Arc Dome Wilderness

About a month ago, while searching reno.craigslist.org for used vehicles, I completely lucked out and found a 1989 4Runner in terrific shape with only 116,000 miles on it. (Fellow Toyota lovers agree that I got a good deal on it and friends who haven't discovered the magic a Toyota can offer wonder why I'd buy a vehicle with over 100,000 miles on it.) The trip that Ken and I went on this weekend was its first test, and it passed with flying colors. However, most of the dirt roads we travelled on were pretty well-maintained. We didn't have any problems following the roads (sometimes roads can fade out) and the conditions were pretty good (that is until we tried to cross over the Toiyabe Range on 017 so we could hit the hot springs before we headed back home...we were stymied by snow and had to turn around).

Our actual backpacking trip was four days and three nights. We parked the 4Runner at Columbine campground (a very nice campground considering how far away from anything it is...it actually has an outhouse!). No other vehicles were there. Hmmm...it looks like Ken has taken the map to work, so I can't really describe the route we took...we hiked up, we hiked down, we went through cow pastures, aspen groves, lots of sagebrush and thorny rose bushes, and went up a really steep section that freaked me out but Ken helped me get through. After Ken brings the map back I'll better describe the route we took. We made a loop where there wasn't one (hence the scrambling up a mountain without the benefit/safety of a trail to follow), which may be of interest to other folk who may be interested in doing the same thing.

This was also Skeena's first backpacking trip. We worked her pretty good although she didn't help her case any by all the running around she did the first two days we were out. I swear, for every ten miles we hiked she probably did 40. By the time we finished on Monday, she was exhausted. She slept all the way home and all day yesterday. Even today, Wednesday, she's pretty mellow. I've been giving her little doggie massages to help her feel less stiff, but I think that she is still in recovery.

Right before this trip, I bought a new DSLR camera. It was a bit big to have to carry around for four days, but I was glad to have had the chance to play with it. That said, I definitely need to learn how to use it. I've never used a film SLR camera so I have no prior experience or knowledge with a 'real' camera. Lots of my pictures look washed out and I need to figure out how to use the different aperture and shutter settings. But some pics did turn out.

The photos:




I made veggies and dumplings the first night. Dumplings are the easiest thing in the world to make. As we were leaving town, we stopped at Trader Joe's to do a bit of last minute shopping (we needed turkey jerkey and crackers). Ken also grabbed a bag of cauliflower, broccoli, and carrots. All I did for dinner was to boil the veggies, add a packet of cream of chicken soup, mix a bit of Bisquick with water, spoon the mix on top of the veggies in the pot, put the lid on it and let it sit for 5 minutes, and voila! Veggies and dumplings.


The first night we camped in what looked to be a hunters' campsite. Off to the side of the clearing in a patch of trees we found the commode. So for a person who hasn't perfected the art of squatting, this leg of the hike might be suitable because there's an easy place to go.

We found all sorts of barbed wire fences in differing stages of dilapidation. Although we didn't see cows, there's lots of evidence that cows are still grazed through out the area we were in: cow patties and meadows that had been torn up from all the trampling.

Ken and I have different tastes in gorp. I prefer M&Ms, almonds, walnuts, and cashews. He like peanuts, raisins, and M&Ms. (Raisins...eeeww!)

This was a passable meal of stuffing, chicken, and the remaining veggies. Usually we add a packet of gravy, but I forgot to buy one this time. At least it was a high volume meal even if it was fairly bland.

Ken kicking it at our second campsite. It wasn't a great site, but it did offer a few rocks to lean against and a fairly flat place to set up the tent.

Skeena was one tired puppy by our third night. We wrapped her up in Ken's raincoat so she wouldn't get cold. We did let her sleep in the tent at night, though. We had to carry her and place her in the tent because she was so tired she was pretty immobile.

Dinner number three was the best dinner. I cooked up some Minute brown rice with a packet of instant pumpkin soup, a pack of chicken, the peas and corn I had dehydrated, and several shakes of curry powder. We topped it off with shredded coconut and cashews. Very, very yummy.

This was the slab of mountain we had to walk up in over. Although I wasn't exactly crawling up, a decent portion of the ascent I did have to use my hands and feet. I was extremely glad when I got up to the top, which is where we connected with trail.

Close to the end of our loop, we walked through another aspen grove with Basque carvings on the trees. In the duration of our trip, we went through three or four others. There is a book called Speaking Through the Aspens: Basque Tree Carvings in Nevada and California by J. Mallea-Olaetxe that was published the the University of Nevada Press that I am going to read one of these days.

By the end of our trip, my feet were really happy to get out of my boots and into some flip-flops! Luckily, no blisters formed and no toenails were blackened.

At the end of our trip, we wanted to hit Spencer hot springs on the other side of the Toiyabe Range. We followed an awesome dirt road up to Ophir Summit just to be stopped from heading down the other side by this very patch of snow. I was bummed. Next time.