storms is going to leave a new layer of snow that is likely to be “right side up.” That’s when it starts warm and then turns colder. This improves the bond between new and old snow layers and wipes out any of that ice cream frost that builds up on old snow crust and works like lubricant for avalanches. Of course, don’t take my mumblings for substitute for actual avalanche predictions and data. If you are heading to the back country, always make a stop at Sierra Avalanche Center for the latest data. If you want to keep it a bit mellower but on snow, go check out Nevada Nordic up at Tahoe Meadows. They just crowdfunded a new grooming machine and are laying down miles of snowshoe/fatbike and cross country skiable corduroy for free.

• For those of us hanging out in the low lands, this might be a good week for pavement. When the snow has melted on Peavine, the mud is epic and where it hasn’t, well you’ll have to slog through enough mud to get there that you might want to think twice. Monday night is supposed to freeze hard one more time before this next storm so Tuesday morning might present one more hard frozen opportunity to get on the trails, but as we saw this weekend, the thaw is kicking in quickly at the lowest trailheads so plan to be back before 9am if you want to stay on firm ground.

Trail Karma Opportunities:

Hidden Valley Regional Park Master Plan

• If you were unable to attend the open house last week, you can still view all the concept art here and provide your input by filling out the survey here. There are some cool proposals in this art and Washoe County parks staff are definitely listening.

Carcione and Canepa Ranch Master Plan

• On the West end of the valley, at Mogul, there are two properties owned by the county and set aside as open space with long term plans to develop into parks. These are the Carcione and Canepa Ranch properties that span the river to the east of the Belli Ranch neighborhood, west of the Tom Cooke trails, and south of the freeway and train tracks. The county held an initial survey and public input meeting via zoom and now you can watch that meeting recording on youtube and provide additional input via filling out this survey by January 7, 2022.

Sierra Vista Pump Track Fundraising

• It’s time to go round and round and up and down. And I’m not talking about trying to find parking at Keystone on a Saturday. I’m talking PUMP TRACK! Yup, after the survey results about Sierra Vista Park were so clearly in favor, the fundraising is ongoing. To donate and for more information, click through to the GoFundMe site.

This Week’s Events

• Tuesday, December 21:

  • 5:45pm

    • Silver State Striders will be running their annual Hidden Valley Christmas Lights run. Departing from the Hidden Valley Regional Park Entrance, the hilly route is ~5-6 miles. Lights and reflective attire required, festive interpretations encourages, and traction aids a strong suggestion due to winter conditions. More details on their website.

• Wednesday, December 22:

  • 5:00pm

    • Reno Del Fuegos are not currently scheduling a ride this week due to expected weather and poor trail conditions.

• Thursday, December 23:

  • 5:45pm

    • Silver State Striders are not scheduling the usual hills run due to expected snow.

• Saturday, December 25:

  • 8:00am

    • Silver State Striders are not scheduling the normal long run due to it being Christmas day.

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!