Tom Grayson/For the Nevada Appeal Jeff Grayson straightens out the bottom of the C on Thursday. The Grayson family reconstructed the "C" on C Hill while hiking, removing a smiley face of paper that was mysteriously placed sometime around July 4.
Tom Grayson and his family didn't set out Thursday to reconvert Carson City's most recognizable landmark.
But when their hike through the Kings Canyon area brought them to the smiley face that used to be the C, they took a vote on whether they should do a restoration. They could see the white paper used by the pranksters was already deteriorating in the elements and decided it would soon become a mess if they didn't proceed.
Whoever turned the C into a smiley face July 4 or 5 made it a relatively easy job to repair. They simply used freezer paper weighted down by rocks. All the Grayson family had to do was move the rocks back and pick up the paper. The bulk of the paper was too great to carry down, however, so they weighted it down with rocks before hiking back to their car.
The fix took about 30 minutes.
It was the first time the Grayson family had made the hike to the C and to the flag above it, and he said he was amazed at how large both are up close.
"You can't tell from down below," he said. "It is huge."