Removal: Before and After

Weethump, February 2006

Before beginnning, volunteers inspect the debris to be removed.

Friends deconstructs the larger pieces...

And loads the debris onto a flatbed to be taken to a legal dump site.

This Is Nevada...

Nevada snowscape by Steve Chandler

Wingding 2010 Photos Are Here!

Over 250 people attended the 2010 Wilderness Wingding at the Grand Sierra Resort on Friday night! Here are some of the photos, visit our Facebook page to see more!!

Our Blue Helmet awardees - volunteers who participated in three or more trips this field season! (Photo by Graham Stafford)

Musical guests Code Bluegrass rocked the house! (Photo by Graham Stafford)

Volunteer of the Year Caleb with Wes, Pat, and Kurt (Photo by Graham Stafford)

The Dwyers check out the raffle items (Photo by Graham Stafford)

Little Wilderness Warriors (Photo by Graham Stafford)

Jo and Shaaron share a smile (Photo by Graham Stafford)

The Buballas minus Louis (Photo by Graham Stafford)

Louis minus the Buballas (Photo by Graham Stafford)

AmeriCorps volunteers Ursula and Darcy take a moment to smile (Photo by Graham Stafford)

Rain in the Black Rock

By Brian Beffort.

"Playa" in Spanish means beach. I've always found humor in exploring the Black Rock Playa, and other dry lake beds across Nevada, often when the land is parched, bare, thirsty, with no water to be seen anywhere--hardly beach.

Not today. The playa this week is living up to its name. Inches of rain have already fallen this week in the Black Rock region, making this desert look more like a marine environment. Volunteer Chris Ripps and I enjoyed a beautiful trip to Soldier Meadows in the calm and beautiful window before the storms hit hard. Here are some pictures.

Sunset at Soldier Meadows...the calm beauty before the storm. (photo be Brian Beffort)

After driving rain on my tent all night long, we woke to see calm weather and fresh snow on Pahute Peak. (Brian Beffort)

After a few dry-but-windy hours, the storm set in. Misty rain first shrouded only the higher reaches of the Calico Mountains. (Brian Beffort)

Then it spread across the entire playa. (Brian Beffort)

After only a couple hour's of rain, every depression on the ground became a drainage. And while I've heard of glacial milk, the mineral rich sediment filling rivers in glacier-scoured mountains, this was my first encounter with alluvial milk pouring toward the playa here in the Calicos.

Photo by Brian Beffort

At 3pm on Tuesday, the playa was a lake. This is the cove just north of the 12-Mile entrance to the playa, a place where I have camped often with lots of other people for National Public Lands Day and other events. Good thing this storm didn't come then. And what will happen when such a storm comes during Burning Man?

Photo by Brian Beffort

Walking among the dune, stepping over rivulets, and staring out into the misty expanse reminded me of exploring the coast at low tide on a misty, rainy day.

This Is Nevada...

Snow on the Granites (photo by Kurt Kuznicki)

Wilderness Wingding Tomorrow Night!

Fabulous food, amazing prizes, and great live music, all at the beautiful Grand Sierra Resort!

Friday, Dec. 10

from 6 pm until 10 pm

at the Grand Sierra Resort

in the Tahoe Room

Suggested $10 donation at the door

Join Friends of Nevada Wilderness at this community event to honor the hard work of our 2010 volunteers, sponsors, and agency partners!!

Tonight! Meet the Author: Brian Beffort

Photograph by Brian Beffort

Tonight at 7 pm, Friends of Nevada Wilderness Associate Director Brian Beffort will be sharing a slideshow of his spectacular wild Nevada photography at the REI store in Henderson. An avid hiker and explorer, he will also be discussing and signing his hiking guide, "Afoot and Afield: Las Vegas and Southern Nevada." Southern Nevada Program Director Kurt Kuznicki will also be there with Wild Nevada 2011 calendars.

This Is Nevada...

Moon over Cathedral Gorge (photograph by Bonnie Rannald)