Running on Eddie: Nevada Weekend Part 4 of 5 09/08/2013

Monday, September 9, 2013

Nevada Weekend Part 4 of 5 09/08/2013 - Lamoille Canyon Elko, Nevada

This series is all about my trip to Nevada for the Race to the Angel half marathon. For it to make sense be sure to start in chronological order.

On Sunday morning I wanted to do some hiking. I had done my homework and headed south out of town to Lamoille Canyon (pronounced La-Moyle). I was told this area was one of the crown jewels of northern Nevada. I certainly wasn't disappointed.

I got up early and did a little bit of gambling and had breakfast at the Red Lion Casino. I'll say their Huevos rancheros is well worth the money. I was willing to try their buffet again (how bad could breakfast be?) but the beans and eggs dish was spot on. It kept me filled for the majority of the day.

The drive to Lamoille Canyon is about 30 miles south. Luckily most of it is at 55mph. However, the 13 mile drive to the canyon's summit is all at 35mph. I was hesitant to go much faster than that -- I never know where the forest rangers may be and how much of a stickler they are.

The trail is an easy one -- in fact, I'll nominate this trail as the most runner friendly. It wasn't wide, but it was soft with not a lot of loose rocks. The climb to the summit (it starts at about 7000 feet and the top of the peak is about 10000) is about 4.5 miles long... at least according to my Garmin. The climb is also gentle involving lots of switchbacks, and never very strenuous.

To keep things interesting, every 15 minutes or so you pass a lake. I was making rock solid progress at about 22 minutes per mile.

There were a few people on the trail but the further I went, the less I saw. There were also a lot of fishing going on up there. I am surprised, however, that there weren't more people taking advantage of the mid 60's / sunshine weather. Just an absolutely beautiful day.

I wound up hiking about 9 miles in just over 3 hours. I would've loved to have gone further, but I didn't want to wipe myself out for the trip home. Also major kudos to the rangers there. The trail was very well maintained and easy to follow.

Enjoy the pictures. -- I do apologize for some of the pictures. My android seemed to be going into zoom mode by itself. So some of the photos are messed up...

Next up -- back to Wendover.