Snowshoeing on the North Loop (with Jerry & Cheryl) - 11/23/25

Always ready for a bit of snowshoeing, Jerry and Cheryl drove up to the North Loop Trailhead and hiked up to the meadow. Tons of snow and they got a few photos. Cheryl also wrote a few lines. Thanks guys!

We snowshoed North Loop Sunday (we got to WI yesterday). Lots of snow. Several feet but starting to melt now that the sun is out. Any time we passed under a tree it was “raining” and crunchy icy on the ground. We were almost to the car when a big load of snow dropped on my head and down my back yikes brrrr! It was very pretty. We had planned to do as usual and go to the top of Raintree Peak and then Raintree but past the meadows the trail ran out. We usually don’t snowshoe right after a snowfall and rarely have to make the boot path. We were glad folks had done that up to the meadows but it didn’t seem anyone including us was willing to keep going. Boot path making in snow is tough. The sun was warm and going up I was in just a rasher. 

Going down is always colder with less exertion and more shade. 

The craziest thing was on the drive home. When we got to the traffic circle the traffic was nuts. For a good mile+ cars were backed up on Kyle Canyon Rd on their way up the mountain. Car after car after car just sitting on the road in bumper to bumper traffic not moving. In 35 years I’ve never seen this. It was 2:10 pm. I know it was a Sunday but still odd. 

Odd also that past the traffic circle before Deer Creek Rd people had just pulled off letting their kids play in the snow. The problem is that there was hardly any snow and they were just “playing” in some crystallized ice on top of very visible dirt. They should’ve gone further up or to Lee Canyon.

The snow was heavy and somewhat sticky. I think it sleeted on Saturday and then regular snowed that night so there was a wetness to it. It stuck on our snowshoes. At one point it felt like my one snowshoe weighed five pounds. We had to be careful to ensure our poles didn’t get caught in the snow. There were people on the “trail” with no foot gear or even a pole. They were falling down and slipping all over. Hope no one got hurt. There was a young guy on skis and his dog who ran next to him. He had said the snow stuck to his skis even with the skins on. It was a very pretty, fun day. Cheryl & Jerry 

Happy Thanksgiving!

Little Zebra Loop (Valley of Fire State Park) Photo Essay - 11/18/25

Valley of Fire State Park

David crosses the gorgeous Terrain

Sunrise on Valley of Fire

The absolute best time to visit Valley of Fire for photography is when the sky is like it was on this hike!

Morning from P1 trailhead Parking

Mouse's Tank / White Domes Road

Starting down the Little Zebra Slot Wash

Just a couple of light Scrambles

A group of seven club members drove up I-15 to exit 75 and continued out to the Valley of Fire State Park at the dutiful 45 mph. Yes, it's slow but the Moapa police are serious, I understand. Through the park gate, we showed our local ID and paid $10. The new visitor center is scheduled to open in a few days so we continued on to the old VC to use their facilities. After searching for a map on the internet that showed where P1 trailhead is located, we had not found anything. (Fix that, will ya!) I asked the guy at the gate and he showed me his map that showed that P1 is the first trailhead parking after passing Fire Canyon Road. That's simple! So, we parked at P1. The rest of the group gathered there and we started our hike by crossing the paved road.

 

Great group of hikers enjoying the Slot

David leads us down the sandy Wash

Sue scrambles through an Obstacle

Hiking straight across the desert terrain, we tried hard to stay in little sandy washes so that we stayed out of the cryptobiotic soil.

David's photo of Little Zebra Slot

Little Zebra Slot from Above

Hiking above Little Zebra Slot

Orange Wash

Finally, we dropped down into a sandy wash about fifteen feet wide and turned left. The area had just gotten a dose of rain the day before so the sand was easy to hike. Already, we were getting glimpses of the gorgeous scenery ahead. Since the sun was coming up under the clouds, the lighting was optimal. The wash we were in, continued with just a few scrambles as it narrowed down. Finally, not too far into the hike, we came to Little Zebra Slot. Yes, it's little. However, it is beautiful with its orange stripes and curves. I hear that it is more fun when there is less sand inside and you can hike through. (Oh well. We have to go back!) Here, we made a sharp turn back and up onto the rocks to the right.

Our flattish terrain with rock hills in Background

Kay enjoys the Colors

Kay on the yellow Section

We hiked overland back to a connecting wash and curved up to the left. We passed a few pieces of petrified wood and went up and over a small rock ridge.

Yellow Section

Fire Colors

Climbing up to the petrified Wood

Chunks of petrified Wood

Up on the ridge, the views of fire colors were exceptional. We spent a lot of time wandering around making sure we got the best photos we could get ... without tripods. We passed through a yellow rock section. This just added to the festive surroundings. As we peered to the east, we saw Virgin Peak rising into the clouds. Gold Butte is located in that area but between us and Gold Butte, there is Lake Mead! It's not as easy as it looks to get over to that location. After crossing through the yellow section and filling our eyes with color, we continued to the top of a wide wash that flowed to the left and down to the right. It was beautiful and easy, so our exploratory group dove in.

Sunlight coming through the overcast Terrain

The group descends a wide wash with Virgin Peak in the Background

Striations

The descent through this wash was not difficult. We just had to stay out of the middle, at times, because of a few deep tinajas filling the potholes there.

The wide wash ends with a few tinajas.

The wide Wash

The group descending the wide Wash

David shows the depth of the Tinaja

David decided to use the tinaja theatre as today's break place. We found our own seat and rested for a short few minutes. Afterwards, we continued down a little further and junctioned with another wash that rose up to the right in a little steeper fashion. The scramble was easy and we ended up following a game trail through the brush until we found ourselves climbing up a gentle small sandy wash nearing the top. At the top of this small shallow wash, we got our headings and pointed our noses to the trailhead about 3/4 mile away. Again, we hiked overland trying very hard not to step in the ever-present cryptobiotic soil. For most of this trek, we could see the cars far away and just headed straight for them. It was a great day!

Taking a break near the bottom of the wide Wash

Taking a break at the side of the Tinajas

Climbing up in the next Wash

Stats: 3.2 (Valley of Fire) miles; 600' gain; 3 hours

Hiking back to cars through shallow sandy Wash

Hiking Overland

Back at the trailhead with a gorgeous Sky

Cottonwood Overlook - 11/6/25

Meditation Point from Cottonwood Overlook

Hollow Rock Peak from trail to Cottonwood Overlook (R)

Potosi Mountain Road from Cottonwood Overlook
Pasrump and Bluebird Peaks on range Beyond

Scariest scramble near Beginning

I parked with the two newbies in the car at the junction of SR 160 and Potosi Mountain Road. Looking at the rock wall across the road from our cubby next to the fence, I waited for their first question. "Where do we go from here?" they asked. Still looking at the rock wall that seemingly offered a rock-climb and nothing else, I gestured to the wall and said, "Up there." Their quiet disposition said it all so I put them out of their misery. "It's not as bad as it looks. There's a trail, a little bit of scrambling and a lot of zigzags." The Wanderers know me by now and those few words were enough to quell any fears that might have popped up and, off we went.

      The trail began straight across from our parking space through the bushes. Immediately, we started up. Our first "scramble" was deemed "the scariest!" It was a shuffle along a rock ledge with a small step up at the other end. They took it on like pros, without blinking. Perhaps they were looking at me like I was the wuss. Hmm. Maybe I am. Nevertheless, everyone made it across the ledge and began an 800' climb over the course of 0.7 mile. The trail is very interesting having been placed there by actual rock climbers to enable themselves to reach the various walls.

Scrambling up the side of the Hill

Waking up on the Rocks

Getting into the rhythm of the Trail

Movin' on Up

The trail has been recently maintained and was easier to follow than any of the previous 4-5 times I have been there. There were only two exceptions. Since this is primarily a rock climbers trail, it is understandable that the trail directs hikers to their walls. This is fine. However, two places in particular are misleading. One is a trail fork. If you go straight, you are led on a long search for a beautiful wall when, in fact, you should have read the cairns a little more carefully and turned up to the left. At another place, the trail leads you right around a corner by a tree instead of suggesting to hikers to turn left at the tree and proceed with a trail that climbs up past a cliff band and around to the right.

After left turn at Tree

Spring Mountains View

Climbing the trail to the big Sign

Group photo at the Big Sign

Taking this trail up past the cliff band and on around the mountain to the right puts hikers at the first large sign. When you see this sign made by the BSA, you are "home free!" We took the left up fork at the sign switchback and followed the much improved trail up to a second sign turning us to the left. It isn't much further on this section before you are climbing up onto Cottonwood Overlook. The overlook is a plateau of sorts where the trail circles around and up to end at a collection of rocks to sit on. While we enjoyed the log book entries, we took in the panoramic views. Since the overlook rises at the south end of the Red Rock escarpment, we could see several of its peaks going north. In the other direction, we saw Meditation Point and Mt. Potosi and the next range to the west toward Pahrump. Within this last range, the two tallest peaks are Pahsrump and Bluebird Peaks. If we hiked further on the plateau, an open view of Cottonwood Valley would unfold before us.

Pahsrump Peak from Overlook Trail

Sue at second Sign

Cottonwood Overlook from Approach

Spring Mountains view from top of Plateau

After our break on top, we hiked down the same way until we came to the first large sign. Here, we continued around the switchback and began a gorgeous hike along the rock wall going south. Below us, we could see Potosi Mountain Road. We passed through free-standing pinnacle-like outcrops and crossed a "mother of all rock slides." Watching the pond down to our right, we knew our descent ridge was coming up. The descent ridge ran easily next to the pond falling in a northwest direction. After wading through some brush, we found the clear path on the ridge. This ridge was used to string telephone or electric lines. We peered overhead and followed underneath the lines all the way down to Potosi Mountain Road.

Climbing to high Point

Climbing to high Point

Cottonwood Valley from high point of Cottonwood Overlook

Return Trail

At the dirt road, we turned to the right. All that remained was a 3/4 mile trek down the middle of the road. It is very important that during this part of your hike, you are on your best behavior! No trespassing into the brush to the right or left and appear as innocent as you are able! Can't be that hard, right? This is a very impressive hike due to its interesting terrain and beautiful reward of views. 

Stats: 4.6 miles; 1200' gain; 4.25 hours

Crossing rock fall on return Trail

BSA pond from Descent

Plateau of Cottonwood Overlook above from return on Potosi Mountain Road