Distance: 11.3 miles round trip on trail and cross country
Summit Elevation: 10776' (Rose), Church (10601')
Prominence: 3630' (Rose)
Elevation Gain: 2573'
Elevation Gain (in Empire State Buildings): 2.0
Round trip time: 6 hours
Recommended water: 96 oz.
Parking/Fees: Free at Rose Mountain Trailhead
Difficulty: Moderate
Leisa and I flew to Sacramento, then drove to Chester for what was supposed to be two days exploring Lassen Volcanic National Park. The Dixie Fire had other ideas. As we drove north, visibility became terrible and the smell of smoke was overwhelming. We went to the Lassen Visitor Center and the ranger warned us that air quality was dangerous and to definitely not hike. We couldn't see more than 100' from the smoke and large chunks of ash started covering our rental car. Lassen was a no go, and in fact, the motel in Chester as under an evacuation warning. The front desk told us they would knock on our door if we needed to evacuate in the middle of the night. We survived the night, but made plans to drive hours away to get away from the fire. We set off the next morning for Rose Mountain (SPS #210), south of Reno and north of Lake Tahoe. Air quality was a little better but the smoke and haze were still bad. Tahoe was being threatened by another big fire, the Tamarack Fire.
When we got to the trailhead, the smoke was still thick and it mixed with scent of pines. We weren't sure we should be out hiking, but the lot was almost full so if we coughed up a lung, we would at least have company. The first two miles of the hike were shaded and lost a little elevation before reaching the Galena Waterfall. Many hikers turned back at the waterfall. We continued into a valley below Rose that was sheltered somewhat from the smoke. We climbed up to a saddle then started the final steep mile to Rose.
There were multiple parties on the trail, but it wasn't crowded. We came out of the tree line at few hundred feet below the summit and made pretty good time to the top. As we neared the summit, I started smelling smoke again and the views were seriously hampered. The benchmark had been stolen and the summit was too popular for a register. We rested about 15 minutes on the summit before starting down.
We had noticed Church Peak on the way up and it was only a half mile away from the trail. I wanted to bag it while we were here and Leisa said she would come along but might wait for me if it looked sketch. There was a big boulder pile blocking the summit and we couldn't tell whether it could be bypassed or if you had to go over it. We got around the first obstacle, and around the worst part of the pile, but at least class 2 was unavoidable. Leisa waited for me as I picked my way up to the ridge. From the ridge, it was an easy walk over rocks to the summit. The summit had no marks or register. When I got down to shouting distance, I told Leisa that if she could make it the 200' to me, she could get the summit. She was a little reluctant, but scrambled her way to the ridge and we went back to the summit together. I think she had mixed feelings about it since we ended up pushing through some trees on the way back. No permanent damage and we got two nice 10K peaks in Nevada.
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