Raintree / Mummy Springs Loop (with a little snow) - 5/11/26

Mummy Springs (right of center) before snow Crossing

Raintree Junction

Descending Deer Creek Ridge

Mummy's Nose from North Loop Trailhead

Sometimes, do you ever get a burr up your ass ... ahem ... rearend and just want to do something that everyone says you shouldn't do?  ... Like, hike alone. Normally, this isn't a problem in the Las Vegas area. But, my usual hiking buddies weren't up to the task of higher elevations, yet. However, I was pulling at the reins and decided to go up Deer Creek Road to the North Loop Trailhead for a delve into the elevations that I had not tasted, yet, this season. (Is that enough metaphors? Okay, I'll stop!) I had intended to only hike to Raintree if I was feeling up to it. So, up I went with only a couple of hikers on the trail so far. I took it slow and easy and felt very comfortable. My Lady Hikers and I had only done one hike in the elevations earlier this week on the South Loop de Loop.

North Loop Trail

North Loop Meadow

A North Loop Switchback

This photo is for Onyx. One of her friends.

I looked around to see things that I had not seen before since I'm usually either going too fast or talking. Yes, those are sometimes good things. But, today, for instance, I decided to take a short cut up the last switchbacks to the meadow. This is a shortcut that Guy showed me way way back. So, for only the second time ever, I took a small ridge up to the meadow. As I was away from the trail, a hiker passed me on the North Loop not too far away. When I reached the meadow, he asked me how far he had to go. I told him what I knew and he went ahead as we both tackled the switchbacks at our own speed. Just before reaching the High Point Corner, I met up with the first snow drift.

Snow near High Point Corner

Three peaks seen from North Loop Trail Ridge

A look up into Raintree

Mummy's Toe above Raintree

Further down the trail, I came to Raintree without much more snow. I sat and took a break then decided to continue down to Mummy Springs, the first small risk I had taken. Why? Well, you never know how much snow you will encounter on the trail. So, I came to a snow crossing about half way down to the springs. It wasn't difficult to cross it with others' post holes. But wait ... there's more! Just before I reached the springs area, there was another snow crossing. This one was longer and the post holes weren't as dependable. Phew! I got across that one, too, not really wanting to have to return that way! Shortly afterwards, there was snow most of the way across the bottom of the springs area. 

Snow river down a gulley from Mummy Springs Trail

Mummy Springs after snow Crossing

The treacherous snow crossing below Mummy Springs

Mummy's Toe from trail down Deer Creek Ridge

People had made snow steps but they were less dependable than even the previous crossing and the price for falling would have been more dangerous. My first reaction 😕 was to climb up the hill to my left out of the snow. Not a great decision. I got up about thirty feet to take some photos of the running spring water then ... had to resort to sitting for the descent back to the trail. I studied the snow and terrain for 5-10 minutes and finally decided I had to try crossing the snow just like others had. I'm just not great with snow! Well, I studied every step. There were not many useful footsteps in the snow. The terrain descended sharply on the right and ascended sharply on the left. And, ... there were a few small trees in the way bending into the trail with a small drop made by the slippery snow. A fine mess you got yourself into, Kay! Very slowly and very carefully, I made every step count as I negotiated the brush and snow-covered terrain. Luckily, the snow crossing was only about thirty feet. ... But, do you like the photos?? Anything for a photo, right? Well, I lived to tell the tale. I had already eyed the descent ridge on the other side and knew that it was in the sun and snow free. So, after recovering from the fright, I continued around to take the Deer Creek Trail junction, a right turn.

Descending Deer Creek Ridge

Deer Creek Trail

Dilapidated Fortress 

Deer Creek Trail junctioning with Cougar Ridged Trail

The Deer Creek Trail is very familiar to many of us and I slowly made my way down taking yet another break. At the bottom of the ridge, the steepness changed to an easy forest trail down by the running water. As I walked down Cougar Ridge Trail, a dirt road, I found the trail on the right that takes you up to the foot of Wild Horse Ridge and over to Wild Horse Canyon. Upon emerging onto Deer Creek Road, I found a few familiar trails to take me off of the side of the road and return to the North Loop Trailhead. I really enjoyed my day off alone in the woods! But, my recommendation is to always have a buddy!

Stats: 5.7 miles; 1770' gain; 4.5 hours

Cougar Ridge Trail

Trail leading to the base of Wild Horse Ridge

Bottom of Wild Horse Canyon

Dead Man Canyon to Gravel Canyon O&B - 5/4/26

Approaching Gravel Canyon

Mouth of Gravel Canyon

Hidden Forest Cabin photos from 2014

(So, who is that standing next to the corral 12 years ago?)

Approach to Dead Man Canyon & Hidden Forest

Lady Hikers on an Adventure

Looking for different places to hike with not a lot of elevation gain due to an injury, the Lady Hikers went on an adventure into the Desert National Wildlife Refuge (DNWR). Susan drives a Subaru and we piled in for a very long drive out Alamo Road. Alamo Road begins at the DNWR Visitor Center on Corn Creek Road turning to the left. We drove 15 miles on Alamo Road and another 4 miles on Hidden Forest Road at an average of 12mph. (Yep.) Well, none of us wanted to get a flat tire since we are all just "pampered" senior ladies with fantastic husbands who do all of that stuff. However, the road conditions were excellent! We rarely needed high clearance ... only when the middle of the dirt road was piled with a few inches of rocks.

Entering Dead Man Canyon

Starting up Hidden Forest Trail

Susan at the perspective Point

Heading into taller Walls

We had stopped at the visitor center and signed in as a safety precaution. There haven't been a lot of visitors going into the back country lately. (Or, at least, ones that have signed in.) Driving out to the trailhead, an SUV came flying by us. We saw the SUV later at the trailhead and passed him and his dog on the trail. He said he takes Rosie out for hiking in the DNWR quite often. Nice guy. He had hiked out to around the 4 mile mark that morning. The trail is covered with gravel for the first 2.5 miles or so. There was a lot of crunching going on. The path is very clear. For this hike, we went up 2 miles until the trail junctioned with what we dubbed Gravel Canyon. It comes in from the right and a storm, maybe Hurricane Hilary, had brought down tons of gravel to pile into Dead Man Canyon at its mouth. Curious, we turned to the right and hiked up the canyon a little just to get a feel for it. We had planned not to go all the way to the cabin anyway. The canyon flora and debris closed in on the gravel carpet and we decided not to pursue the route. Seeing that the day was passing quickly, we turned around here and hiked back down to the mouth of "Gravel Canyon" to take our break. Notes on the Hidden Forest Cabin and Trail were printed on a sign at the trailhead: 

The Hidden Forest Trail

"The Hidden Forest Trail begins at the mouth of Dead Man Canyon and as you ascend you’ll find yourself staring into the majestic canopy of a ponderosa pine forest. This forest cathedral is a welcome respite from the desert heat and shelters a historic game warden’s cabin at the trail’s end. Near the cabin you will find Wiregrass Spring bubbling out of the hillside. Hidden Forest Trail is the typical access point to Hayford Peak."

Canyon narrows as we search for bighorns on the Cliffs (none, of course)

Blooming cliffrose was a delight!

Hidden Forest Trail

Hidden Forest Trail

Although I have been to the cabin 3 times, I have not climbed Hayford Peak. Unless you are a really strong fast hiker, Hayford Peak is not a day hike. A lot of people stay in the cabin at the end of Dead Man Canyon overnight for this adventure. Or, they simply backpack in. Hayford Peak has a prominence of 5,392' topping out at 9,924' being the tallest mountain in the Sheep Range. The Hidden Forest Cabin lies at 7,850' in elevation. The trailhead of Dead Man Canyon is at 5,863'. (You do the math!) For our hike today, we reached an elevation of 6,878'. On the return, the crunching seemed endless! Susan found a collared lizard and our car was safe at the trailhead! We drove slightly faster on the way back down Alamo Road. I think the jostling fixed my back that had been hurting for a couple of weeks! All that and a chiropractor, too!

Stats: 5 miles; 1040' gain; 3.5 hours hike time

Nearing Gravel Canyon Junction

Heading out of Dead Man Canyon

A small collared Lizard

Moenkopi Brokeback Loop (to Cowboy Hill O&B) - 4/25/26

Wilson and Rainbow Peaks from Brokeback Mountain Trail

Kraft Mountain from Moenkopi Trail

Cliffs along Red Rock Wash

Moenkopi Trail

Over the last few years, bike trails have popped up between the North Blue Diamond Hill and SR 159 across from Calico Basin. Until recently, these trails didn't seem that attractive to hikers since they began as routes for bikers to enter Red Rock without having to deal with the fee booth traffic. Now, these trails have become very interesting. They offer sandstone outcrops, access to Cowboy Hill and the rest of the North Blue Diamond Hill trail system from the Moenkopi Trailhead, cliff inspections, and culvert tunnels! For what more could you ask? So, the other day, Susan and I parked at the Moenkopi Trailhead, went through the pedestrian gate and took a hard right to begin our exploration.

Dipping down to Red Rock Wash on Moenkopi Trail

View back after reaching Wash

View of North Blue Diamond Hill from Moenkopi Trail

Sandstone outcrop on Brokeback Mountain Trail

The vague trail to the right led straight over to the cliff that rises above the very wide Red Rock Wash. There is a use trail that leads down but we preferred to go back to the Moenkopi Trail and hike in style. The vague trail continues along and back over to the main trail. Following the Moenkopi Trail we passed the Firehouse Trail junction, another trail that led down to the wash and the Yellow Sandstone Trail junction. We continued straight.

Susan poking around for Fossils

Kay enjoying the Views

Sandstone wash at bottom of Muffins Hill

View back down sandstone Wash

As we hiked, the trail lowered down into the wash. To our right, all we could see was 0.15 mile of gravel and brush reaching across to SR 159. Soon, we passed colorfully painted rocks that clued us in on the names of our trail and a trail that forked to the right. Our trail was named Brokeback Mountain Trail, due to the path of the trail wandering up and down the hillside to the left. The trail forking to the right leads to a culvert tunnel into Red Rock. (We will explore that at a later date.) As we continued following Brokeback Mountain Trail, we found ourselves hiking along the base of the hill on a sandstone outcrop. There were a couple of places where the sandstone reached up the hill. We climbed up one to take a look. Hmm. Pretty cool. 😎 The trail proceeded up the wash along the base of the hill and met up with one of the Cowboy Trails at a small canyon wash. We took a right fork and continued up toward the Muffins approach trail. (Very familiar territory!) To put an exclamation point on this newly created hike, we made our way over past the horse corral and found a good start to the vague trail that climbs up what I am calling Cowboy Hill. This trail didn't always appear vague!

Trail leading back down to Red Rock Wash

Cowboy Hill in foreground to Right

Trail leading to horse Corrals

Corralled horses for visitors' Enjoyment

In fact, by the looks of the complete Cowboy Hill Trail, it was once used as part of the trail rides for said visitors. However, it is not used anymore for the horse rides and seldom do we see hikers along the ridge. It is difficult to find the zigzagging trail up the southwest side of the hill but somehow, I always find it near the top of the initial climb. The trail follows along the ridge of the hill and eventually comes to a small peak where there used to be a circle for the horse trains. There is also a well-made (albeit in poor condition) trail that descends down the north side of the hill from the peak. The peak views are of the route we took getting there. Here, we went straight down ... directly through an abundance of red brome (cheatgrass).

The climb up Cowboy Hill

Interesting sponge fossil fact: The ones that have the middle filled is a sponge and the ones that are just circles and empty are sponge skeletons!

The northeast side descent of Cowboy Hill

Hiking through the maze of Red Rock Wash

Starting along the cliffs next to Red Rock Wash

The cheatgrass covered our shoes and socks by the time we got to the bottom! (Gaiters would be appropriate everywhere off trail at this time!) Here, we sat and took our break. The wide wash with paths of gravel stretched out in front of us. We simply pointed our nose to the sandstone outcrop on the side of the North Blue Diamond Hill and found the best way to get there by foot! Upon reaching Brokeback Mountain Trail, we hiked back toward the Moenkopi Trail until we reached the trail that dips back down into the wash connecting us with the cliff base trail. This trail winded along the base of the cliffs and finally came to the old road exit. When we reached the top of the cliff on the old road, we were very close to the parking lot. Fun and interesting new route. We saw only two bikes along the way on this beautiful Saturday. The hikers we saw were all enjoying the Cowboy Trails or Firehouse Hill.

Stats: 6 miles; 625' gain: 4.25 hours

Light trail along base of Cliffs

Tall cliffs along Trail

Kay starts up the old road to exit the Wash