Vegas, Day 3: Climbing Spirit Mountain
Today the group split into twos, and each pair went in two very different directions. My partner in crime and I decided on another day hiking, while the other two spent their time relaxing at a spa.
For our weekend hiking finale, we decided to challenge ourselves a little, with the main focus of the day being to climb Spirit Mountain.
Spirit Mountain
Spirit Mountain was a very significant spiritual site for the Native American Yuman tribes, as it was considered the site of creation. The steep six mile hike up the mountain has an elevation change of around 2,800 feet, but the tricky part is the footing. The sloops are either large, steep boulders or covered in loose gravel. It wasn’t ideal, but that’s the fun of it. There isn’t a mark path, you just have to keep your eye on the prize and head upward. Fortunately the area is so bare, it’s easy to not only the car at the base, but the peak.
Starting out extremely motivated, we hiked almost straight up. Looking back, it probably would have been better to take a cross-back pattern, but, hey, it worked for us.
The way down was the fun part. Realizing following our climb was not the best idea because we’d probably end up just sliding on the loose ground, we had to forge around path. Sadly, while trying to attempt a more gradual decent, we ended up getting pushed further away from the car. In fact, even though it was always in sight during our ascent, we were blocked from the car most of our way down! Not that it matter, we didn’t get too far away, and once at the bottom, it was easy to spot in the open desert.
On our way down, we ran into one major annoyance: some small thorned trees!! Those things can be viscous. You think you’re around it, but it still grabs your pants and won’t let go!! Oh, and it’s painful. The fun part was really just the trial and error part of the hike down. We stop after one hurdle, evaluate the path choices ahead and go for it. A few times, our choices turned into dead ends, but they were still enjoyable to try.
After a few hours, we made it and felt good. We both had huge smiles on our faces.
This morning’s Flickr set: mountain photos
Grapevine Canyon
After tackling the peak, we decided to stop at a near-by petroglyph mecca, Grapevine Canyon.
Before reaching the actual Grapevine Canyon, we took a small detour. We mistakenly though some random granite formation along Christmas Tree Pass was the intended site. We saw a small sign warning against messing with the historic petroglyphs, and since the Spirit Mountain “trail” wasn’t marked, we assumed this might be it for his spot as well. We walked all through the area, desparetely scouring the rock walls for historic cravings, but there were none to be found. We walked out feeling a little jipped, because all our hiking litarate clearly stated the canyon was filled with petroglyphs.
Yeah, and all we could do is smile as we drove passed a well-marked, medium-sized parking lot for the actual Grapevine Canyon. Good job.
The actual location is covered with Native American petroglyphs. Most of them were concentrated at the canyon opening, which was covered! It was pretty neat. We only hike a small part of the trail, because we were both starving, but it was nice to actually see. We decided to go so we didn’t regret it later and feel we’d missed something, which was a good call.
This afternoon’s Flickr set: canyon pics
After we finished our short hike, we headed into Laughlin for lunch. Right on the border of Arizona, it was little a baby Vegas. Not wanting to get into too much there, we just stopped at a In-and-Out Burger and it worked. I’m not a big hamburger consumer, but I’ll admit, it was good.
The evening was pretty low key. We stayed around the house, reminiscing. Eventually we did go out for dinner at The Sushi. It was pretty good. The chef signature rolls all had interesting names, almost to the point it was awkward. I ended up getting the “Holy Cow,” but some of the other choices included “Who’s Your Ex-Wife,” “Smells Like Your Girlfriend.” Weird.
With all said and done, it was good vacation. The final leg, traveling home, went smoothly. I actually feel revitalized. I think I’ve been too bogged down in my current activities, including the horses, and lost touch with other parts of my life I enjoy. I love my horse and all I do with that part of my life, but I miss my photo trips and hiking. I’m going to have to put more effort into re-introducing that tradition back into my routine. (Although, I might wait until it’s a little warmer here on the East Coast).
Vegas, Day 2: Exploring around Lake Mead
Trying to repeat yesterday’s success, we followed a similar pattern for the day. We did have a little bit of a slower start, but it is a weekend now. I made everyone breakfast this time around and we chatted for a while, meaning we didn’t leave the house until closer to 9:00 am. Still, we stopped to pick up sandwiches and water, then hit the trails. This time we traveled a tad further east to Lake Mead.
Lake Mead National Recreation Area
We actually ended up passing up the lake and the Hoover Dam. I guess you could say we were focused. We have all driven across the dam and enjoyed the lake at other times, so why waste time repeating such activities? We stayed on Northshore Road, with our sites set on Valley of Fire on the northeastern edge of the national recreation area.
Anniversary Narrows
Anniversary Mine Tunnel
Our first stop of the day was a well hidden trail through the Lovell Wash, off the Callville Wash in the Gale Hills. The path led passed the remains of the old Borax excavation site, Anniversary Mine and through Slot Canyon. The canyon was really neat, although relatively short. The trail, from where we parked, was about 2.5 miles, with the tight canyon making up about a half mile of that. The entire trail is about six miles, I believe, if you park near the road, however, we off-roaded it to save some time.
Redstone
Today’s picnic spot was around Redstone, which is exactly what the name implies. It’s a group of large bright red boulders protruding out of the desert. We found a picnic table tucked in by a few red rocks and had a nice quiet lunch. It was nice. I walked around a bit to snap some photos, while the rest of the party chilled out for a moment.
Roger’s Spring
We made a very quick pit stop at Rogers Spring, which is the first of two spring along the road. We really just stopped so I could take a few pictures of the small desert oasis.
This morning’s Flickr set: canyon pics
Valley of Fire State Park
Finally reached our end destination, the state’s oldest state park, Valley of Fire. It’s almost 35,000 acres covered with beautiful sandstones formation, including many bright red in color, giving the park its name. The park is about 50 miles northeast of Vegas and well worth the travel time.
The Cabins
After stopping at the unattended entrance station to pay our $8.00 park fee, we stopped to check out the Cabins. The three stone cabins were built by the Civilian Conservation Corps in the park’s early days for overnight visitors. They’re small, but pretty neat. On a trail, I think they’d be a welcomed “comfort.”
Mouse’s Tanks
Our first hike in the park was the half mile round trip winds through the Petroglyph Canyon to Mouse’s Tank, and back. The trail is named after an Indian renegade, Little Mouse, who hid out in the canyon in the 1890′s.
There were a number of petroglyphs scattered along the canyon walls, it was pretty neat. They were so clear, it was hard to miss. It’s things like this that really grab me. Where you actually get to see a piece of history. While the land may or maybe look the same as it had, here is something a person did that has remained, kind of like trench remains on battlefields. It just really makes the point that someone stood in this spot long ago… it’s not just words on a page.
White Domes
Next, we drove over to the White Domes and hike through the color landscape on that end of the part. The one mile trail loops around some gorgeous, colorful sandstone formation. The hike overall was pretty easy. The beginning was probably the most ‘difficult,’ in that it required walking/climbing down a relatively significant decent, but the rest was pretty even.
Looking up…
Halfway up…
At the top!
At the end, I snuck off with one of our friends, while the other two chatting in the car, to scale a near-by peak. It was fun. That was a little more challenging. The rock seemed like it went straight up, requiring some actual climbing. It had a great view at the top, but I’ll admit I had to fight through some of fear (of heights). The other two eventually took a break from their conversation to notice we were on top of the large sandstone in from of the car.
Atlatl Rock
The final stop of the day was the Atlatl Rock. It was a quick stop. We climb a set of stairs up to see the large number of petroglyphs on the rock, then headed down. That’s about it for the stop, although it was enough.
From there we stopped by the neighboring campsite to visit some friends who happened to be spending the weekend there. We stayed a little longer than we wanted, but it’s because we were having fun. No one wanted to really leave. The campground is awesome. Who wouldn’t want to spend a couple days there, waking up to a beautiful sun rise over the red landscape. Apparently, when they first got there a large Bighorn Sheep was leisurely standing in the next campsite. How cool is that?
This afternoon’s Flickr set: trail photos
Since we ended up getting back to the house so late, we decided to order in and just spend the evening chillin.’ We ordered pizza (again) from Villa Pizza and watched Discovery Channel’s Gold Rush Alaska and the hardcore “dirt-bag” movie, 180-degrees South.
Overall, great day!
Vegas, Day 1: Hiking Red Rock
Clark County, NV
After an afternoon of travel yesterday, we made it, so let the vacation begin! The flight wasn’t bad. We had a short layover in Albuquerque, but it was actually a nice little break. My sister and I grabbed a bite to eat and talked a bit, which was good thing. Even though, we landed in Sin City at 5:30pm, we had a pretty light evening. After a brief reunion at their house, we headed out for dinner at the Elephant Bar in The District at Green Valley Ranch. The food was good and the atmosphere, was perfect. It was a fairly happening place, but not too Vegas crazy. After that, we planned the next day and went to bed early.
It worked out, as we all naturally woke up early and refreshed, ready to tackle the day. We decided to stick around their house and just take day trips. So, by 8:00 am, three of us, as one of our friends was unable to get off work for the day, headed out to hike around Red Rock Canyon National Conservation Area, fifteen miles east of Las Vegas. On the way we picked up soome Cliff Bars, sandwiches and water, so we were set for the entire day.
We stopped at the new Visitor Center for a bathroom break before hitting the trails, but ended up staying for a good half hour. Inside, the center is very sleek, but somewhat empty. It has a great view of the Red Rocks, but little else. However, you walk out back and you hit the gold mine. It has a decent size, modern exhibit. It’s actually kind of neat. The theme is a merging of the four elements, water, fire, earth and air.
It’s kind of an interesting park. It’s not part of the National Park System, but the National Park Service annual pass does work. The area is actually maintained by the Bureau of Land Management, as part of its National Landscape Conservation System. Originally the Red Rock Recreation Area, the Bureau designated the 10,000 acres of the eastern most part of the Mojave Desert as a National Conservation Area in 1990. The switch allowed for more funding to maintain the site.
Eventually my sister had to push us along to get to the the trail!
Calico Tanks
Calico Tanks
Las Vegas Overlook
It was a good start to the day. It wasn’t too difficult and covered a variety of landscapes as it wound its way back into the Calico Hills. It takes you from open desert, into a small canyon area, scurrying up rocks, to a hidden water pool, then up to a ridge with a great overlook of Las Vegas. It’s an out-and-back hike, so from the lookout, we just bee-lined it back to the car.
Willow Springs
It was a nice area. Fortunately, as it was a work/school day, it was rather vacant. There was a handful of cars parked near-by, we didn’t really run into anyone else during our lunch break. It was nice and peaceful. Our friend told us it was a nice change. He said he usually avoids the area because it’s often very crowded with families… which is not surprising. Lucky us!
After finishing off our sandwiches, we meandered around the area. There were a few petroglyphs scattered around the area to see. We also leisurely walked up the Lost Creek/Children’s Discovery Trail to a some-what hidden water fall. The trail was maybe a half mile or so and very easy. It simply weaved its way across relatively level land. This was the busiest trail we went on today, although, we still had some good luck in terms of timing. It was fairly empty as we walked up, but on our way back we passed a lot of people (and their dogs). It seems like it was getting to get a little crowded in the small area surrounding the waterfall and its pond rather quickly.
The funny thing is, while we were at the falls, there was a couple with two unleashed dogs, a German Shepard and an Akita. The dogs were going nuts. They were just so excited, running all over the place, with the owners constantly calling them. One almost knocked my sister down. It wasn’t an issue, but as we walked back to the car, every group we passed also had a dog. The first pair were small dogs, which only resulted in a few loud shouts from the initial owners. Then came a medium-size Boxer pulling his owner forward. Not long after passing them, we heard an eruption of barking, which made us chuckle. The next group had a smaller dog, but we were too far to hear how that went over. Finally, just as we reached the parking lot, we passed the final ingredient to what could have only been a K-9 mess. An group of older individuals were beginning their trek with their very small, fluffy dog. We all laughed as we passed, joking that one was in trouble.
Ice Box Canyon
The moderate 2.6 mile in-and-out travel goes back a narrow box canyon to another small waterfall. It was fun. We had to zig-zag across a small creek, fight through some brush and climb a few rocks. A few places it seemed we lost the actual trail, but we were close (not that you can get too far off of it). Without a doubt, we took the hard way up the final stretch! We literally climbed up a very flat rock until we no longer felt comfortable. I actually made it to the top pool by the waterfall, but suggested the other two not follow me. The climb up was tricky at the top and I felt lucky I hadn’t slipped down. The way down, we did have another close call, as we slid down a smooth rock, down a small drop onto a very narrow ridge, with a large pool of cold water waiting to catch us. We all laughed at ourselves because we were afraid of hurting ourselves if we fell, just how miserable the hike out would be after getting drenched. Unfortunately, we all made it down without incident.
After finishing that hike, we called it a day. It was fun. We left the park at 2:00pm, after more about five hours of hiking. Not bad. On the way out, we did catch a glimpse of a few wild burros in the park.
In the evening, we met up our other friend and went out to dinner. We decided to return to The District and ate at Balboa Pizza Company. I definitely give the pizza there two thumbs up. We tried the Goat Cheese and BBQ Chicken pizza and both were excellent.
We tried to watch 180-degree South, but we all fell asleep minutes into the movie, so it was postponed for another night. Off to bed early again for us!
Today’s Flickr set: hiking pics
Headed West for Some Hiking
A couple of friends of mine are nearing the end of their stint in Las Vegas, so this weekend my sister and I headed out for at least one last visit before they skip town. They’ve been bugging to me to make the trip for a few years, since I was there for their wedding in 2008.
We’ve tentatively planned a number of trips in between. We’d always leave planning discussion excited and determined, but it always faded. I guess I have a number of trivial excuses. Either I was too busy at the moment or knew I’d have time next month, which just never happened. We all probably know, next weekend or next month is usually never any better when trips are put off. As of late, I’ve been bogged down at the barn, working with my horse and all the responsibilities surrounding that, so I’ve barely branched out to anything else for some time now.
Anyway, the point is, my sister came home last month and was the catalyst I needed. She made an internal pact that she was going to be better at following through on promises to friends, which set me in motion to do the same. We had emailed for a month or so prior to her return that we’d go out to Vegas to visit these friends, so it was time to make it happen. They had come out for New Years and we set the ground work. From there, it was just a matter of picking a weekend and buying the plane ticket, both of which were done within a week and a half.
The plan is to mostly hike. We’ve considered driving down to Joshua Tree National Park, up to Zion National Park or just taking a couple day trips around the city. I’m not sure which we’ll do yet, but all sound fun. It’s been a while since I’ve been out really hiking. I miss it.
Yeah, and now, the weekend is here. My bags are pack, and I’m outta here… let’s get hiking!
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