I was on a quick 4-day peak-bagging journey through Nevada, first alone with plans to meet up with my pop in Tonopah after all my peaks were done. I had already climbed the gigantic but easy Mount Jefferson in Nye County the previous day, then made the short hike up Mount Davidson in Storey County in the late afternoon, before finding a cheap place to stay in Carson City (and I emphasize "cheap").

Today started off with a quick and fun bike-&-hike up Snow Mountain in Carson City/County. Done with that hike in the late morning I descended down into the Lake Tahoe basin and enjoyed the lovely lake, this being my first time ever here. I went south along US-50 to Kingsbury Grade (NV-207). This road gains elevation pretty fast, passing through a mostly residential area. After a couple of miles, it comes to the main entrance to the Heavenly Ski Area, which is on the right side of the road at South Benjamin Road. I followed the signs to the Stagecoach Ski Lift, then followed more signs to the Tramway Road, then on Tramway to another T-junction, then left, then a fast right to the Eagle's Nest Resort buildings, behind which is the dirt road that leads to the top of East Peak, the Douglas County highpoint. This portion of Tramway Road is one-way and more than once I had to circle it a couple times before figuring out where I was and needed to be, and where to park. Not the easiest place to figure out. Lots of pricey chalets up here, for those with many rocks.

The information I had about this peak was very confusing. On the phone, the Heavenly Ski people said hiking was not allowed. In town, the Information Bureau on NV-207 near the S. Benjamin turnoff said hiking is always allowed. Then signs near the trailhead said hiking, biking, jogging and all else was not allowed, but there were many hikers out anyway. I saw one guy for a jog, asked him about the "prohibitions" against access and he looked at me like I was from Mars. It appears no one pays attention to the signs and no one patrols it, either, or not very aggressively. So I decided to just walk in on the road despite the signs and hope for the best. I figured if I acted like I knew what I was doing no one would bother me, and it worked. The gate across this road was open but I opted not to drive in, which was a good idea because there was construction going on up top and there were many trucks rumbling in and out of the area. Despite this being a dirt mountain road, some pretty good sized trucks passed my way, and I made sure to get as far off the road as possible when they passed. The road switchbacks a few times at first, crossing a ski slope in the process, then straightens out and gains steadily as it skirts the Northeast side of the mountain. After a little over a mile and about 900 feet of gain, it comes to a pond. The main road continues beyond the pond. To get to East Peak, I turned right, passed by the pond area (said hi to the fisherpeople), passed by a ski-lift, then started up the road toward a large ski-run area. Here I made a tactical decision that had both positive and negative effects on my hike.

This ski run is quite large and very obvious. I was growing weary of the long meandering road and decided to just cut some time and hike directly up this ski-run. It was steep and covered in straw (I guess to combat erosion) but it did gain me about 500 feet in about a third of the distance the road would have. So far, so good. At the top of the ski run, I came upon the road again, and could here all the construction noises going on a short ways down the other side. Here, I made an error: I turned left and continued up this ski run, gaining about another 400 feet before coming to the top of a ski-lift (the top of the one whose bottom was near the pond). But something wasn't right. I took a bearing and found myself south of the pond, with my actual destination, East Peak, in full view, to the pond's west. I think I had crossed into California! So I descended this ski-run back to the upper road and very quickly found the right "road" up to the proper summit. A bit beat by this time, I made my way up the rocks to the summit and the benchmark amid some towers for a well-deserved rest and an awesome view of most of Lake Tahoe. Worth it, you bet.

After a brief snack I started the walk down. I decided to follow the road instead of the ski-run but the road took so long going down that when it came back near the lower ski-run I opted to take it down instead. I also saved some time and mileage on the switchbacks near the bottom by descending another ski-run. In all, the round-trip is about 4 miles, or possibly more if you take the road the whole way, and about 1,700 feet of gain. This was an interesting hike in that the whole time I was amidst ski-lifts, ski-runs and numerous signs pointing to all sorts of routes. The road wasn't the prettiest route, very dusty. But the views from on high were quite nice. I was amused that many of the signs were about 12 feet off the ground, until I remembered that when there's 7 feet of snow on the ground, then the signs will only be head-high for most people by that time.

Naturally, one attractive option to visit this highpoint would be to wait for winter, some good snow, get a day pass and work your way up to the top ski lift. Then it's just an easy scramble to the summit. I am sure many thousands of people have done exactly this.

I was now done with my short list of peaks so from here I made the interesting drive south on US-95 to Tonopah, where my dad met me. We then spent a couple of days exploring the remote ranges in central Nye County - the Kawich and Reveille Ranges - where he likes to hunt. There are a few old ghost towns out here, and in some places we were within a mile or two of the northern boundary of the giant Nevada Test Range, where public access is strictly forbidden. We had no intention of trying our luck, of course, but we could see some buildings through our binoculars way off in the distance, probably a good 20 miles away. We are also positive we were being watched the whole time by the MPs.