In this Citizen’s Forum entry, Sara Peck, @saradub42 on Instagram, a slackliner and skier. shares her love for outdoor adventures just waiting for us all around us in northern Nevada.
“Many think of Reno as an easy place for a late night, the casinos and seemingly endless dive bars contribute to giving Reno a 24 hour town reputation, a place of indulgence. In the juxtaposition of the casino lights with the elegant mountain peaks, I like to think of them as two very different backdrops to indulge- to be at either a casino floor or a mountain peak is a sign of great privilege- one that many a Renoite has grown to love. Diversity and beauty are one of the many reasons I love Reno. This story will talk about what it is like to indulge in the mountains, a certain outdoor hedonism so to speak, and why Reno is one of the best places in the world to sample all the Sierra has to offer.
The start time is 4:00 a.m., but we have a lot of ground to cover. We leave Reno before the sun is up, watching the sun start to illuminate the sky as we switch from pavement to dirt roads. The Sierra air is crisp for an October morning, but summer is still holding on and we plan for a warm afternoon. After triple checking our maps to ensure that the left turn really is in fact, a left turn, we finally make it to the parking area.
By 7:00 a.m., we start going down the switchbacks that seem to almost tip us off the mountain in the first mile. We admire the endless manzanita and looming sugar pines that accompany us on our journey. After an hour of hiking that our knees are certainly feeling, we make it down to the more technical part of the trail. It is washed out, and we must use the ropes left there to lower ourselves down the trail- with 40 pound hiking packs on. After some hesitation, maybe it is the early morning jitters, we make it down the wash out- arms pumped but happy to be over the rope section.
The excitement starts to grow as the sun hits the tops of the pines and we can start to hear the river and its raging waterfall below. We pick up the pace as summit fever starts to hit (maybe it is canyon fever now that we are 2000 feet below the parking spot?). As we turn the last bend in the trail, we see it. There it is. The most pristine turquoise water flows over and cascades into a series of 60-100 foot waterfalls. A natural wonder. A gift from god. A place to test your limits. It means many things to different people but doesn’t lose its glory in the translation.
We get out our slackline gear, promptly find placements for the anchors, and string up a short wiggly bridge. This is our indulgence. With nervous excitement, I stand up, over the freezing cold Sierra snowmelt and remind myself that this is pure indulgence, a luxury granted largely because of the accessibility and beauty of Reno, NV.”
Citizen’s Forum Contribution by Sara Peck