1st Nevada Hike: Golden Eagle Regional Park

Golden Eagle Regional Park - August 23rd, 2014
BLM high usage recreational area, Sparks, NV
Mileage: 7.9 mi (Round Trip)
Elevation Gain: ~1000 ft.
Highest Elevation: 4974 ft.
Dogs: Allowed
Difficulty:  Easy (if acclimated)
Required Pass: None

Before I tell you about hiking at Golden Eagle, let me share a little parable about the effects of moving to a location with drastically increased average elevation:

Allison and I woke up the first morning after we moved to Nevada at our friend Tina's house.  She lives in a really nice housing development on the border of Sparks and Spanish springs.  Since her housing development butts right up to the base of the mountains, we decided to go for a short morning walk up the hill...  Let's take a short break right now to talk a little about elevation change and how much it effects the physical performance capability of the human body.  As many of you know from reading older blog posts, Allison & I were in pretty awesome shape by the middle of the summer 2014 hiking season.  Thus, we thought we were prepared to handle any physical adventure, especially gaining a mere 500 ft. of elevation while walking to the top of a foothill behind Tina's house.  Boy were we wrong!  The twin cities of Reno and Sparks, NV sit at about an average of 4400 ft. elevation above sea level.  Our bodies were still used to living at about 100 ft of elevation above sea level in the Seattle area and occasionally hiking to the top of a mountain that was 4400 ft. tall!  By the time Allison, Jaxxon, and I had ascended about half of this HILL behind Tina's house we were panting.  We both looked at each-other and then at the no trespassing sign ahead and decided it was time to head home.  

It is important to note that our body's are built to adapt to changes in elevation. According to Wikipedia the number of days it takes the human body for the physical changes to occur, "can be approximated by multiplying the altitude in kilometers by 11.4 days".  Over this time period a number of major, long term, changes, primarily in the cardiovascular system, occur in an effort to oxygenate more blood.

About three weeks after the above experience, once our bodies had had adequate time to acclimate,

Bird's Eye View of Golden Eagle Regional Park

Allison and I decided to go on our first small hiking adventure.  After our first breathtaking walking experience at Tina's house on our first morning, Allison and I made a decision to start walking for 45-90 minutes around Tina's mother, Jan's neighborhood (where we stayed until we found our own apartment) about 4-5 times a week.  On one of these walks we discovered Golden Eagle Regional Park which is a large city park that features six softball fields, two full-size baseball fields, two little league baseball fields, a stadium-size multi-use (football/soccer) field and two additional multi-purpose fields.  It also connects with a large piece of Nevada Bureau of Land Management's land which is designated as a high use recreational area.  I could easily get technical and explain the ins and outs of what this means, but suffice it to say these high use areas are pretty much like the old West.  You can drive your vehicle anywhere you want, you can shoot your guns, you can party or you can do something more innocuous like exploring, camping or hiking, like we choose to do on this day.  

Allison, Jaxxon and I parked at the entrance to the BLM area, and headed out on a dirt road towards the closest peak which we thought would probably have a view of downtown Reno.  Being that it was summer, we were in the desert, and the entire hike offered exactly 0 trees for shade, we started the hike early in the morning to avoid being baked alive in mid afternoon.  Prior to the hike we did the ceremonial desert hiking routine of covering ourselves in copious amounts of sunscreen and drinking and packing in a bunch of water, think 4.5 liters.  For a hike that wasn't going to take more than 2 hours max.

After hiking about 1 mile on the road, we turned slightly right to start up an unmarked trail towards the peak.  As the trail began to gain elevation, we began to pant, but luckily all of the walking in the neighborhood had really helped us get better used to the elevation.  I can't imagine how bad it would have been if we had tried to do something like this the first week we were in Sparks!  After about an hour of taking it nice and slow, we reached the top of the peak.  We ended up with a view of downtown Reno, like we expected.  It wasn't really anything to write home about as we were about 10 miles away from it, so it was kind of hazy and hard to see.  Allison and I were talking about the fact that this would be a really cool place to bring a picnic dinner and watch the sunset since the city skyline and the mountains that make up Tahoe were almost due West.

After taking a short rest and hydrating ourselves and Jaxxon, we began the return portion of the hike.  This part would have been easy and uneventful if we hadn't run into Billy Bob and his friend doing some impromptu target practice with their guns... Thanks for that one BLM high use area!  Please don't get me wrong, we were totally safe and they were totally shooting legally and as respectfully as possible.  The main problem was that Jaxxon, as you may remember from previous hiking posts, is completely, absolutely, scared shitless of gun fire.  So, immediately after the first shot was fired, he hit the deck and wouldn't move.  We tried to coax/drag him for a few hundred feet, but the guys kept shooting and he actually began to pull violently in the opposite direction.  At this point I emptied my backpack and put him in it with his head sticking out of the top.  This worked for about another 200 ft. until they started shooting again and he decided to jump out of the backpack.  Luckily my ninja senses were in full swing, and I was able to catch him with my left arm before he hit the ground.  After a long and arduous struggle the rest of the way back to the car, we were all glad to be calling it a day. 

Overall, our first desert hiking experience was kind of a mixed bag.  On the one hand, it was really cool to have access to the mountains and BLM land basically right in your back yard.  On the other hand it was BLM land and the guns almost made Jaxxon's little doggy heart explode.  The desert is also really ugly during mid day but is absolutely gorgeous during sunrise and sunset.  The lack of shade during the day also makes planning your hike quite different than in the PNW.  During the summer you pretty much have to avoid hiking during the middle of the day or get cooked.  Either way it was cool to be spending time outdoors in such a drastically different environment and also cool to be building on our hiking knowledge and outdoorsmenship by having to figure out how to navigate this new environment safely and successfully.

Still, given the bleak, ugly terrain, it would take another hike before we really felt okay about our decision to move...

Bridal Veil Falls, Lake Serene & Mt. Index

Bridal Veil Falls, Lake Serene & Mt. Index - July 10th, 2014

Central Cascades - Stevens Pass - West
Mileage: 8.2 mi./13.2 km (Round Trip)
Elevation Gain: 2000 ft. / 609.6m
Highest Point: 2521 ft. / 768.4m
Dogs: Allowed
Difficulty: Moderate
Required Pass: Northwest Forest Pass

About the Author:

My name is Koko, I am from Amsterdam, the Netherlands, and I lived in Seattle for half a year for my studies abroad. I study Urban Studies and my interests are in creating livable and sustainable cities. I met Chris and Allison through my Seattle roommates Jesse, Angela and Katie. They introduced me to hiking and made me miss the mountains since the day I moved back to Amsterdam.

Contact information:
herder.koko@gmail.com

Bridal Veil Falls, Lake Serene & Mt. Index

It was a beautiful sunny summer day, perfect for a relaxed day hike. Already the route we drove from Seattle to the trailhead was breathtaking, especially when we exited the interstate and had a fantastic view on Mt. Baker on our left and Mt. Rainier on our right. Coming from a country where the highest ‘mountain’ is 323 meters or 1059 ft. high (we call it a mountain indeed), these snow-covered Washington mountains impressed me a lot. Today we, Chris, Allison, Jaxx, Daniel, Katie and I, hiked up to Bridal Veil Falls and Lake Serene in the central Cascades. This hike is not too difficult and brings you to some amazing places.

From the parking lot the trail quickly enters a forest and starts climbing. We first hiked up to Bridal Veil Falls, which is a pretty steep climb. The website of the WTA recommends you do the detour to the falls on your way to the lake as it is too easy to skip the steep climb when the trailhead is so close on the way back. True that. The falls are beautiful and it is incredible to see the power with which the water clatters on the rocks. You can hear the falls from afar. At the falls the trail makes a sort of loop and the upper part of the loop brings you close to the falls. Since it was such a warm day it was perfect to cool off here for a bit. Do not forget to turn around at this point to also enjoy the scenic view.

We continued our way up to Lake Serene. The trail led us through some dense vegetation. The sun was shining through the green and brown-red-ish leaves of the trees, which was absolutely stunning. The mountains around us were all perfectly green, with some snowy tops on the horizon. We had to stop a couple of times to enjoy the view. I especially was taking pictures quite extensively since I had to show my friends and family back home how stunning the Cascades are and the Pacific Northwest in general. It is still amazing to me how you can have such incredible nature so close to such a great city. I feel like I am running out of adjectives here. Anyway, we made it up to Lake Serene and serene it was. Imagine a totally clear lake mirroring the beautiful scenery and just the sound of melting-water rippling into the lake.

When we sat down at the lake, a little ground squirrel came to say hi to us. Experienced hikers Chris and Allison taught me that we are not supposed to feed them, no matter how cute they are. Although we did not offer him any food, the little creature stuck around for a while as we were all enjoying the idyll of the lake, silenced by its beauty. I remember we ate some pretty delicious trail mix at this point. I think there were peanuts in there covered in some crunchy, spicy stuff.

If you walk down a little further along the lake there is a giant boulder that is perfect for some
relaxation. Here we watched a couple taking pictures of themselves for nearly half an hour. I could not blame them since the spot was quite fitting for that. After we got our rest we hiked back to the trailhead. All in all the Bridal Veil Falls and Lake Serene hike was a pretty laid-back hike, but of course the weather highly influenced our experience. The views and scenery are absolutely rewarding. Bring some gear for making a refreshing jump into the lake to make the hike even more rewarding!

At the moment of writing I am back in the library in Amsterdam, the Netherlands. However, through the writing of this blog post, my mind is back in the Pacific Northwest. I have been extremely lucky to meet all of these fantastic people that you as a reader of this blog have read about. Without Chris and Allison’s enthusiasm for hiking and their organizational skills I probably would not have seen so much of the Pacific Northwest. I still remember that particular Sunday night in my room in Amsterdam, totally fed up with looking for a place in Seattle on Craigslist. If I did not write that one more reply to that crazy advertisement by Jesse, all of this would have never happened. Thank you so much for everything guys and all the best hiking the PCT this Summer!

Note From the Editor

Thanks to Jono Hey for the beautiful photograph!

Owen's Valley sunset from Convict Lake by Jono Hey licensed under CC BY 2.0

Our good friend, Koko, who lives in Amsterdam was awesome enough to write our second guest post which will be released tomorrow.  He and our other friend, Katie will be hiking in the Alps in June. They are going to help us greatly by providing some fresh content for the blog by publishing several of their European hiking adventures while Allison and I are off the grid hiking the PCT.

This next hiking story, like many of the other hiking adventures we have been posting recently, is part of our huge collection of backlogged hikes from the summer 2014 hiking season.  Koko's post on Monday along with our post last week, Snow Lake represent the last hikes before Allison, Jaxxon &  I left the Pacific Northwest to live in the Sierra Nevada in August 2014.  This means that we are going to, finally, start posting about hiking in the Sierra Nevada.  Hiking in this area is vastly different from hiking in the PNW.  It offers its share of new challenges (think finding water to remain hydrated) and rewards (think mindbogglingly beautiful high desert sunrises and sunsets almost every day of the year).

Also I'd like to thank all of our readers for your support.  We started working on a social media campaign to increase readership a little more than a month ago.  It has had great results with a huge spike in our readership and it is all thanks to you, the reader.  We are going to continue to grow the blog with both new readership and also more guest authorship.  That said, please pass on the link to our blog to any individual you know who is interested in the outdoors and hiking and also to any related organization.  Also please consider sharing any of your hiking adventures with our readers as a guest author.  Feel free to contact us to that end anytime.

As always, thanks for reading,

Snow Lake - Snoqualmie Pass

Snow Lake - July 10th, 2014
Snoqualmie Pass - Alpental Ski Resort
Mileage: 7.2 Miles (Round Trip)
Elevation Gain: 1800 ft
Dogs Allowed
Difficulty: Easy/Moderate
Required Pass: Northwest Forest Pass

WTA writes, "if you believe that good things only come to those who toil and sweat, steer clear of Snow Lake. Its translucent depths, tucked underneath the uppermost 2,000 feet of Chair Peak, are removed from the highway crossing Snoqualmie Pass by just a short trail with minimal elevation gain."  They are definitely right about this.  Snow lake is quite an easy hike and the view and surroundings that you are rewarded with for your minimal effort are simply jaw dropping.  Think jagged craggy snow blanketed peaks dropping hundreds of feet to form a bowl that holds a pristine alpine lake which, this time of year, is partially frozen over with multiple translucent layers of ice ranging from clear as glass to brilliant shades of icy blue.  I would typically let the pictures speak to the natural beauty, but this was truly an instance where the pictures, "do not do it justice."

The Snow Lake trailhead is located in one of the parking lots at Alpental Ski Resort.  Other than special events, the ski resort is pretty dead during the summer leaving the area open to other recreational activities like hiking.  Allison, Jaxxon, our friend Nick and I hopped in our car and arrived at the resort a little over an hour later.

Overall, Snow Lake is a pretty easy hike, especially when compared with many of the other hikes we had been doing recently.  In fact, this hike is less than half as difficult as our favorite early season training hike, Mt. Si, which we did a total of 4 times last year.  The hike can pretty much be broken down into two parts.  The first half of the hike is almost completely uphill and accounts for 90% of the elevation gain which gets you to a ridge overlooking the lake, and the rest of the first half is spent descending into the bowl to reach the lake itself.  The second half is the exact opposite of this and is thus very fast and very easy.  

Despite being mostly uphill, the first half of the hike went quite quickly.  Even though, the lake itself is the centerpiece of this hike, the entire hike has beautiful terrestrial views of the central cascades.  After being treated to theses views for a little over an hour, we made it to the ridge and started seeing our first glimpses of the lake.  We really couldn't tell from the trip reports how much snow to expect, but we arrived to find the entire bowl covered in snow and the lake half frozen over... There would be no swimming today!  

After carefully traversing the snow and taking tons of pictures, we made it down to the lake and found a really nice sunny rock outcropping which was completely clear of snow to break for lunch.  After lunch, we spent a few minutes following a trail that runs along the bank of the lake until we it got cut off be prohibitively deep snow.  At this point we turned around, made the ridge and made a speedy decent down to the car.

Overall, this is a really accessible hike that I would highly recommend to anyone, especially if you are located in the Seattle Area.  This was a great, mid summer hike.  It would also be a great place to picnic and swim (cold braving swimmers only) near the end of summer.