Little Valley Controlled Burns

Have you noticed the smoke curling up from Little Valley, on the western mountains, The Carson Range, the last couple of days? This is an explanation from the Nevada Dept. of Conservations Flickr site:

“During a two-day burn in Little Valley, just west of Washoe Valley, the Nevada Division of Forestry conducted a controlled burn of wood piles from previously thinned forest lands. The NDF helicopter inserted two 12 person crews one day and 130 piles were burned. On day two the helicopter inserted three 12 person crews and 250 piles were burned. A total of 380 piles burned, an effort which helps enhance forest health in the Sierras. “

This is a cool area, a little valley secluded above Washoe Valley. The US Forest Service, Nevada State Parks, UNR and local Catholic Church are the principle property owners up there and are working to lower fire danger but uphold the unique character of the area.

We try to hike up there a couple of times a year as the “powers that be” keep gates closed to motorized vehicles. By the time we get there we have barely enough energy and daylight to explore, but it is a pretty neat area.  If you have the ability you can mountain bike from Spooner Lake to the west, over the ridge, through the valley and down to Washoe Valley. We have not done that but we did hike from “Tahoe Meadows” or “Sheeps Flat”, the big meadow on the Mount Rose Highway (431) down to Washoe Valley once which was really cool but hard on the knees. Check out our “gallery page” for photos from the area.