Red Rock Canyon National Conservation Area

It was our first day with Erik and Mae for their visit to Pahrump. We left the RV park to meet up with them in Las Vegas under moody skies. It appeared as if it was raining, but the rain was not hitting the ground.

As we drove closer to Las Vegas, we drove into the sunshine. It was a pretty drive through here, and the boundaries of the conservation area extend for many square miles. Although we were not in the fee area of the park, we were within the park boundaries.

The combination of clouds and sunshine along with the hills made for an interesting view of the landscape.

It wasn't long before we could see Las Vegas off in the distance.

We could see airplanes coming in to land. I would estimate there was a new one every minute.

We met up with the kids for breakfast, and then headed north to Red Rock Canyon.

There was a short line at the pay station. Erik and Mae pulled up beside us in their rental car.

After parking, we first stopped off at the visitor center so I could seek out the day's refrigerator magnet. Before we go in, let's just be clear about the rules. And wait...no cats?!?

Apparently this cat has a job pointing out the information sign.

There was a gift shop inside, and I found a refrigerator magnet, but no shot glass. Behind the visitor center was a turtle enclosure.

It was very cold...I'm guessing in the high 40's with a cold wind blowing. We could see turtle burrows, but I imagine the turtles were all huddled up inside...no doubt, wrapped in quilts.

We did see some bunnies though.

And this is something of a botanical garden with lots of cactus on display along with signs identifying them. The prickly pear are starting to bear fruit.

We had a good view of the surrounding landscape from there.

I liked this display...the photographic mosaic in the center is created in the shape of the park boundaries.

There are wild burrows and wild horses running around this area, and we saw plenty of warning signs along the road indicating their presence and admonishing us not to feed them...with a $500 fine for violation. Here's a photograph Jackson, who seems to be the park mascot.

I'd like to say we saw some, but we only saw their droppings.

Driving on, we approached the first pull-out. Looking in one direction, we saw this.

Turning directly around, we saw this:

It's one of those landscapes so immense that it can't be captured well with photography. Here's a panorama of the area. That's Mike and Erik on the left side.

Driving on, we were about halfway around the scenic drive when we pulled off for the first of three hiking trails.

It was windy enough, Mike was motivated to get out his anemometer to measure the wind speed. It was around 17 mph with big gusts. Fortunately, the hiking trails were somewhat sheltered, and so we weren't bothered too much by the wind.

The trails were pretty easy, but included a few spots of rugged terrain.

Also, some nice stone steps.

And big boulders to duck under.

On this trek, we first came to the spring.

 There wasn't a lot to see here, but there was water in the spring.

Walking on, we saw tall Ponderosa Pines...the same variety we see in Bend, Oregon.

Eventually, we came to a trickle of a waterfall. Beneath the rocks there was ice.

This was an in and out hike, and we'd reached the end of the trail. We walked back out and drove on to the next trailhead. From the parking area, we could see rock climbers rappelling from the cliff face. You can see one marked with an arrow in the image below.

But this was what caused us to stop here.

It was a very short loop hike to see the petroglyphs.

Here's some information about them:

If you've ever wondered about the difference between Pictographs and Petroglyphs, wonder no more:

It was cloudy for most of the day, but the sun shone a spotlight on the red cliffs in the distance as we drove on to the next trailhead. We stopped for this photo.

The sunshine was short-lived, and we drove on to the final trailhead for the day's adventures.

It was a longer hike down a hill and into a creek bed. If you look in the middle of the image below, you'll see a line of Ponderosa Pines extending from the left side of the image and toward the right.

The creek bed was described as "dry," but there was water in it on this day.

This is the site of a controlled burn back in 1992. Here is some information about the burn and why it is helpful to the landscape.

I might not know it had been burned, but there is still some evidence.

We paused for one more picture before heading back to the truck and driving back to Pahrump.

Mike smoked a pork tenderloin for dinner. We picked up some fresh corn (fresh, but not very good) and I had a seven layer salad from the day before. We had a nice dinner in the RV and then planned our comings and goings for the next couple of days. Erik and Mae are staying at a rented house up the road. They'll be joining us for free waffles at the park clubhouse this morning, and then we'll take them to Death Valley. It will be the first visit for both, and I'm afraid today's journey will only just barely scratch the surface of the park. We also have a dinner planned at the restaurant associated with the winery, but that will be for Tuesday evening.

With so much going on, I don't know how much time I'll have for stitching. I'm behind on the stitched inchies, having not finished yesterday's. A new one will be released today, and so I'll be playing catch-up on those. The next few days will be heavy with pictures. Keep your coffee cup warmed up.