The Arc Dome Loop

Ken wrote this description of the loop we did in Arc Dome:

Our trip started at Columbine campground and followed Stewart Creek up and and up along an old and now no-longer-legal jeep road. After climbing to about 10000' we dropped steeply into Sawmill Creek where it became evident that there's not much money in the Toiyabe National Forest budget for such mundane things as trail maintenance. Dropping down into the canyon, the trail was washed out enough in a few places that Kirsten had to stop and ponder just how to get across. Lower down in the canyon the trail would virtually disappear whenever it got close to the creek.

I actually really enjoy these kinds of trails but the brush was thick and scratchy and it didn't take long for our legs to admit defeat. So we dropped our shorts and put on long pants. Our legs were now hot but happy. At the junction of the Reese River trail we hung a left and started up the mighty Reese River. There are many places in the world where a trickle of water this size wouldn't even warrant a name but here in Nevada, well, we were just glad there was water at all. We camped a couple miles up the trail at a camp that appeared to not have seen anyone since hunting season. It was a grassy creekside, ok riverside, spot complete with what I'm beginning to see is normal in a backcountry Nevada campsite, and that is putting the firepit in the only truly flat spot in the site. Next morning we continued up the Reese crossing it at least a dozen times with a few of the crossings made artificially more difficult by the hard work of beavers.

Towards the top of the canyon we stumbled into another backcountry Nevada phenomenon, that being the semi-permanent hunting camp. I'm no expert on wilderness rules but I'm pretty sure that leaving four huge canvas tents up for the whole year violates some part of the the Wilderness Act. But what really irks me about these sites is that the trail which can be a bit tough to follow as it is, tends to branch off unnoticed and lead straight to the hunting camp with not a sign at all that the real trail heads off in a different direction. You'd thing they'd at least post a “trail” sign to keep us hungry hikers from pilfering their stuff (it would have been soooo easy). As it was we ended up quite a ways off the real trail and I actually got to use the GPS for something useful.

We were far enough off route that we actually ended up descending down to the saddle that separates the Reese from the South Twin (yes another) River. By this time we were ready to camp but as luck would have it the only people we saw on the entire loop were camped in what appeared to be the only spots around. This leads me to my third observation of backcountry Nevada: campsites are few and far between. Unlike the Sierra where there are sites scattered almost everywhere, Nevada sites are at a premium and rarely if ever approach the level of even an average Sierra site. We finally found an adequate site all the way down the valley where we were to head up to the North Twin River.

The next morning we headed up and up, crossed another saddle and then started our cross country (ie: off trail) adventure. The only thing preventing our hike from being the perfect loop was a perhaps three mile section separating the North Twin River from the Toiyabe Crest Trail near Arc Dome. By the topo the cross country appeared pretty easy, not even that steep, but even in this dry of a year there was a snow field at the top to add a bit of spice. From the beginning Kirsten didn't like the looks of this pass and the snow sure didn't help. We ended up ascending though the rocks on the side but Kirsten was not too thrilled about the steep rocks so I ended up carrying her pack up as well as mine, so I got to climb it twice. In truth it was probably only a class 2-3 but plenty intimidating to someone not used to cross country travel.

Once up it was but a short stroll to the trail and we decided to give the side trip to Arc Dome a miss and instead headed down down down to Columbine and some semi cold beers.