I accompanied my husband for a week of hiking before he attended a long delayed outdoor photography course in southern Utah. We began by flying to Las Vegas. Unfortunately, the friend we planned to visit there had a last minute family emergency. And much as we wanted to see the Beatles Cirque du Soleil show, we were not ready to be with unmasked people indoors for that amount of time. So, we kept to our hotel, and to the great outdoors, of which there is plenty to go around in this part of the world!
April 21 – Flying to Las Vegas
Flying over Mt Jefferson on our way south…
And directly over Red Rock Canyon, with its beautifully displayed Keystone Thrust Fault (gray Paleozoic Limestone lying atop tan and red Mesozoic sandstones), where we would be hiking tomorrow.
We circled the Las Vegas strip before landing.
We could see the strip skyline from our hotel:
By day;
including the marquee for the show we wanted to see;
And by night.
April 22 – Red Rock Canyon
As we drove west toward Red Rock Canyon, we could see a storm coming in…
We began at the Visitor Center, which has excellent outdoor exhibits that explain every category of natural and human history of the area.
Sheepshead Peak and Calico Basin redrocks
Geology exhibit, storm clouds
Desert tortoise
Wildflowers, storm clouds
Then, instead of being allowed to drive the 13 mile one way scenic drive to trailheads and viewpoints, we were asked to leave, as they were evacuating the park. We assumed it was due to flash flood hazard. Fortunately we had noticed nearby Calico Basin Trailhead, which was not closed. We waited in our car as the brief storm passed through, then hiked the Calico Basin and Red Springs trails.
In Calico Basin, it was lovely to walk among the cross bedded sandstones and spring flowers, to a small canyon. I heard, for the first time in many years, the descending scale of the Canyon Wren song, though I never did see the bird.
Trailhead
Sheepshead Peak again, beyond Calico Basin
Paper daisy? Lots of new to me wildflowers on this trip.
Hedgehog cactus
Crossbedded sandstone
Canyon at the end of the trail
White crowned sparrow?
As we walked the boardwalk around Red Springs, we saw more birds, flowers, and interesting rocks, all the while being serenaded by violin music from an ongoing wedding.
Red Springs
California Quail
Petroglyphs, orange globe mallow, white evening primrose
View back to Las Vegas from the ridge above Red Springs
View back into Calico Basin
We decided to check the park entrance again, and it had just reopened, so we drove the Scenic Loop, stopping for views at the High Point Overlook:
Toward the southeast, Calico Basin
Sheepshead Peak, Paleozoic limestone to the northeast
More Paleozoic limestone to the north
Northwestern slopes of Red Rock Canyon
Western slopes
Then we drove into the Willow Springs area, and took two short walks into the rocky landscape.
First, the Petrogyph Trail:
Trailhead
We spotted a pale pink penstemon in the wash.
Signage at the Petroglyph Wall
Pictographs
Petroglyphs
Next, we walked a labyrinthian maze to Lost Creek:
Trailhead
Around the tree, up the stairs,
Under the overhanging rock,
To a trickling waterfall at the end of the trail.
Finally, we stopped at Red Rock Wash Overlook for a last view of the area.
Late afternoon light over Sheepshead Peak and Calico Basin.
We enjoyed our day in this beautiful landscape; and were next looking forward to a few days of hiking in southern Utah.
Last words from the Visitor Center.
Margaret Quilts 