Jumbo Grade Rd

The weather is still cooperating so I decided to go for another hike.

Originally, the plan was to hike along Ophir Grade Rd from Virginia City, turn and head uphill to grab two caches, then return and head down Jumbo Grade Rd to Washoe Valley where I'd either ask dad to pick me up or (if with someone) have their vehicle waiting.

Yeah, mapping that out exceeded 12 miles. NOT!

Instead, drove up Jumbo Grade, parked at where the two roads intersect, and hiked up to Wakefield peak where I encountered a herd of horses who were between me and the cache. After navigating around them, I returned to the road, crossed a snow filled valley, and hoofed it uphill to the next cache. About this time is when I realized I was going slower than I had imagined and so I really pushed that last .3 of a mile - until I plowed through knee deep snow. 300 ft took me 10 minutes. Found the cache and then went as fast as possible through the snow, mud, dirt back down to the truck.

All in all, 4.3 miles in 3:30 hours.

Not bad for lugging the full pack around!