The southwest Reno skyline is dominated by an attractive saddle-shaped peak called Mount Rose. In winter, covered in snow, it is a striking sight. Even in summer, it is a beautiful peak and a worthy day hike. A good trail network allows for fairly easy access straight up to the summit. For Adam and I, this would be our 4th and final Nevada highpoint on our binge (and my 7th of this trip, including 3 in California). We started the day in Reno, a day after visiting the Pershing County highpoint at Star Peak, and made our way to the Mt. Rose trailhead along highway NV-431 up to Mt. Rose Summit on the highway, elevation 8,900 feet. It's about a 20 minute drive from downtown Reno, barring traffic. We parked along the highway near a Forest Service house/building of some kind, and started in about 7:30 a.m. in clear, pleasant weather. The trailhead elevation is 8,840 feet.

The first 2.5 miles follows a forest road that is closed to public vehicles (it leads to radio towers on a nearby peak). However, we made good time walking this road, as it gently gained about 550 feet to a junction at elevation 9,390 +/- feet. We made this portion in about an hour. The main road stays left and leads to the radio towers. Our route turned right, came upon a big information kiosk, then started down a small drainage. We dropped about 300 vertical feet in about a half-mile to bottom out in a marshy area at about 9,100 feet. This area still had some snow patches and running brooks, not to mention a power line running through it. Finally, after bottoming out, we started up a trail and began to regain our lost elevation. The trail contours on the east slopes of nearby Peak 10,490, then wiggles up the drainage between that peak and Mt. Rose itself, achieving a saddle at 9,731 feet. Adam and I took a break to eat and hydrate here.

The final bit went right at a signed junction at this saddle and up the switchbacks, gaining just over 1,000 vertical feet. We quickly gained tree-line and made the final short portion amid jumbly rock, with the good trail making the walk easy. We made the top just before 10:30 a.m. and met a hiker that we'd seen pass us earlier. There are two enormous windbreaks and we three sat in one and traded stories. The other hiker was just 16, it turned out, and his family was still back on the trail, so he was waiting for them. The register was gone so I donated a temporary register inside a cleaned-out Gatorade bottle. We took our photos and stayed at the top for about 45 minutes. Reno sprawls out to the north and east, Lake Tahoe to the south and west, with numerous other peaks in every direction. We could make out Freel Peak (El Dorado CA highpoint, which I did 4 days earlier) and thought we detected Granite Chief (Placer CA highpoint, which we did 3 days earlier). Mt. Lassen was barely visible on the far north horizon. Great views! Normally I'm told this summit is raked by high winds. We got lucky, as the stiffest breeze maybe poked along at 10 knots.

Soon, Adam and I hit the trail back to my truck, each of us taking about 2 hours for the hike out. We drove back to Reno and killed time at a Denny's. I dropped Adam at the airport and I went back into California to visit a long-lost college friend of mine that I hadn't seen in 5 years. Then, the long drive back to Phoenix via Las Vegas, the end of a great week of peaks in northern Nevada and Lake Tahoe!