Looking back to Cold Springs, dust cloud over White Lake

This is my fourth trip in the area and my first attempt with the courage to climb into the Petersen Mountain Range. I am very glad I made the trip but will have to devote a longer day to do the range justice. On my previous trips I stayed low in the valley above Cold Springs but I was always looking up at the jeep roads climbing the steep mountain.

This steep rocky road proved to expand my lungs and my mind with great views and hopes for more

This trip I made the climb choosing a prominent road on the south east end of the range. This route is commonly used by ATV and off-road vehicles. I climbed slowly over five miles of typical northern Nevada terrain. I followed the occasional turn-out that all dead ended, in hope I would find an exit to the familiar valley below.

The end of a road looking over Long Valley, Sierra Valley, and the Sierra Buttes

I climbed to 7,000′, 25 miles and 4.5 hours into my day. All these metrics I picked as maximum turn around points for this day’s exploration. There were still miles of road ahead hovering around 7,000′. My virtual research of this road did not give me a specific terminus which makes the on the ground exploration so much fun.

A steep choice descending to County Highway 293, dubbed a river of sand

My return route was unplanned. I was hoping for an exit to the valley below. I descended about 500′ on a well used turn-off. It ended at a rock spur overlooking a very steep descent. I was not looking to climbing what I just came down. There was a much lesser used turn-off that I decided to take a chance on. It paid off with a very steep descent into familiar territory.

Great views looking east to familiar terrain

From the north end of Cold Springs I followed dirt roads that connected to Red Rock/Stead that I had not used before. For a day’s outing I had covered new ground with great potential for getting out of Reno on dirt.