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Mt. Rose II 26 Feb 2005 Thumbnails below!
Mt. Rose, take two. This is the second mountain this year I’ve made a second attempt upon, and it isn’t even March yet! Chari and I decided to make this a day trip from Oakland, knowing that it was going to make for a longer day than we were used to this winter. The alarm went off at 5:30, and even without showers it still took an hour to leave. Guess we’ll have to get up early if we need to leave early! After grabbing coffee and scones in Colfax, we were at the trailhead a little after 10.
Last time we hiked Rose, we started from the north side of Rose Summit; this time we started on the south side. The Tahoe Rim trail crosses the road here, but there was no evidence of it beneath the snow with the exception of sign poking above the top layer. As we dug our snowshoes into the steep snow on the north side of the road, kids and adults played on sleds and Nordic skis on the gentler slopes of the south side.
We followed the occasional ski or snowboard track up the slope until we found several tracks generally traversing to the west. This fit the description of other trip reports, and so we were on our way to the saddle on the west side of Tamarack ridge. Along the way, we passed a young couple, their dog, and their tent. A nice way to test out winter camping, just a few hundred yards from the road. We picked up some serious snowmobile tracks as we got above Tahoe Meadows, and even had to move off the trail as two snowmobiles rumbled by, each with a snowboarder in tow. As we continued to the saddle, we watch the snowmobiles bring the boarders up to the top of the hill. Not a bad way to get to off piste conditions.
Once we reached the saddle, we crossed into Wilderness territory, which means no motorized vehicles. All we saw leading down and across the meadows to the Rose drainage were 2 sets of parallel ski tracks. We kept to the tracks, but the skiers went high across the base of a few chutes before getting to the drainage. We could see evidence of small avalanches above us, and I wasn’t completely comfortable with our path. I’m still learning about avalanche safety and reading the terrain, so I err even more on the side of paranoia than usual.
We made it to the drainage west of the peak, dropped in, and ascended. Partway up we wandered east into the trees, and then found another set of ski tracks where a party had skinned up. Grateful for the consolidation, we followed the tracks almost up to the ridge where the snow turned powdery and the skiers had given up. From there, it was only a ridge walk to the sum anyway! We summated the only SPS peak in Nevada, and my first Nevada county high point. There’s also a 2000 ft prominence to tick off the list, too. A list-lover’s delight (sickening, isn’t it).
We returned the same way, punching through the crust in maddening fasion. We finished under headlamp, but not by much. We drove back that night, not only a car-to-car trip, but a Bay-to-Bay!
--Matt
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