Trail Reports:

• Wednesday 1/26/22 3pm:

  • Took the dogs for a hike from the Middle Keystone trailhead up Poedunk, Upper Fisticuffs, and Halo and looped back via the ridgetop 4wd roads that come back down to the Ss of Poedunk. There is still a LOT of snow and meltwater crossing poedunk at multiple locations and plenty of signs of peanut butter. The alternate route to the Poedunk bench via Keystone canyon and climbing Fisticuffs is entirely dry. Above the bench Upper Fisticuffs was mostly dry until a long patch of snow rimmed by peanut butter just before the junction with the ridgeline 4wd road. Poedunk heading North towards Total Recall from the bench is immediately covered in snow and mud. Looking around to the North of the ridgeline road, Snow Terraces is covered in an impressive amount of snow including a cornice of 8-10’ tall. Beyond that, snow covered the trail all the way to the junction with the Bacons. Heading South from Snow Terraces was easy going all the way back to the Ss of Poedunk via the ridgetop roads. I could see clear patches of Halo, but the majority of it in this area was still buried under snow or at the foot of the drifts being kept saturated by melt. - Patrick S.

• Thursday 1/27/22 6am:

  • Motored out west to Sierra Vista on the mountain bike before the thaw. Views of Las Brisas from the road suggest it is good to ride all the way from Kings Row to Las Brisas drive with only limited patches of snow or mud left. Just west of Melton Middle school (Las Brisas & Robb Dr) there is a new section of the Sierra Vista connector going left from the road that was finished late last summer. That section is a delight and dry though showing signs of recent peanut butter in the last 100 feet approaching Avenida de Landa. West of there and all the way to Beaumont Parkway, the SV connector is another story entirely. Lots of snow still remains on the trail as well as plenty of longer stretches of mud including ropey ruts and plenty of signs of peanut butter. If you are out after 9am or so, expect this section to be very wet and poor conditions. Sierra Vista park itself is looking great! There is snow on shaded slopes but the only place I saw major wetness or water were in the dips between many of the advanced line jumps. Beginner, intermediate, drop zone, and gravels path trails are all dry and looking great. If you get out there early, beware of ice on the wooden drops. Those were looking massively slippery. -P

Weekend Events:

Here are the events that are on the radar for this weekend:

• Thursday, January 27:

• 5:45pm

  • Silver State Striders will be running hills in southwest Reno. Departing from the Eclipse Running, this is ~8 miles of pavement and hills. Lights and reflective attire required. More details on their website.

• Saturday, January 29:

  • 8:00am

    • Silver State Striders are running a long mixed surface routes out of Pinehaven in Caughlin Ranch. 13, 18, and 21 mile options available and be prepared for winter mixed surface conditions. More details on their Facebook Group Page.

Trail Outlook

Cold nights, warm days, calm winds. More of the same improving conditions. Rancho and Sierra Vista are great right now as are the lower trails facing downtown Reno. You are unlikely to find good conditions from any uphill trails leaving out of Hoge road just yet, but that may improve by the end of the weekend. A lot of the 4wd roads heading out of Kings Row, Keystone, and Hoge are becoming the first to dry so mixing and matching sun facing single track and 4wd roads can put together some pretty significant loops on the lower to mid mountain.

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. Base depth and persistent weak layers are very location specific right now. Knowing where to look can make the difference of coming home.

If you get out, let us know what you saw by submitting a trail report. I’m particularly interested to hear about areas around North Valleys Regional Park.

Be kind, be safe, and enjoy.