[raising3hikers]

With these current cheap airline prices, I went for a trip to an area I've never been before but had been eyeing for the abundant pks in the area. Although my flight was diverted to Portland for a mechanical problem, I still arrived in Reno with plenty of time to get my rental car and drive to the historical mining town of Virginia City and hike up Mt Davidson. A little snow for the 7700' pk but no need for the snowshoes that I had brought along. After that pk, there were a couple of other nearby pks that only required a couple miles that I also tagged, Mt Grosh and Flowery Mtn.

Mt Davidson from Grosh

a rain shower over the desert

The weather forecast wasn't the best during my time there. There were strong winds with a chance of precip most days. Anyways, my main goal was to get above Lake Tahoe for some higher pks. I had wanted to visit the North and South sides of the lake but ended up only getting to the North side but for 2 of the days. Day 2 had me going up the Mt Rose highway on a dusting of fresh snow. I parked along a popular sledding and snowmobiling area ~8500' I headed up nice and firm snow to Tamarack Pk 9897'. It was easy enough and then headed to the West for Houghton/Relay saddle. Snow was in good shape despite the new snow and strong winds from the day before. I gained the ridge and tagged Mt Houghton 10490' and then headed S to Relay Pk, where I ran into another guy going for it. He asked if I was a peakbagger and I proudly said, Yes! We both tagged Relay Pk 10336' before the extremely cold wind had me heading down the sheltered slopes.

a cold looking Lake Tahoe

Day 3 I originally was going to head to the S Lake Tahoe area but when I saw that Mt Rose was out in the sun, I quickly changed plans and headed back up that highway. Its the tallest Pk in the area and it was my main goal of this winter trip. So, I left from the Mt Rose TH and started snowshoeing many ups and downs along the way to the base of the peak. The weather had clouds drifting in and the cold wind was blowing lightly. The snow was great as I did check the Sierra Avy forecast before committing to go there.

Mt Rose 10776' 5' shorter than Mt Baker

By the time I reached the summit, I immediately turned around as the winds were super chilly and my water was frozen. The ups and downs didn't seem as bad as on the way in by the time I reached the TH. Day 4 I had an afternoon flight to catch, so I did some more easy Pks in the Reno area. Of course, it had to be the best and sunniest day but couldn't venture too far away.

Mt Rose from Pk 6075

Despite the forecast and still being winter, it was a great trip. I hope to make another trip to this area in the off season. There are many options for some short or longer hikes.

[Brushbuffalo]

Another one of your creative trips, r3h.

[puzzlr]

Interesting itinerary. How did you pick what to go for? A couple of those are 2000+ prominence.

[Stefan]

peakbaggers are everywhere. they are like a virus!

[Jetlag]

Great area for peak-bagging! We go every year to Tahoe, and Tamarack and Rose are some of our favorites in winter and summer.