Sierra Club Bulletin 



Vol. VIII San Francisco, June, 1912 No. 4 



A MIDWINTER TRIP THROUGH NEVADA'S 

 MOUNTAIN PARK. 



By J. E. Church, Jr. 



Mt. Rose, Nevada's highest peak on her western 

 boundary, has become a household word to those who 

 have viewed the majestic sweep of landscape from its 

 summit, and to those who have listened to the tales of 

 their pilgrimage. Few, however, have realized that among 

 the snow-clad peaks which rise like gigantic gables be- 

 tween Mt. Rose and Lake Tahoe lie canons and moun- 

 tain valleys which, with their virgin forests and rugged 

 parapets, equal, on a smaller scale, the famous mountain 

 parks of Colorado. 



This region had long been the dreamland of the writer, 

 and oft in the midnight watches had he planned a knap- 

 sack trip through it. Finally, last midsummer, the dream 

 had been realized, and some knowledge of the mountain 

 highway through the region had been gained. 



When, therefore, the study of snow conditions at high 

 altitudes called him to the mountains, he turned instinc- 

 tively to the place which had so appealed to him before. 



The party was made up at this time of three, as it had 

 been in the summer. But there were now three men — 

 Professor Kennedy, botanist and forester; Mr. Fehx H. 

 Carssow, civil engineer, of San Francisco, and the writer, 

 general guide and enthusiast. 



The schedule of the trip embraced Washington's birth- 

 day and the days immediately succeeding, and the route 

 was made long to cover as much territory as was possible 

 in a trip of five days. Few provisions were taken and but 

 one blanket apiece. The latter would insure early rising, 

 and the former would, w^illy nilly, keep us up to our fast 

 schedule. Our route, if covered, would embrace fifty 

 miles of tramping and would bring us out at Truckee. 



