2015: A good year for prickly pears in northwest Nevada

Prickly pear cactus with a view: from a Hidden Valley slope over Huffaker Hills to Mt. Rose Wilderness/Carson Range

May storms have brought late-season snowfall to the Sierra Nevada and rainfall to northwest Nevada. The Reno-Tahoe area has seen some substantial precipitation during late spring—unusual for the season. This different weather pattern resulted in a flamboyant display of flowering plants. The pictures herein show prickly pear cacti (Opuntia ficus) seen next to trails in Reno's Huffaker Hills and in Hidden Valley Regional Park; southeast of the metropolitan Reno/Sparks area.

The local low-growing variety starts its bloom with pinkish flower buds that open to yellow flowers. The typically paddle-shaped pads are green with medium to long spines.

Prickly pear cactus flower and flower buds

As a frost- and drought-tolerant plant, opuntias make excellent contributions to xeroscaped gardens and parks designed for climate conditions in northern Nevada. The prickly pear cactus is a food plant. Culinary opuntia species have been a staple of the American southwest and Mexican diet for thousands of years. The vegetable-like pads, the salad-enhancing flower petals and the mature fruits—the eponymous prickly pears, also known as tuna—are harvested and eaten. Also, prickly pear species such as Opuntia ficus-indica are plants of many constituents—ingredients—with various pharmacological uses [1].

Spiny pads: prickly pear nopals with spine work

Besides enriching gardens, kitchen tables and apothecary cabinets, productive prickly pear cacti are of interest for bioenergy production. So far in small amounts, Opuntia is used for anaerobic biogas production [2]. If the metabolism of prickly pear plants can be directed to produce lipids or oils rather than mostly carbohydrates, than they have a bioenergy potential for arid regions such as Nevada. Prickly pears require only 20 percent of the water required by traditional crops. Respective research in biochemistry and plant molecular genetics is performed in The Cushman Lab at the University of Nevada-Reno [3,4].

In future, you may encounter prickly pears not only as indivual plants next to your favorite desert trail, but in cultivated communities across an agriculturally expanding desert.  

Keywords: wild opuntia, cultivated opuntia, food source, pharmacology, agronomy, renewable energy, biodiesel, bioengineering.

References  and more to research
[1] Sigma-Aldrich: Nopal (Opuntia ficus-indica) [http://www.sigmaaldrich.com/life-science/nutrition-research/learning-center/plant-profiler/opuntia-ficus-indica.html]
[2] Bruce Dorminey: Prickley Pear Cactus: Nuisance of Bioenergy Opportunity? Renewable Energy World.Com, Tuesday, June 30, 2015 [www.renewableenergyworld.com/articles/2014/01/prickly-pear-cactus-nuisance-or-bioenergy-opportunity.html]
[3]  UNR Reserches Sustainable Alternatives to Fossil Fuels. The Nevada Sagebrush. Tuesday, February 4, 2014; page A1.
[4] Nevada Agricultural Experiment Station: Development Of Prickly Pear Cactus As A Low-Water Biofuel/Biomass Feedstock [www.cabnr.unr.edu/research/research_project.aspx?GrantID=705].

Wind-driven smoke and growth of the Washington Fire

Washington Fire: a cloud of thick smoke seen from above Red Lake near Carson Pass in the Sierra Nevada

On Sunday, June 21, 2015, I was heading with friends toward Carson Pass. We were wondering, if this was the right day for a Pacific-Crest-Trail hike to Showers Lake, since strong winds blew over the Sierra. While driving south from Minden, Nevada, toward California, we saw a train of smoke moving eastward from the Markleeville area (Alpine County) toward the Pine Nut Mountains: the Washington Fire, as we later found out. An electronic highway sign announced that California State Highway 4 to Ebbett's Pass—another Pacific Crest Trail access location—was closed.

We continued on Highway 88 to Carson Pass and had a pleasant hike to Showers Lake via Meiss Meadows. The dry air granted crisp views of the volcanic rock formations and lava domes within the Carson Pass area. Driving home, we saw the further evolving Washington Fire by scanning the eastern mountain ranges of the Sierra Nevada from Highway 88 above Red Lake. The thick red-gray smoke could have been taken as the result of an volcanic eruption. But we already knew from emergency alerts on the radio that this was a blaze.

It was ignited by a lightning strike and stoked by strong erratic winds. By Tuesday, the fire was contained by less than 10 percent. According to the Reno Gazette-Journal it has increased to 16,500 acres:  Residential areas, historic cabins and campgrounds near Markleeville as well as local sight-seeing landmarks are currently off limits:

Highway 89 over Monitor Pass remain closed at U.S. 395. California Highway 4 is closed, and Turtle Rock and Indian Creek campgrounds are shut down. All visitors and campers from Wolfcreek to the top of Ebbitts Pass [? new spelling of Ebbett's Pass or Ebbetts Pass] have been evacuated. Markleeville remained on standby for possible evacuation.

I am not able to figure out why this fire is called Washington Fire. The little town of Washington, California, is located in Nevada County.  So, what is the little something in Alpine County after which this fire has been named? Or am I on the wrong track?

Keywords: wildfire, fire growth, severe drought conditions, evacuation, fire nomenclature.

Reference
Staff and wire reports: Little containment as fire chars 16,500 acres. Reno Gazette Journal, Wednesday, June 24, 2015, pages 1A and 5A.

To Showers Lake via PCT from Meiss Meadows Trailhead

Showers Lake with hanging meadows and cliff-castle

Showers Lake belongs to a group of subalpine lakes and lakelets between Carson Pass and Echo Summit in the Upper Truckee River drainage area of the Sierra Nevada south of Lake Tahoe. These lakes are visited for trout angling, swimming or simply for the panoramic views from the lake sites as well as the meadows and paths between and beyond. Numerous campsites can be found between boulders and conifers around the lakes. On warm summer days, the more accessible lakes, including Showers Lake, can be crowded with both day-visitors and campers. Everyone seems to enjoy this inspiring Sierra lake district and its trails in Meiss County, California [1-3].

From the Meiss Meadows Trailhead northwest of the Carson Pass Information Center (Highway 88), the northbound Pacific Crest Trail (PCT)—open for hiking and horseback riding—ascends through a forest of pines, junipers, aspens and scattered boulders. Once the single-track trail leaves the forest, it further ascends across an open slope upward to a scenic saddle, iris-covered during early summer. Here, you will have southward views of The Sisters, Round Top and the Elephants Back.lava dome. Continuing north, Lake Tahoe comes into view. Then, the PCT winds down into Meiss Meadows and towards the historic Meiss Cabin, where once the Meiss family spent the summer months fishing, cattle ranching and enjoying snow-bank-frozen ice cream. 

Distances from PCT/TRT junction

At the trail junction near this historic cabin & stable site, where the Tahoe Rim Trail (TRT), coming from Round Lake, merges with the PCT, a sign shows the distances for northbound travelers: 2 miles to Showers Lake, 6 miles to Bryan Meadow and 10 miles to Echo Summit. For a while, the level PCT continues between stands of light forest and meadows. Seasonal trickles or low streams have to be crossed.

PCT between Meiss Cabin and Showers Lake: stepping stones in front, the volcanic rock formations east of Round Lake in the background

The trail then ascends toward a forested crest, from which Showers Lake comes into view. After a short descend you will reach the south corner of the lake, where deep mud and dense willows may keep you away from the shore. Most areas around the lake, however, feature needle-covered ground in the shade of pine trees and mountain hemlocks. Tim Hauserman puts it this way [4]:

Showers Lake itself is beautiful (although often crowded with campers). The south side is marshy but the northern side provides great swimming opportunities enhanced by flat granite rocks that reach down to the water. Several camping spots surrounded by hemlock, lodgepole pines, and before summer, mosquitoes, can be found above the north and east sides of the lake.

When we were there on June 21, 2015, a strong wind was blowing, keeping the mosquitoes away.

In topographic maps, the Showers Lake basin is given an elevation of above 8,500 feet. There are various paths crisscrossing the half-bowl-shaped basin landscape. The PCT itself passes alongside the northern shore. It continues down below the lake's outlet and then heads up and out of the forest to higher points from where Dardanelles Lake, Lake Tahoe and Freel Peak can be seen.  

References and more to explore
[1] Carson Pass to Showers Lake: sites.google.com/site/zbjohnsonadventures/hikes/california-nevada/showers-lake.
[2] Flowers create colorful path to Showers Lake: tahoesouth.com/blog/showers_lake_hike/.
[3] Showers Lake 2003: www.avidbackpackers.com/htm/trips/show.htm.
[4] Tim Hauserman: The Tahoe Rim Trail. Wilderness Press, Berkeley, California, 2002.

Valley View Loop Trail with Carson Valley vistas

Valley View Loophead of Fay-Luther/Jobs trail network

A Fay-Luther/Jobs Peak Ranch Trail sideways trip

Looking at the above picture, you may conclude that the Valley View Loop closes its loop just behind the trees. This is not the case. The Valley View Loop is a one-mile-and-a-half-long round-trip trail through open pine forest and foothill steppe. It is connected with the bi-state Fay-Luther Trail System in the Carson Range foothills southwest of Minden/Gardnerville, Douglas County, Nevada.

Multi-trail-junction post

The loop trail itself is also located in Nevada; just so. As you are starting your trip from the Fay-Luther Trailhead next to the Foothill Road (Nevada State Route 206), 1.7 miles west of Highway 88 and a few miles south of Genoa and the base of Kingsbury Grade, you soon will cross the clearly marked California-Nevada state line—about half-way between the trailhead and the multi-trail junction (see shown trailpost) 0.3 miles southwest of the trailhead. From this junction, a 0.3-miles-long trail section of the Fay-Luther/Jobs Peak Ranch Trail takes you to the junction with the Lonesome Trail, followed by a 0.4-miles-long section that gets you to the beginning of the Valley View Loop Trail. After about a quarter mile you will arrive at the Valley View Loophead shown above.

Deer “trapped” in the loop through sagebrush steppe

Most of the loop travels through sagebrush/bitterbrush steppe, similar to the landscape experienced further north alongside sections of the Clear Creek Trail. Big sagebrush, bitterbrush and rabbitbrush dominates the gentle slopes below timberline at the bottom of the Carson Range. Deer likes to browse these areas. One creek is intersecting the loop. Alongside the creek you will find riparian vegetation, including white alder and black cottonwood, sharply contrasting the steppe zonation through which the water flows downhill into the Carson Valley marshlands. Various points along the loop trail offer views of the marshlands, ranches, and private properties in the park neighborhood. More distant, the Pine Nut Mountains and the Flowery and Virginia Ranges define the horizon.

View of  Carson Valley's Minden/Gardnerville area 

The Fay-Luther Trailhead/Valley View Loop round trip is about four miles long. Alternatively, there is the two-miles-longer alternative from the Jobs Peak Ranch Trailhead. Either way you will not find much shade except for the upper trail sections with Jeffrey pines, singleleaf pinyon and mountain mahagony. The north-side part of the Jobs Peak Ranch Trail leads mostly through private land, while most other trail sections lay in forest-service land.

Map inset showing Valley View Loop Trail

Both trail options are open for pedestrian use and dogs, but only the Fay-Luther side of the Jobs Peak Ranch Trail allows also equestrian and bicycle use. The Fay-Luther and Jobs Peak Ranch Trailheads are 3.5 miles apart [1,2]. The bicycle-open sections of the foothill trails do not feature steep tracks, but the sandy trail conditions can be a challenge to mountain-bike riders.

Note: You may also find the spelling Faye-Luther instead of Fay-Luther.

Trail map and selected references
[1] Fay-Luther/Jobs Peak Ranch Trail Map: www.carsonvalleytrails.org/docs/JobsPeakRanch/JPR_Panel_MapSMALL.pdf.
[2] Fay-Luther/Jobs Peak Ranch Trail System: http://www.carsonvalleytrails.org/Trails-FayLuther.html.
[3] Sierra Nevada Geotourism. Fay-Luther Trail System: www.sierranevadageotourism.org/content/fay-luther-trail-system/sie8834323FEC7ABDD85.
[4] Jobs Peak Ranch Trail near Minden/Gardnerville: trailingahead.blogspot.com/2009/09/jobs-peak-ranch-trail-near.html.

Hiking, mountain biking and horseback riding near Carson City: Clear Creek Trail

A switchback of Clear Creek Trail near Jacks Valley

Desert peach and bitterbrush

Clear Creek Trail is a scenic multi-use trail through sagebrush-bitterbrush steppe and pine forest between Jacks Valley and Clear Creek Valley—southwest of Carson City, Nevada. This 10.5-mile-long path is open to hikers, mountain-bike riders, equestrians and dogs [1]. There are great view points along the trail: Knob Point being one of the highlights. Don't expect any short-cuts, circular round-trip options or escape routes. Various trail sections go through private land. At intersections with private roads, signs are asking you to please keep on trail. Clear Creek Trail is clearly marked and well maintained.

Some visitors don't get very far beyond the sandy slopes of the Habitat Mangement Area just north of Jacks Valley Road. This area is dominated by rabbitbrush, bitterbrush and sagebrush covering hillsides and surrounding granite boulders. Almost everywhere, you can enjoy the magnificient views of Jacks Valley and the distant peaks of the Carson Range. In mid-spring, fragrance-rich yellow-blooming bitterbrush and pink-blooming desert peach turns this brush desert into a flower garden.

To Knob Point

The trail distance from the trailhead at Jacks Valley Elementary School to Knob Point is seven miles. Once you are entering the open pine forest after about three miles from the trailhead, you may find some shade next to a manzanita shrub under some pine trees. Watch out for rattlesnakes during the hot season, especially in the late afternoon and evening.

To Clear Creek Valley View Point

Clear Creek Trail gently winds its way uphill between Jeffrey pines and white firs. Occasionally, you might spot an incense cedar, most likely between Knob Point and Clear Creek Valley View Point further north. Hikers often make Knob Point their destination and turning point. I have never met hikers, but frequently pairs or groups of mountain bikers along the view-point-to-view-point section of the trail. From the junction of the main trail and the short side path to the view point, Clear Creek Trail continues ascending alongside the slopes of the Carson Range until it reaches its highest point of 6200 feet at the south fork crossing of Clear Creek. The north fork crossing follows soon.

The two creek crossings differ from what you experience elsewhere along the trail. These small riparian zones feature stands of aspen, willows and horsetail next to the flowing—or trickling—water. Over the final stretch, the trail coincidences with  the Old Clear Creek Road for 0.8 miles. The singletrack trail then continues for half a mile on the left side of this road, now with traffic noise from Highway 50, which can be seen further uphill. From the End of Trail sign, it is only a short distance to the  Highway 50/Tahoe Golf Club Drive interchange.

Make the end your beginning
In case you are planning to discover Clear Creek Trail from the Highway 50 side, notice that parking space is very limited. Traverse the dirt road south of the small reservoir and head forward toward the little, red Hot Voltage hut with the sign Confined Space Do Not Enter. Continue on the right side of this facility along the narrowing dirt road and you will encounter a post with a Welcome Trail Users... note. This is the End of Trail trailhead—a trailhead that, due to landownership realities, seems randomly placed. Trail distances are given: 3.5 miles to Knob Point and 10.5 miles to the other-end Jacks Valley Trailhead. The Knob Point round trip from this north trailhead is only seven miles, about half of what it takes when starting from Jacks Valley.

References and other resources
[1] Clear Creek Trail Information: www.carsonvalleytrails.org/docs/ClearCreek/ClearCreekTrailOverview.pdf.
[2] Bike Carson - Clear Creek Trail: http://bikecarson.com/2014/03/26/clear-creek-trail/.
[3] Ride Report: Clear Creek Trail - Carson City, Nevada: dirtyteeth.wordpress.com/2015/03/02/ride-report-clear-creek-trail-carson-city-nevada/.
[4] Clear Creek Trail Map: www.carsonvalleytrails.org/docs/ClearCreek/ClearCreekTrailMap.pdf.
[5] Carson Valley Trails Association - Clear Creek Trail: www.carsonvalleytrails.org/Trails-ClearCreek.html.

Explore some other trails established by the Carson Valley Trails Association (CVTA):

• Discovery Trail
• Sierra Canyon Trail
• Genoa Waterfall Trail
• River Fork Ranch's West Fork Trail
• River Fork Ranch's Brockliss Loop Trail
• Bentley Kirman Ranch Trail
• Jobs Peak Ranch Trail
• Pinyon Trail

Clear Creek Trail's lower section: wide open views of sagebrush/bitterbrush steppe, the Genoa fault surface and the Carson Range

Weathering rocks along Clear Creek Trail with snowy Jobs Peak and Jobs Sister in the background

Once, a sagebrush/bitterbrush steppe plant community dominated the foothills north and south of Genoa between the Carson Range and the Carson River in Nevada. This ecosystem has been turned—in most parts—into ranchlands, golf course fields and gentrified neighborhoods. If you like to explore still existing sagebrush/bitterbrush steppe in the Reno-Tahoe area, then the Jobs Peak Ranch Trail area and the Jacks Valley Habitat Management Area provide great open spaces to do so.


The Jacks Valley Habitat is now preserved to protect wildlife such as visiting mule deer and other game. The lower section of the 10.5-mile-long Clear Creek Trail gives hikers, mountain bikers and horseback riders access to the scenic brushland hills with variously-shaped, weathering rocks.

In April and May you will witness the fantastic flower display of pink-blooming desert peach shrubs. In contrast, bitterbrush has yellow flowers. On warm, sunny days in mid-spring the air is filled with their rose-like fragrance. Bitterbrush seeds are prized by birds, rodents and harvester ants. Rodents prey on and distribute the seeds. The bitterbrush twigs and the dark green, extremely bitter leaves provide vital proteins for deer and antelope [1].

About one-fourth of the Clear Creek Trail snakes through the steppe, gently ascending from Jacks Valley Elementary School and the trailhead at Jacks Valley Road towards the pine forest slopes. Viewing south, you will see Jacks Valley, Carson Valley and the snowy peaks (during winter and spring) of the Carson Range, such as Jobs Peak and the slightly higher Jobs Sister. You can trace the Genoa fault line where the valley planes intersect the steep mountain front.  The Genoa fault is part of the Sierra Nevada Frontal Fault Zone. A strong earthquake with a magnitude of about 7.5 is believed to have occurred along the Genoa Fault within the past few hundred years [2].

Jacks Valley with Carson Range and Genoa fault line

The Clear Creek Trail travels through land of the Toiyabe National Forest and also through private land. As you are leaving the steppe and entering the open pine forest, the trail intersects with unpaved cross roads, where signs ask you to keep off those roads to respect private-land ownership.The trail continues to wind up to Knob Point, a beautiful view point from where you can see across the Minden/Gardnerville area to the Pine Nut Mountains. Continuing on to another another vista point, you will be able to view Clear Creek.

Getting to the Clear Creek Trailhead on Jacks Valley Road
From Carson City, drive south on Highway 395. Go past Topsy Lane and turn left onto Jacks Valley Road. Go west for 1.5 miles. Soon after passing the Jacks Valley Elementary School (or parking there; read below) you will arrive at the right-side parking strip next to the grey gate saying Road Closed. Non-motorized traffic passes through the opening on the left side of the gate. The brown Jack's Valley Habitat Management Area board and the trailhead kiosk are standing behind the gate and fence.
From Genoa, drive north on Jacks Valley Road for about six miles. Find the trailhead on the left side just after the road bends northeast, past Bavarian Drive and the fire station. 

Jacks Valley Trailhead at Jacks Valley Elementary School
Instead of using the Jacks Valley Road trailhead, you may want to make the nearby trailhead, about 0.3 miles further east, at the southwest side of Jacks Valley Elementary School your starting point—the real beginning (or end) of the trail. This site has plenty of room for horse trailers.

Clear Creek Trail is open year-round.

References and more to explore
[1] J. V. Tingley, K. A. Pizzaro, C. Ross, B. W. Parkey and L. J. Garside: Geologic and Natural History Tours in the Reno Area.  Nevada Bureau of Mines and Geology Special Publication 19. University of Nevada, Reno 2005 (see page 116 and other pages). 
[2] Alan Ramelli: Prominent Fault Scarps in Western Nevada. Nevada Geology. Quarterly Newsletter of the Nevada Bureau of Mines and Geology. Spring 1992 [www.nbmg.unr.edu/_docs/Newsletters/nl14a.htm].
[3] Clear Creek Trail Map: www.carsonvalleytrails.org/docs/ClearCreek/ClearCreekTrailMap.pdf.
[4] Carson Valley Trails Association - Clear Creek Trail: www.carsonvalleytrails.org/Trails-ClearCreek.html.

In and out of the loop between the Carson and Pine Nut Mountain Range: Pinyon Trail

Carson Range with Jobs Peak seen from Pinyon Trail

The recently opened Pinyon Trail near Gardnerville between the Carson Range and the Pinut Nut Mountains offers grand vistas and excellent work-out opportunities for mountain bikers, horseback riders and hikers—and for dogs, too. During its opening ceremony, Pinyon Trail was described as “self-explaining.”

According to the Pinyon Trail Map, this recreational trail features elevation ranges from 5700 feet at the trailhead to 6060 feet near Rocky Point. The trail climbs gently from the Pinyon Trailhead north of Pinenut Road 2 to a Loop Junction at an elevation of 5860 feet. Continuing northbound (turning left) at this junction, you will traverse northwest-facing slopes with views of the Carson Range and Carson Valley. After about two miles from the trailhead, the northernmost point of the loop is reached. Unless you decide to return, you will head southbound on the North Ridge and East Wall sections on top of the east-facing slopes. The final third of the loop will take you to the highest elevation point and via Rocky Point back to the Loop Junction.

Pinyon Trail switches back and forth between open stands of small and mid-size shrubby pinyon pines and juniper trees. On our first hike after the open ceremony on March 14 we didn't see much grass cover and could not spot any wildflowers. The ecosystem shows only weak soil development. No water sources are available—neither for humans, nor for wildlife. Pinyon Trail is a beautiful and inspiring trail for unpretending, enduring souls and for anybody who loves to experience the open space of Nevada.


There are a few marked intersections along Pinyon Trail with narrow trails for motorized traffic, but we didn't hear or see any motorized vehicles.  

Getting there
Please, see the section Getting to the Pinyon Trailhead in my previous post. Also, the Vicinity Map inset of the Pinyon Trail Map provides a good overview of the 6.7-mile-long road connection between Hwy 395 and the Pinyon Trailhead.

Mountain biker on the non-loop section of Pinyon Trail