I love my dog, Kona. Perhaps it may be more accurate to admit to engaging in an extremely toxic, co-dependent relationship with her.

It was one of those weeks where way too much was happening at work, home, etc. Something’s gotta give, so unfortunately, Kona got short changed with lame 15-30 minute walks through the neighborhood. The dirty looks and the incessant “stare-mommy-down” episodes increased as the week transpired. Living in the Sierra Nevada, she has grown quite spoiled, expecting runs in the woods nearly daily. Kona argues that being tethered to a leash and dragged through the neighborhood is a humiliating experience where she is not allowed to wolfishly run wild and get in touch with her inner puppy. So many stinky things to roll in; so little time…

Finally the weekend came. My promise of hiking up Whites Creek, deep into the Toiyabe Forest, was kept. Sweetening the deal was the news of her best friend, Rudy and Rudy’s mom accompanying us. Kona and Rudy are both 10 years old and madly in love with each other.

Whites Creek is a major trailhead heading deep into the Toiyabe National Forest on the southwestern edge of Reno just off the Mount Rose Highway and clearly marked off Timberline Drive. This trail goes on forever and hooks up with the spectacular Thomas Creek and Galena hiking areas. All have great trails to bring your dog because of all the water.

The forest is beginning to smell great – really earthy – because the snow that dumped on us in December and January is beginning to melt in areas. At higher elevations, mainly on southern ridgelines, there are actually snows-less trails – what a novelty after hiking with big snow boots for months now. We stopped at the top of a ridge overlooking the entire Washoe Valley at an area called Dry Pond before heading back. We had a great hike – 6.4 miles!

Here is Rudy taking a dip in Whites Creek:

There’s Rudy on the left and Kona Grrl on the right:

This image shows you the snow-less (!) trail with the spectacular Mount Rose in the background:

Here’s another view showing those scary Chutes at Mt. Rose Ski Tahoe:

This entry was posted on Tuesday, March 8th, 2005 at 10:07 am and is filed under Hiking. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.