Smoothing out some details on East Valley

Good morning, Johnson Laners,

In this journal I owe a follow up to County Staff and will talk about what I learned about Genoa Peak.

Remember in April when the journal was about the patchwork that was done on East Valley between Downs and Stephanie? Since then, I discussed what a fiasco it was and covered how the road had been patched together after infrastructure had been installed to support new homes being built on East Valley Road. Well, I am happy to report that some progress has been made. Although it is purely aesthetic, that section of road has been slurry coated to at least give the appearance that it has been redone and I am sure there are maintenance benefits as well. It does still remain a bit bumpy but it’s Johnson Lane and which roads aren’t bumpy? I reached out to Douglas County Engineer Jeremy Hutchings and he confirmed his office met with the developers and came to an agreement to have the slurry coating applied. I am not sure of the details and frankly it’s none of my concern. I am just happy that it has been coated. It seems that we do have the ability to make things better in our community. I hope county staff will go forward with more attention to our needs and am glad we have made some progress.

A few weeks ago, the wife and I and some friends of ours took our side-by-side up to Tahoe and decided to try to get to the top of Genoa Peak. I have lived here since 1987 and have driven down Stephanie thousands of times always enjoying the view of the Sierra’s and looking up towards Genoa Peak. I always assumed that the top of the view was the peak itself.

Honestly, I never paid that close of attention to a topographical map of the Sierra. We parked at Genoa Peak Road just past the Spooner Lake turn off and took the buggy off the trailer. Parking is not ideal, but we found a good spot to off-load and started up the trail. We used our GPS on our phone and had a very enjoyable ride up the mountain.

Unfortunately, my navigator missed the left turn, and we went a little too far. We made the next left and ending up ascending the peak on the back side. That route was a bit more aggressive than anticipated but with a shift to 4-low the buggy climbed it like a mule. Once we got to the top, we parked near the generator fencing. At the very top of Genoa Peak there is a communication shed and numerous transmitting and repeating antennas. They are all powered by a large diesel generator setup near the lower portion of the peak. The views of Tahoe and the Carson Valley are amazing to say the least. However, we still hadn’t made it to the very top of the peak. We still had to ascend up about 100 feet to the communications shed.

Of course, our friends are much younger than I am and they were up to the top in about 5 minutes. I thought to myself I wasn’t going to be doing any rock climbing, but I couldn’t turn away from being so close to the summit without giving it a shot. I forced my lungs to get to work and slowly made my way up to the top. There were a lot of three-point contacts up that 100 feet of boulders and sharp rocks and I am glad I made it.

At the very top I expected to have a great view of the entire Carson Valley. I was quite surprised to see that there was actually another peak just east of Genoa Peak which impeded the view. It was at that moment I realized I had never actually comprehended that the Genoa Peak view from Stephanie is actually a series of peaks and am not sure you can actually see the communications shed from the bottom of Stephanie. That was a wakeup call for me and gives me a greater appreciation of the view from my front door every morning when the dogs go chase rabbits.

Speaking of dogs, my older dog, Chevy, decided to attack a truck driving by with dogs in the back. He lost the battle and took a tumble under the vehicle. The driver kindly stopped and of course it wasn’t his fault. We rushed Chevy to Carson Valley Vet on Highway 88 immediately and by the grace of God, he didn’t have any broken bones but did have a nasty cut on his hip that needed stitches. He is almost 12 years old and has a bit of arthritis. He will move a little slower and hopefully has learned he can’t take on a vehicle. My gratitude extends to the driver for stopping and to the staff at Carson Valley Vet for taking superior care of my best friend. He is back to chasing rabbits in the morning.

I hope you enjoy the rest of the summer coming up. There are a lot of concerts to see, and car shows to attend, including the Scout Car Show on Aug. 13. Hope to see you there.

Thank you for sharing a few moments with me.