Dave Porter and I left Reno at 7:00am excited about hiking another peak on the Great Basin Peak Section list. Desatoya Peak (9973’) is the high point of Churchill County and the tallest peak in the Desatoya Mountains. A quick caffeine refuel, then we headed to Fallon to meet John Ide at the Churchill County fairgrounds.
Following the driving directions in Bob Sumner’s book, Hiking Nevada County High Points, we drove up the canyon along Edwards Creek. Signs along the road explained that the Edwards Creek Riparian Restoration Project is a joint project between the landowner of Smith Valley Ranch and other organizations. This explained the cattle sauntering along the creek through the restoration area.
A herd of wild horses paced us as we continued up the road through notably large Pinyon and Jeffrey Pine Trees.
We reached Basque Summit then continued driving 0.4 miles to park at the fence line that divides Lander and Churchill Counties. The road had a couple of rocky eroded areas prior to the summit that would be difficult without high clearance.
The route follows a road and cattle trails, so this was an easy hike to the peak with no bushwhacking. We encountered a few lingering snow patches after we left the road, but nothing that wasn’t easy to skirt around or cross.
The day was windy with a few strong gusts however once we reached the summit we had a pleasant stop to eat, sign the register and absorb the phenomenal 360-degree view. It is difficult to describe the sea of mountain ranges and peaks viewed from the summit of most Great Basin Peaks and this was no exception.
We descended Desatoya Peak along the ridgeline to walk up its North Twin at 9965’ then retraced our route back to the car.
Another enjoyable day spent in the beauty and solitude of the Great Basin.
May 3, 2012 by Sharon Marie Wilcox
[Photo: Dave Porter and John Ide in the Desatoya Mountains.]