This past spring I joined a hiking group because I wanted to learn about new hikes in the area. I had done Mt. Tallac and Mt. Rose a few times before, but those trails were the only ones I was familiar with and I needed something new. My sense of direction, or lack thereof, prevented me from going on my own, and although I had joined a Meet Up hiking group before, I never went because I didn’t have the motivation to wake up early on a weekend. That’s until I saw an e-mail from Achieve Fitness. For $250, a leader would show us a new hiking trail every week, for 12 weeks. Money I didn’t want to lose: I had found my motivation.
As expected, the best hikes were in Tahoe, not Reno. Most of them were good training for the Yosemite trip I’ll do next week, but probably the only one I would do again and again would be Christopher’s Loop because of the easy to follow path and the nice views of Sand Harbor.
Rancho San Rafael: easy hike right in downtown Reno.
Hunter Creek: ends at a waterfall, but hike itself is very blah.
Jones Creek: near my house, lots of switchbacks, which is good for training, but I feel I would get lost easily on my own.
Peavine: right in Reno, very challenging steep terrain. Not worth it for the view.
Loch Leven Lake: off Hwy 80, beautiful set of lakes but very difficult to find the trail. I would never do it on my own, especially because someone from our group fell on the slick granite and had to be evacuated by helicopter.
Christopher’s Loop: beautiful scenic loop, but long with lots of bikers up to Twin Lakes. Trail was covered in snow in May.
Tahoe Rim Trail from Tahoe City to Brockway Point: uneventful since it doesn’t lead to a peak but with beautiful views along the way. Just turn around when you get bored.
Granite Chief: trail starts at Squaw Valley. Nice, but we didn’t make it to the peak because of the snow. I might try again in the fall. It was my birthday hike and the wildflowers were beautiful.
Mt. Tallac through Lake Gilmore: one of my all-time favorite hikes, so I went on my own and took Slick to Lake Gilmore. The trail to the top was still covered in snow mid-June.
Spooner to Marlette Lake: good short hike, but always too many mosquitoes. They have a trail for bikers and a trail for hikers, so it is a nice one for dogs to be off leash.
Run, eat, travel, and more 