Day Hike: Red Rock Canyon Conservation Area

Earlier in the year, I was offered the opportunity to attend a technical conference in Las Vegas. After a bit of scouting around the area, I came across Red Rock Canyon Conservation Area, and found some great hiking trails. Following are the trails I picked for the day.

The day started by waking up in Sandy Valley in one of the many free camping areas set up along Sandy Valley Road. The hope was to get some nice images of the Milky Way, however the full moon ended that. I did learn that there is a name for this free camping: boondocking. Essentially, this is the practice of camping for free on public lands. It's not unlike camping in a campground, but without the amenities. It's perfectly legal on established sites, but the same 'leave no trace' rules apply. It was incredibly cold, but still a beautiful sunrise.

The first light over the mountain range just south of Mineral Springs. Sirius appears as the brightest object in the sky.

Mountains north of Hwy 160 in Sandy Valley.

I then drove to the conservation area, and paid $15 for my day pass. I parked in one of the parking lots, and readied my gear. I hit Whole Foods the night before, and bought about a gallon and a half of water to fill my bottles and camel bag. It was then time to start. As a side note, there are clean water fill-up stations at the visitor center, so bringing your own water is not a necessity.

There is a trail head on the west side of the picnic tables (situated next to the upper parking lot) that provides a nice start. It takes you west, then curves around north of the visitor's center, then crosses the road toward the three Calico stops. Hiking next to this ridge was really interesting. There are multiple laysers of rock here, some red-orange, some light tan, and some gray. There is a bit of up and down along this trail, but nothing more than 10 - 20 meters. There is a small bit of scrambling, but I can't see calling this section difficult. One tip: when the path ends up going over the rock, look for a washed-out path along the rock. This is where dust from the rest of the trail is deposited, and it acts as a guide when walking over the rock.

Starting the hike, heading toward the first Calico lookout point.

Each of the Calico stops (Calico 1 and Calico 2) are beautiful. There is a parking lot for each, however no infrastructure. The longer section after Calico 2 takes you to the third stop, which includes restrooms. Heading north from that parking lot, you are quickly met with a sign: right for the Calico Tanks, and left for Turtlehead Peak. I started out by heading toward the tanks.

This was essentially walking through a ravine between two ridges to the north and south. As you get deeper in, you end up scrambling to multiple beautiful lookout points. From there, you can see Las Vegas, as well as the visitor's center where we started out. Looking behind, you can also see Turtlehead Peak. The return from the tanks is essentially retracing our steps out. It's important to be careful here, as sand is deposited all over the rock by the multitudes of tennis shoes going in and out of the tanks. That makes for lots of opportunities to lose your footing.

Hiking up in the Calico Tanks with ridges to the left and right.

A view of the visitor's center wehere I started out that morning from one of the lookouts on Calico Tanks.

Back at the sign, I turned right, and headed up toward Turtlehead Peak. At first, the climb wasn't too bad. There was a slight increase in elevation as we walk through a washout to get to the base of the mountain. Then the increase becomes more pronounced as we start to ascend up the sand and gravel mixture that has worn off the mountain over the past few hundred thousand years. At some point, we start seeing sharp, jagged rocks protruding from the ground, and the scrambling begins. This stretch was for me, the hardest part of the climb. This will get you up to the ridge very close to the peak. The entire trail is marked with orange paint (usually either a circle to indicate that you are on the path, or an arrow telling you which way to turn). Once we hit the ridge, the incline is not as bad. You work your way around to the north side of the mountain, and there are trails that follow around the peak with a slow incline, or you can head straight to the top. I selected the longer but less inclined route.

A view north from the ridge of Turtlehead mountain.

Looking at Google Earth, and other maps, it appears as if the trail stops a few hundred feet short of the peak. This was not the case. If you keep an eye out, you will see small straight lines or two dots side by side in a bluish-grey color from a spray paint can. These will guide you to the top, though at this point, it's not really necessary, as it's obvious how to get to the peak.

A view of Las Vegas, the visitor's center, and the Calico Tanks from Turtlehead Peak.

At the top, once I slowed down, I noticed it was significantly colder. It was probably in the upper 20s or low 30s at around 2:30 p.m. Again, the views were stunning. The multicolored rock really popped out, and the surrounding mountains quite a bit to take in. At this point, I have hiked roughly 8 miles with over 3000 feet of cumulative climb. I was extremely tired. Unlike the Bald Mountain climb, there was plenty of oxygen (altitude was only 6323 feet). That said, the steep stage of the climb really hit me hard. After a few pictures, I hooked up with a group of friends from the area doing their 'regular weekend hike' for the hike down.

Made it!

Here is an important point about hiking up mountains. Hiking down is definitely easier, but it is in no way, easy. I started to get pretty tired, especially on the steep parts as it took a lot to keep myself balanced, and stop myself on each step down. By the end of the hike, my left knee was pretty sore, and remained like that for two days. This is a great place for some trekking poles to take some of the shock in stepping down.

When I got back to the parking lot, I chose to hike along the road back down to the visitor center. I was hoping to hit Icebox Canyon, but time did not allow. I took the road all the way back to the visitor's center. The hike down was 1 1/2 hours.

There is no way to describe the beauty of this area. The mountains are larger than anything I've ever seen, and stand silently, daring you to try to climb them. The sky is a beautiful shade of blue, unmarred from air pollution. The air was clean, and the silence was amazing. This is easily one of my favorite hikes ever, and definitely worth repeating, should I ever be back in the area. Here's a short video of the hike:

The red marks the trail I followed. It starts in the lower-right corner.

Elevation profile for this hike. The first peak is Calico Tanks, the second, taller is Turtlehead Peak.

Details:
Time: ~7 hours
Distance: 12.24 miles
Cumulative Climb: 3492 ft.
Min Elevation 3704 ft.
Max Elevation: 6323 ft.
Temp: 20s - 42 deg. F

Hiking the Dunes: Warren Dunes State Park

Finally, after a waiting over a year, I've made it to Warren Dunes State Park. The drive was longer than I'm used to, but it was worth it. First tip: Bring cash to the main gate. The alternative is to be directed to the campground entrance where cards are accepted.

Once in (and having paid at the campground office), I headed back toward the main gate and turned off early into a parking lot. This is the trail head. I started out entering the trail, and taking a right (to do the loop counter-clockwise). The wooded area was humid, and very flat. Insects were not really bothersome, in spite of all the recent rains. Speaking of... There were a number of muddy areas along the trail, but most had a small path going around.

I decided to take trail 11, which should have looped back to the same spot, at which I would head north. Roughly 1/3 mile in, I realized that the trail was not curving back around as it did in the map. At that time, a hiker came by and told me of a really interesting undocumented trail that went over a hill to a water tower, and finally ended on the beach. I decided to try it. I made it over the hill (good workout, by the way), but the entire trail was covered with spider webs. Every 40 or 50 feet, I would walk into another. When the trail started to become obscured by overgrowth, I elected to head back the way I came, and just turn right to head toward the beach.

After a bit more woodland, the trees thinned out into a mostly sand covered area. From that into sand dunes spotted with maram grass. I found my way to a tree in the valley between two dunes, and sat for some shade, rest, and water. After a protein bar and some water, it was back to it. I hit the lake shore, and the temperature cooled a bit. There was also a nice breeze. When I walked inland back to the trail, the temperature seemed to climb 15 degrees (which I withstood for another thirty seconds until I could get my self back to the shoreline).

Once I hit the parking lot, I turned south to head back. I immediately started up one incline, then another, and another. I ended up climbing the edge of the dune on the north end of the parking lot. After a walk through a small barren area (only sand), I headed down to find a shady spot again to rest. At this point, I was starting to suffer from symptoms of heat exhaustion. Despite the fact that I wanted only to get back to the truck into some air conditioning, I stayed there cooling off until I felt rested.

The next part was completely off trail. I stayed in the valley between the two dunes so I could minimize climbing. I also headed straight for the nearest set of trees that were back toward the trail head. I ended up topping one more dune, crossing the a stream, and doubling back about a half mile, but I was back at the trail head, dumping the sand from my shoes.

And in all of that, nature finds it's slow but certain way, quietly. Each step shakes lose a small bit of the worry of the day. And I am in awe of our tiny existence in the universe.

DETAILS
Time: 4 hours
Distance: 4.98 miles
Cumulative Climb: 682 ft.
Min Elevation 560 ft.
Max Elevation: 754 ft.
Temp: 95 deg. F

Day Hike: Devil's Lake State Park

I took a day to head out to Devil's Lake State Park in Wisconsin to do some hiking. This one was the longest, and most difficult of all of my day hikes, thus far. It had some of the most beautiful views, but also some points that were a bit discouraging.

After paying for parking, and getting a trail map at the visitor center, I started off about 7:30 a.m. I picked up the West Bluff trail head in the main park area. From here it was straight up for about 480 feet. The remainder of the West bluff was up and down for a while along the west side of the lake. Views were really beautiful, and the trail was entirely paved (or natural rock). A steep decline put me on the south edge of the lake. There was a good bit of walking next to a road until I reached the southern park area. That took me to Grotto's Trail. This was a nice area, walking along the base of the southern face of East Bluff for a while. The entire time you would hear traffic from the same road I walked along earlier. Then it was across some railroad tracks, and a steep incline up.

On West Bluff looking southeast.

The hike up the southern face was very hard. It was mitigated with some stairs made from the quartzite rocks, but still a very steep incline. I passed some other hikers, and sport climbers along the way. A portion of this climb is in the video:

Once at the top of the east bluff, I took a break and prepared for the hike east on the Ice Age trail. Unfortunately, the map provided in the visitor center incorrectly had me go east right above the incline. This started taking me along what appeared to be a trail, but eventually turned into nothing more than a gulley carved out by rainfall runoff. I ended up doubling back, and up around 150ft back to the top of East Bluff. More wandering around, and I eventually found the Ice Age Trail by way of the East Bluff Woods Trail. This entire area is littered with signage, but there are a number of unmarked intersections which leave you searching for which trail you want to be on. This area is also full of other hikers and tourists there for the views of the lake.

Atop the southern face of East Bluff looking east-southeast.

Once back on the Ice Age Trail, I headed east, and back down the mountain to Roznos Meadows. This was a nice leisurely stroll with a welcomed flat surface. A few small inclines, and nice views of the southern face of East Bluff puts you at a trail head along highway 113. It was at this point where I realized that I would not have time to make it to Parfrey's Glen (the original eastern-most destination), so I took 113 North to another Ice Age trail head. This was, in a word, grueling. It was over a mile up from 860 to over 1300 feet. In addition, walking along the highway was hot with little by way of a comfortable place to rest. I finally hit the trail head, and headed back into the woodland.

Looking at the south face of East Bluff from Roznos Meadows.

My first stop was just inside the wooded area where I stopped at a huge log for some lunch and a rest. The break and refueling did a lot to re-energize. I recall distinctly the apple which was not only sweet, but very cool. Notwithstanding some ups and downs in elevation, this was generally a long downhill portion of the hike, taking me down to the campgrounds back in the park's main area. It also took me to another poorly marked part of the trail. I ended up working my way through the entire campground, missing where the trail headed back to the parking lot where I parked.

All in all, I would probably like to try the trail again, but with less of a time constraint (I had to be back at the hotel by 3:30 p.m.) I would be able to skip the highway 113 portion, and hit Parfrey's Glen. The views were beautiful, and once you picked up the trail east from the south face, there were no people at all.

The 15.3 mile loop. Darker color is higher elevation, gree (in Roznos Meadows) is the lowest elevation.

The elevation profile. The first incline was up West Bluff. The second is Grotto's Trail, then up the south face. The find steep incline is up highway 113.

Details

Min. Altitude: 797 ft.
Max Altitude: 1528 ft.
Cumulative ascension: 3024 ft.
Distance: 15.3 miles
Duration: 6 h 50 min.
Temp: mid 70s - upper 80s F.

My First Book

Well, this was a long time coming (since 2007, actually), but I finally finished my first book. Really more of a story, it's only 41 pages, and that includes appendices. But it's finished.

I started this in 2007, in a search to find out, as best I could, what happened to the B-17 carrying my great uncle Richard E. Hargrove in their flight from Gander, Newfoundland to Warton, England in 1943. They were lost early in the flight with no trace.

After meeting family of other crew members, and a navigator that was part of the group flying over that night, I pieced together, and analyzed the evidence, which resulted in this story.

One of the nice things about researching a topic like this is that going in, I felt I knew what happened, but after a detailed review of reports, communications, and stories, I have completely changed my view of what I think is the most probable reason they went missing.

From the Contents:

Introduction
The Crew
Training
The Ferry
Aftermath
Epilogue
Appendix A: Report of Aircraft Accident
Appendix B: Missing Air Crew (MAC) Report
Appendix C: Next of Kin List
References