1. www.weethump.com
Currently, there is not a formal
Congressional process
occurring in Lyon County that would allow for the designa-
by writing letters to both your local County Commission-
ers and our Congressional Delegation (Senators Reid and
Ensign and Congressman Heller) letting them know that
tion of wilderness in the Pine Grove Mountains. This is due you want to see the Pine Grove Range and East Sister Peak
to a number of reasons that are both in and beyond our protected as wilderness. If you are familiar with these areas
control. It is crucial that we begin to take action NOW in please include stories from your adventures there and even
order to let our leaders at both the local and federal levels pictures to help further your points. Personal letters make a
know there is an interest and constituency for conserving huge impact in helping to build momentum. Lyon County, summer 2007 Photo by Kurt Kuznicki
public lands in Lyon County. The easiest way to begin is
Wovoka Proposed Wilderness
Art Shipley and Steve Pellegrini are life long residents of Mason Valley. There
Letters should are few Yerington residents under the age of 45 they have not taught at some point in the Yerington Pub-
Lyon County Commissioners
be addressed to: Congressman Dean Heller
lic Schools. They became friends while working together at Yerington Intermediate School and hiking part-
ners shortly thereafter. Their favorite spot has always been the Pine Grove Mountains, an area they have
27 S. Main St 1023 Longworth
committed to seeing protected so that others can experience the wild lands of their backyard.
Yerington, NV 89447 Washington, DC 20515
Senator John Ensign Senator Harry Reid Searching for Sardine Cans Today it is hard to believe
The memory has dimmed
364 Russell Senate Building 528 Hart Senate Building
with age, but the first time I
in the Pine Grove Mountains a road once intruded into that
Washington, DC 20510 Washington, DC 20510
entered the Southern Pine Grove By Steve Pellegrini canyon as water has completely
Mountains was with my father removed all traces of it. In
“I recall the cold autumn air, the dim orange glow of an old car’s headlights sometime around 1958. We crossed the East Walker River near places there are fifty-foot cliffs and boulders the size of houses
and what to me was the wildest country I ever imagined...” Steve Pellegrini where Ed Zanis use to live at “the Lodge.” We made our crossing where once we drove our Jeep.
late one afternoon through the river, bumping over rocks and Twenty years later it was to be my former teacher, Art Shipley,
scooting sideways as the who would go back with
Protect your Wild Lands river tried to carry our old me to probe the intricate
and convoluted country that
It’s really easy to help the Nevada Wilderness Project preserve your land... Just cut this form off, write a check, Ford Jeep downstream.
We followed a cat road is the Pine Grove Range
cram it in an envelope and mail it to us @ NV Wilderness Project, 8550 White Fir Street; Reno, NV 89523
up Martha Washington [referred to as the hills or
Enclosed is my donation of: I would like to make a recurring donation: comments:
Canyon to Sherman Lewis’ mountains depending on
$35 □ Monthly where in the county you
mine. It was here we
$50 □ Every 3 Months find yourself]. Together
discovered where the cat
$100 □ Annually we have logged several
that made the road had
$250 thousand miles there, all on
tumbled a thousand feet
$500 Please make check or money
over a cliff above the river. foot. There is virtually no
Other Amount _______ order oayable to:
Its remains are still strewn canyon nor ridge we have
For secure credit card transactions, please visit
Nevada Wilderness Project
www.wildnevada.org down that hillside today. not explored, especially on
I remember sharing a the east side of the range.
jar of my mother’s canned My sons have also spent
peaches with him in the many days and hiked many
Tia Gopp by a reflection pool in the miles in this mountain
late afternoon shadow of a volcanic cliff. I recall the cold Wavoka Proposed Wilderness
autumn air, the dim orange glow of an old car’s headlights Photo by AJ Locklear range. Their earliest
on the way out and what to me was the wildest country I ever memories are of following
me into Wichman Canyon, Slide Rock, Halsey Canyon and other
Permit #200
imagined. It was to be the last time my father and I would ever
Reno, NV
enter there together. places whose names are, to us anyway, the very essence of what
To read more stories and see more pictures from the Pine Grove
PAID
U.S. Postage Range please visit www.weethump.com, a weblog about the magic of
Non-Profit Org. Reno, Nevada 89523 Nevada’s Wild Places. If you have photos or stories to share, send us an email
8550 White Fir Street @ weethumpnv@yahoo.com or click the “Wild Photos” link on the blog!
www.wildnevada.org

2. As you can tell, this mountain range is very special to Steve and me.
It has become a part of our mental and spiritual makeup. We want others to ex-
perience what we have come to know and love. We want future generations to
have the opportunity to explore the wonders of this beautiful mountain range.
Art Shipley
2
5
www.weethump.com

3. Luckily, Art found her. We took turns carrying
her out until we found a tinaja that held enough
water left over from a thunderstorm. This small
PineGroveHillsFactSheet:
green pocket was enough to revive her. Ю US Forest Service is recommending this area for wilderness management
There are so many subtleties it seems almost Ю Bald Mountain is the largest peak in the area at 9,544 ft.
silly to name them. They are the small and
Ю Bald Mtn Offers views of Mt. Grant and the Toiyabe Range in Nevada
significant memories borne of quiet, remote
places. There were the plants I collected, and Sweetwater, White, Wassuk and Sierra Nevada in California.
keyed and added to my collection. There were The Nevada Wilder- Ю The Pine Grove Hills is a habitat for mule deer, raptors, mountain lion, badger,
snakes we marveled at, lizards we attempted ness Project is commit- grey fox, bobcat, black
to identify, the badger Art encountered on Bald
ted to working with Steve bear and sage grouse.
Mountain and the brief glimpse of a cougar south
of Shadow Lake. A rusty can here, a Native
and Art to help them Ю East Fork of the Walker
American house ring there, a hunting blind and realize their goals of River holds 11 miles of
an aboriginal fence. All of them are so much a seeing the Southern Pine wild river that border
part of this place; all of them speak their own Grove Range receive the this mountain range.
draws us to our state’s outback. It has become our tradition Photo by Andrea Laue secret language and tell us others have passed this protection it deserves as
to spend even Christmas day there in a world that seems way. Silence asks what did they see here and who Ю Lyon County is the
legislated wilderness.
more inviting of hope Christmas promises others. were they? The imagination answers. 7th fastest growing
Every hike into the Pine Grove Mountains is an adventure. When all is said and done, the memory I will cherish above all county in the nation.
Each hike reveals new things to ponder and marvel at. others will be of those days I spent in the Pine Grove Mountains Please join us for a wil-
Things such as the bear that I accidentally cornered on Bald with Art and my boys. I will relive those days after I can no derness values hike
Mountain. Thankfully it had more sense than me, and while longer physically live them for real. Golden light of morning
through the area with Wovoka Photo by Andrea Laue
I was temporarily paralyzed, the bear found its way up the as we climb westward from the foothills above the East Walker Wovoka was a Smith Valley born, Paiute Spiritual leader and
rocky enclosure where I startled it and fled back into the and the sense of fulfillment and satisfaction as we exit, tired
Art and Steve to learn
prophet who sought inspiration in the mountains of Lyon Count
pinyon forest. There was the day my dog, Shadow, got lost and ready for a cold beer at the end of day. Each day promising more about the cam- He believed that a land would be set aside by God for the Numu
in the vicinity of what Art and I now call “Shadow Lake.” some small secret to be revealed. A Native American artifact will paign for the proposed (native people) as a place of peace. That land might have looked
She became dehydrated on the dry bed of this ancient lake. speak of someone who called this his home many years ago. Or Wovoka Wilderness a lot like the Pine Grove Range, and we would name the wilderness
perhaps the Shadow Lake cougar will reward me with one more and see a piece of these to honor that ideal of peaceful simplicity.
brief glimpse. Or perhaps I’ll find that spot where my father and spectacular wild lands.
I watched the day die across the rugged canyon of the Raven—El
south of Sherman Lewis’ mine. Maybe I’ll find one of his old
sardine cans, his favored lunch on deer hunts. August 19th
And when these things fail, I know there is always something
to discover that is vital to who I am. This place is always
September 8th
cathartic but unsettling in that it leaves one with the suspicion it
is somehow transitory, that it will not be around forever. Art and I
have spoken often of this. It is something constantly in the minds For more information
of my boys. We word it differently, perhaps, but we agree. These please contact:
Pine Grove Mountains have become a large part of who we are.
They must be protected. Steve Pellegrini 463.3432
This is why we are dedicated to seeing the southern portion
scied@tele-net.net
of the Pine Grove Range become a wilderness area, to assure
that these subtleties are there for others to discover. To assure
as many as possible discover the joys of introspection that quiet Art Shipley 463.3476
places demand. But we also want to protect these mountains for tootsie@tele-net.net
their own sake, for spirits that dwell there. Only wilderness can Photo by AJ Locklear
preserve the magic we have found in the Pine Grove Mountains, Cameron Johnson
preserve it for future generations so they can also enjoy a piece of 775.746.7850
Please check www.weethump.com for more sto-
the world we have been fortunate to know. cameron.johnson@wild-
nevada.org ries and photos of the Pine Grove Mountain Range
and the Wavoka Proposed Wilderness.
www.wildnevada.org www.wildnevada.org 4