Thursday, June 6, 2013

No, you can't get to Verdi this way, yet...

So, apparently, folks are hiking up the Secret-Lamoille trail these days, fishing poles in hand, hoping to bring home a nice trout dinner from Verdi Lake.

I hate to tell you this but you can't get through to Verdi yet via this trail.  Not only that, you probably won't be able to get through to Verdi on this trail for a couple more years at the rate they're going.

Progress on trail construction is happening, but it's happening slowly.  The crews are up there working again this summer pushing the trail through, but they still have some rough country and thick brush to cross.

The trail is beautiful and challenging and a great day hike or mountain bike ride, but right now it dead ends a little less than half-way to Talbot Canyon where the crews are working.  Walk or ride on up, tell them "hi" and thank them for sweating in the sun on our behalf.

And in the meantime, if you want to get to Verdi, you can head up over the top of the Lamoille-Talbot ridge above the Terraces Picnic Area or you can make your way up the old guide trail that takes off at about the Glacier Overlook.  Neither route is for sissies, and the old guide trail fades into the brush before you get to the top of the ridge.  One of these days some trail fairies should go up there and finish brushing that trail out, but at the moment it eventually becomes very difficult to find.

The easiest way to get to Verdi right now - at least if you're willing to hike 16 miles or so round-trip - is through private property at the mouth of Talbot Canyon.  The folks who own it are good folks and are pretty open-minded about access.  You can pick up the old Secret-Lamoille trail behind their property and follow it to where it joins the Talbot Creek trail by a huge rock cairn.  Call Nancy Taylor at the USFS for contact information for this and other access points in the Rubies - 775-752-3357.  You can also call Joe Doucette at the Nevada Department of Wildlife for access information, 775-777-2300.

2 comments:

  1. Enjoying your blog and the Rubies. I towed your pick up back in June over on the way to the Snow Bowl. Thanks for pointing me towards Soldier Creek; the wife, kids and I took a Sunday drive/berry scouting mission up there. We had a good time. As newcomers to the area, the Rubies have been an enjoyable place to frequent. (A side note, as of last Sunday the service berries were still green.)

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  2. Thanks for the comment and I'm glad you're getting out there and having fun! We were out looking for service berries a couple of days ago... they're not quite in but the currants are going OFF right now. Lots of currants out there for patient berry pickers. We're planning a berry-picking expedition to my favorite service berry hoard in a couple of weeks... and no, I'm not going to spill the beans on location. There are some things I just won't share... ;)

    Enjoy your explorations and happy berry picking!

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