Clark Mountain
Clark Mtn is a P1K located in the north part of Storey County, south of I-80 and east of Reno. It appears to be approachable from either the east or west, both distances about the same. I chose the eastern approach based on the SummitPost description, but I don't think it is entirely accurate about the western approach being longer or the eastern approach being more scenic. Both consist of dry desert slopes partly covered in sage and other desert scrub. Wild horses roam these mountains as they do most of the mountains in Storey County, though not as plentiful here as they are in the Virginia Range, closer to the metropolitan area where there are more folks sympathetic to feeding them. I had driven out the night before to USA Parkway and the
Tahoe/Reno Industrial Center, self-styled as the largest industrial park
in North America. I suspect the claim may be based on the square miles of land set aside
for this purpose rather than the actual amount of commercial enterprise taking place.
Make no mistake, there are some very large warehouses with trucks coming and going at
most hours, but a dozen such entities does not the largest make. I had parked along
Peru Drive after locating the dirt road leading into the range towards Clark Mtn,
drifting off to sleep after 10p and a rather full day. I was awakened
at midnight by a lone
policeman out patrolling the remote strip of road I had thought might leave me
undisturbed. He promptly informed me that I was on private property but almost
immediately said it was ok if I spent the night there. He seemed most interested to know
if I had any guns (no) and at first didn't believe my story that I was there to hike.
Eventually he became convinced of my sincerity and left me for the rest of the night.
In the morning I found the access road heading SW into Post Canyon was clearly marked
No Trespassing
and was surprised the officer hadn't pointed this out during our chat.
The signs do not appear to be particularly recent and are similar to those I encountered
in the Flowery Range the previous day. Several dozen 
wild horses
could be seen 
milling about
the roadway, grazing lightly in the open flats just west of Peru Dr. They looked
interestingly in my direction as I started out, but without seeing me carrying a bundle
of alfalfa, quickly lost interest. I followed the old road past 
an open gate,
leaving it
to head cross-country up Post Canyon where the road crosses over the entrance. A use
trail of sorts, mostly created by the ponies it would seem, can be followed up much of
this to avoid the worst of the brush. 
The brush eventually relents
higher up the canyon making progress easier. Almost two hours and four miles
later I had reached 
the top of 
Post Canyon at a saddle just east of
Clark Mtn's summit, another ten minutes further. Somewhere in the canyon I had picked up
a tick on my pants leg, but it was the only one
I saw all day and easily disposed off.
There are two closely-spaced summits to Clark. The 
benchmark is located at the
lower 
north summit, the register at the slightly higher
mound of rocks to the south. 
The notebook dated back only a few
years, but some 
weathered scraps had entries as far back 
as 1986. It
does not appear to see more than a few visits all year, though interestingly, the most
recent party was the previous day. I had seen their distinct footprints during
the ascent, following a similar route to myself. I next turned my attention
northeastward, choosing to follow 
the ridgeline in that direction for a change
of pace.
I found it more interesting than the canyon route with better views and far less brush.
Along the way I came across another, smaller 
herd of horses that took off as
soon as they spied me. I also disturbed 
a rattlesnake that slithered off under
a rock almost before I
could get its picture, all without making a sound (until I poked it with a stick, that
is). I found 
scattered bones among the dry ground I covered, some almost
intact horse skeletons. I went up and over 
Peak 6,896ft before descending back
down via the East Ridge and 
slopes.
Though longer and more time-consuming, I thought this route more interesting than the
ascent route. The 
same horses I had seen in the morning when I started out
were still there more than four hours later. The rumbling trucks and
busy construction sites didn't seem to bother them in the least.
Agency BM
Back at I-80, I followed the Truckee River downstream heading east along the interstate then north along SR447 towards Pyramid Lake, it's final resting place. Agency BM is a P1K located on the Indian Reservation that encompasses the lake and much of its surroundings. At the suggestion of the sign leading into the reservation, I stopped at the
I-80 Smokeshop to get my dayuse permit for $7. A portly indian woman greeted
me and asks if she
can help me. She can, it turns out, pulling out a pad of permits and writing one for me
while I dictate various pieces of information the permit requires. I don't mind donating
to the reservation and buy a few drinks to go with my permit. I then drove north to the
town of Nixon and finally some 
sandy backroads to get me within 2.5mi of
Agency BM on its western flanks. 
The landscape here is treeless desert,
scrub-dominated hills that don't reach high enough to nurture even a small juniper.
Cross-country travel is hardly difficult. I crossed some dry 
mud flats on my
way across the 
reservation boundary (
Agency BM and surrounding hills
are mostly BLM lands). A fence keeps out wild horses, outside OHVs, and other unwelcome
visitors. At the base of the hill I started up, steeply at first, but
mellowing after I've climbed a few hundred feet. In all I have 1,500ft to
climb and it took me a bit over an hour to reach 
the top. A
wooden post from a survey tower
stood among the summit rocks, anchored by guy wires at three points. I did not find the
benchmark itself, but suspect it may be at the bottom of the rock pile I found there.
The views are brown and mostly desolate, 
east across Little Valley to the
Truckee Range, south to Black Mountain, and west to the Pah Rah Range. To the
northwest one can see a
slice of blue that is Pyramid lake and a ribbon of green following the Truckee River
draining into it. There is no evidence that anyone but the surveyors have been to this
summit (though undoubtedly, others have). As I was returning to the car I took notice of
a bump to the southwest that I came to find (via GPS) was Black Mountain, and figured
since I had driven all this distance for Agency and had plenty more daylight, I ought to
pay it a visit.
Black Mountain
I drove further southeast on the dusty road to its end at a
locked gate at the
reservation boundary. This put me about 2mi north of the rounded summit I had first
noticed from atop Agency. The hike to and from the summit was nothing special, a bit
brushier and rockier in places than the previous summit, but as with most desert summits,
no difficulties with cross-country travel. I found a 
large cairn at the summit,
but no register. The summit provides a good view of 
Pyramid Lake and
Agency BM to the north which I could not
get from any points to the west. Looking south, one sees higher summits several miles
away, though they are rounded and not particularly interesting. It was only later that
I learned that Black Mtn extends much further than the point I stood upon, the highest
point more than 2.5mi to the south. I had been atop the lower north summit, the second
most prominent point on Black Mountain.
I was 
back
to the van by 3:45p, taking about an hour and 40min for the outing. I would
spend the night camped just inside the California border off US395, behind a small casino
on the dirt Long Valley Rd. It was an excellent place away from most of the highway noise
where I was able to spend the night undisturbed - much better than my luck the previous
night...
Continued...