Whitney Mesa Trail

Good morning, my friends. We had the first visitor to our hummingbird feeder yesterday. I expect we’ll see more in the days ahead. I’m sorry I couldn’t get more color on the bird. The feeder is in the shade. As soon as the bird flies into the shade from the bright sunshine, its colors disappear. I know this is an Annas Hummingbird, though.  

We had several items on yesterday’s agenda. We tried to get our business taken care of in Henderson all on the same day. I’m sure we’ll be back to Henderson again…that’s where the grocery store is. But we checked off a few items yesterday. Driving north, we had a good view of Las Vegas.

Our first stop was the quilt shop in Henderson…Quiltique. I’ve been to this store several times, and it’s one of my favorites. I wrote a post about it back in 2017 after my first visit.

Walking through the front door, this was the first thing I saw. It put me in a good mood right away.

As I’ve mentioned, I’ve been on the hunt for a back for the Shop Hop 4.0 quilt…this one:

I decided on this one. If you look at the image above, you can see there are barns in that border fabric. The border fabric was left over from another project, but I used it because of my penchant for photographing barns while we’re traveling. So when I saw this fabric below, I knew I’d found my backing. I needed four yards.

Also, I asked for two yards of this one below. As she measured the length, she found it was nearing the end of the bolt. She offered me 30% off if I’d take the whole thing. Sure! I’ve been looking for a good brown. So, I ended up eith 3-1/2 yards of it.

The reason for this brown is this: In the image below, you can see the head rest for one of the RV recliners. I’ve mentioned this “hyde of nauga” before. It makes crappy upholstery. We’ve been protecting ours by spreading quilts over every surface, but when we watch TV in the evenings, we’ll cover up with the quilts and sit directly on the furniture. And, as you might expect, our heads are resting on the head rests. In those spots only, the upholstery started to deteriorate on this trip. Weird, huh? What would it be about the hair on our heads that would cause this? 

I can recall my grandmother used to crochet arm covers and head rests for her chairs, but I always thought it was because of the oils in people’s hair. I get that. I’m not sure why it would cause the naugahyde to deteriorate so badly. As you might guess, I follow several RV pages on Facebook, and I’ve seen others post pictures of their naugahyde upholstery looking like this. Usually, though, it’s much worse, and not limited to the head rests. 

So anyway…all of that to say I’m going to make some little placemat sized quilts from the brown fabric. I’ll make it so that it can attach to the back of the chair with velcro, and maybe we can save ourselves the expense of having to reupholster (or replace) our RV furniture. Our RVing days won’t last forever. I’d just really rather not invest money in upholstery for what remains of our RV travel.

Okay, so we made a quick stop at the Ford dealership, so Mike could pick up his touch-up paint. From there, we drove to the Whitney Mesa Recreation Area to hike the Whitney-Mesa Trail.

 

This hike is surrounded by residential neighborhoods and about a gazillion homes. And so you can imagine the alarm when this obvious fire broke out at the trailhead. It fried those palm trees and everything else around it. 

We learned from some local residents we met on the trail that the fire occurred about three weeks ago. Already, you can see some of the reeds are growing back.

The trail took us across a bridge here and the fire had burned on both sides.

More pictures of the palm trees. They look as if someone stuck their finger in a light socket.

It seemed incongruous to have a stream running through this burned out area, but there it is.

And when the fire was put out, a body was discovered. There was a shrine there. It’s a bit of a mystery about this. No cause of death has been announced, and the cause of the fire is unknown. The body was that of a young man 19 years old. Sad. You can read more about the fire at this article right here.

Okay, so before we head out, I want to make sure you understand the risk you’re undertaking by going along. There are many ways you could die out here today, fire being only one of them.

And I’m afraid this hike isn’t going to give you that woodsy feeling. As I mentioned, it’s an urban hike. I’m afraid you’re going to see more “signery” than you are scenery. Also, we’re in the flight path of the Las Vegas Airport. Planes were landing about every 3-5 minutes. We could also see them taking off on the regular.

And so we can’t rule out the possibility that you’ll be killed when one of them crashes. Just sayin’. Do you still want to come? Don’t say you weren’t warned.

Okay, then. Off we go. Most of the trail was in well-groomed sandy gravel. Some of it was paved. We suspect this was to prevent erosion.

There were benches placed at regular intervals, and the ones we saw had trails leading out to a spur.

There, we had unobstructed views of the city and the desert landscape.

One of the benches contained this memorial. I like that last line. Words to live by.

This was an out-and-back hike, and we decided to turn around shortly before the end. Our farthest spot was the spur where I’ve indicated with a red arrow.

Here, we could get a good view of the size of Whitney Mesa. Over my right shoulder, it looked like this:

Over my left shoulder, it looked like this:

From there, we had a good view of this beautiful swimming facility. It had several different pools, including a dedicated lap-swimming pool. I’ve had periods in my life where I was a committed lap swimmer, and this made me want to dive in. As if.

Looking far off into the distance, we noticed the diagonal life in that butte. Cool. 

Okay, and then we walked back to the parking lot and headed for the RV. I captured a little more of the freeway art along the way…these cacti:

This roadrunner.

On the main road heading into Boulder City, we saw these enormous sculptures of men building Boulder Dam (when it still had that name).

We had one more stop at an Amazon locker to pick up a package I’d ordered. That took us through the historic downtown area of Boulder City. (I really like this little town.)

At the spot where the Amazon lockers were, they were also selling shot glasses. Well. How could I resist? I have a refrigerator magnet from Hoover Dam, but no shot glass. Until now. 

But that’s not all. As I was leaving the store, I happened to glance kitty cornered across the street and what to my wondering eyes should appear? FUDGE!!! HOLY SH*T! 

Well. We’ll be heading back there very soon. In fact, we always have at least one lunch at Boulder Dam Brewery while we’re here, and it just happens to be right across the street from the fudge place. Dessert, anyone?

Okay, and back at the RV, I took the first stitches on my newest Reindeer & Snowmen project. There are 12 blocks in this quilt. 

And since it’s time to choose a project for February’s

This seems the obvious choice. I’ll commit to finishing the stitching on Block One of Reindeer & Snowmen.

Okay, so today will be a stay-in day. Mike wants to go for a bike ride, and that makes it a good day for me to sew. Possibly, I’ll get out for a walk. I still want to choose a card from my pack of photography prompts pack and go on a little photography scavenger hunt. Mike got a bee in his bonnet for some Egg McMuffins. For the first time ever, we ordered online, and he went to pick it up, returning just now. Breakfast is served, my friends. And then I’ll get on with my day.

Wetlands Trail

Good morning, my friends. I have a lot to tell you today, and lots of pictures to show. You might want to top-off whatever your drinking and get settled in a comfy chair. Before you do that, though, be sure to lace up your hiking boots. We're gonna go for a short, but challenging hike.

Heading out, we drove directly toward these mountains before turning north. I can never get over the beauty of the geological features of this area. It doesn't have the impact of a place like, say, Monument Valley, but the colors and shadows of the landscape are awe-inspring...at least to this observer.

In my first post about Boulder City a few days ago, I showed you some of the freeway art. Heading in the opposite direction for this ride, I could get a little more of it.

It was a hazy day, but we could see snow in the distant mountains.

Here's a little more of this fun freeway art. 

The roads in Nevada are some of the best in the country. We suspect it's from all those gamblers leaving their donations at the casinos.

It's about a 15-minute drive to one of the entrances to Lake Mead National Recreation Area. Approaching the gate, we got out our "geezer" pass. The geezer pass is one of the best things about growing older if you're an American. We became geezers when the pass was still free to obtain. Nowadays, it costs around $80 for life. But when you consider driving into this park is $25 per vehicle, it doesn't take many park visits for the pass to pay for itself. And this is one of the less-popular parks. Other parks will cost more for entry.

I was on the lookout for a sign with the park's name, but I had to settle for this little sliver posted at the gate.

We turned to the left fairly quickly after entering the park and crossed a bridge over Las Vegas Wash. In just a couple of minutes, we'll be down there near the water.

Our hiking book points out:

It's amazing to see what water can do to a landscape. Along the first part of the trail, 100 feet above the wash, only stalwart creosote bushes grow. At the water's edge, however, you'll find grasses, reeds, and bushes in abundance. For thousands of years, [it] has nourished birds, animals, and people as it channeled runoff from natural springs, distant mountains, and storms. Ever-growing Las Vegas adds to this flow with runoff from sprinklers, fountains, swimming pools, city streets, and Lake Las Vegas immediately upstream on the other side of the road.

Okay, so we pulled into the parking lot where there was just one other car. The trailhead was right in front of us. Stick with me, my friends, and you'll be completely safe. If you were thinking about pitching a tent out here, you'll probably want to leave your camping equipment behind. 

Despite saying the trail wasn't maintained, it was pretty nice at the beginning. We walked only a few yards before coming to a fork in the road. We took the right fork.

As we headed toward that cliff, the rock outline disappeared.

Walking to the edge, this is what we saw. Clearly, we took the wrong fork, but it was worth it for this view. The wash was in deep shadow here, and so I've messed with the brightness and contrast to make it easier to see. There's a man-made waterfall and dam down there, directing the flow of water somehow, but we weren't clear what it's purpose was.

I zoomed in for a look at those reeds.

There isn't much cactus growing out here, but there were a few of these little beaver tail along our route.

This is phacelia and it was blooming everywhere we walked.

My phone tells me this is "eschscholzia glyptosperma," or "desert gold poppy" if you prefer.

Heading back, we took the left fork. This next image is intended to show you where the trail will take us.

Single file now...the trail is narrow here.

And watch out for the "swift water hazard," although this sign seems poorly placed. We didn't go down that trail.

This is desert sunflower.

Here, we went downhill to get closer to the river. There were steps in place made from railroad ties. I was very glad to have my hiking pole along. (Think of it as a portable hand rail.) The steps were helpful, but there was a big drop down from each one, and my legs aren't that long.

We were a little unclear which direction to go here. Looking back over my shoulder, there seemed to be a trail below. Eventually, we determined that it would end with about a 6-foot drop to the ground below, and so we continued straight.

I don't know what these white guys are. I was shooting from a distance away, and I couldn't get closer. My phone is no help with this photo. They look like mallow to me, but it's hard to say for sure.

Okay, and so it was a short, but steep, climb down to the water. It looks refreshing enough for a swim, but our hiking book discouraged that, saying the water is polluted with city chemicals...fertilizers, and the like.

The waterfowl don't seem to mind. I believe this is a coot, but again, I was a distance away.

Looking south, it looked like this:

It was a loop hike, and it wasn't far to get back to where we started. Here, I was standing alongside the dam I showed you earlier.

I was able to get a closer view of the reeds.

Looking upstream, there was another waterfall. The bridge you see there is the road we came in on.

And now...sadly...we had to climb this hill to get back to the parking lot. Going up was easier than coming down, and it was a mercifully short distance.

After reaching the truck we drove a distance into the park. I was, as always, awe-struck by the landscape. So many colors. 

Okay, and eventually, we turned around and headed back to the RV. Off to the right we could see Lake Las Vegas.

Here's what Wikipedia tells us about Lake Las Vegas:

Lake Las Vegas is a 320-acre reservoir in Henderson, Nevada, with a 3,592-acre developed area around it. The area is sometimes referred to as the Lake Las Vegas Resort. It is being developed by 5 companies including Lake at Las Vegas Joint Venture LLC. The area includes three resorts including the Aston Monte Lago Village Resort, the Westin Lake Las Vegas Resort, and the Hilton Lake Las Vegas.

Driving on, we caught another view of Las Vegas Wash.

And this is Lake Mead, formed when Hoover Dam was built. The dam was originally called "Boulder Dam," but the name was changed to Hoover Dam at its completion during the Hoover Administration.

Looking a little to the right, this is more of Lake Mead. Look across to the other side, and you can see the "bathtub ring" showing how low the water level is.

We were nearing the visitor center when I spotted these turtle fences. They keep turtles from wandering out into the road. We've also seen these in Death Valley National Park. When I see this kind of stuff, it gives me hope for humanity.

Here's one more shot of Lake Mead just before the visitor center.

Driving up their driveway, a sign like the one below was posted. I wasn't quick enough to get a picture, but they were giving away free stickers inside the visitor center. Thanks! Don't mind if I do.

I was on the hunt for a shot glass. They didn't have any that I liked, and I already have a refrigerator magnet. Oh well. The sticker will be my only memento from this visit.

Back at the RV, I had just a little bit of stitching to finish off my own Hawksbill Honu project. It seems fitting, doesn't it?

And that brought me to a stitching emergency. Happily, I have all twelve blocks to stitch on this new project from Bird Brain Designs called Snowmen & Reindeer.

My next task was to get out my lightbox and trace the design. I already have the background fabric for the blocks cut, along with the stabilizer for each one.

And now that one is hooped up and ready to go.

Our plan for the day is to visit the quilt shop in Henderson, Quiltique. It's a good one. I've been there a couple of times before. We also want to go to the Ford dealership. Mike has been keeping himself busy going around with touch-up paint on the RV. He wanted to do his truck, but found his touch-up paint all dried up. Happily, the Ford dealership has some. I have an order from Amazon to pick up at an Amazon locker, and we're planning another hike. The Whitney Mesa Hike will be an urban hike. Here's a link that tells you all about it.

I'm not sure we can fit all of that into a single day, but we'll have fun trying.