Red Mountain - 1/14/16

Hello? Can you hear me now?

Bootleg Canyon Park Rule

Reds and Yellows (2015)

Red Mountain from near Trailhead

 Well, it was a rough start today. The coordinator got stuck on the I-95 for an hour delay due to an accident. But, with the help of Diane and Chris, the group relocated to the trailhead from the meeting spot and the coordinator made a fashionably late appearance. Today's trailhead was the Bootleg Canyon Park's lower trailhead that sits among large boulders behind the Veterans' Home off of Highway 93. Eleven hikers were anxious to get started so off we went like a "house afire!" The coordinator was so frazzled that she forgot her camera and a new photographer, Alicia M. was appointed for the hike. Thanks, Alicia!

View Up toward Mother Trail

 We took the POW Trail to where it junctioned with the Par None Trail and turned right. The flattish trails offered us a chance to burn some of that built up adrenaline.

Detour on Snake Back Trail

 We continued up the easy Par None Trail until we turned to the right on the IMBA Trail. This took us to the Mother Trail and it dumped us into Bootleg Canyon.

Nearing the "B C"

Snake Back Trail

 We crossed the dirt road and took the upper connector trail passing the East Leg turnoff. Continuing straight, we hit the Snake Back Trail and started up the mountain. This trail is used for the downhill bike race events that are held here. Bootleg Canyon Park is somewhat famous with competitive bikers. As we turned the corner, we saw what the Snake Back attraction was! Many deep arroyos laid out in front of us. The first two arroyos are very deep and steep. We were obliged to take a detour finding our way around to a part of the trail that we could actually hike! Soon, we were back on the trail and heading up to the 60 foot tall "BC" (for Boulder City) laid out and white washed on the hillside.

Armageddon Trail

 We continued climbing and enjoying the energy output. There were a couple of bikers that were on the trails but they went a different way. In a couple of hours, there would be bikers on Snake Back practicing for an event to be held in two days.

Top of Zip Line

 The event officials had lined the trail with polls and tape showing the young bikers which way to go. Two of the workers warned us of the bikers that we might see.

Armageddon Trail below Relay Instruments and Zip Line Top (2015)

Las Vegas from Red Mountain Summit

 Soon after that, we turned to the left onto the Armageddon Trail. ...hmmm... This was actually a great trail offering a small amount of scrambling up bare rock. The trail is steep as it circles around below the relay tower above. Next, we hiked below the top tier of the zip line. Then, just a little more of a climb and we were on top of Red Mountain where we had our break. From here, there are views of Las Vegas and Lake Mead. There was a little bit of wind coming from the lake side of the mountain.

Lake Mead from Red Mountain Summit (2015)

Descending off of Summit

 We were 3.5 miles into an 8.3 mile hike. But, after the break, it was generally downhill. We descended down to the parking lot on the other side of the mountain and junctioned with the Skyline Trail. This is a pleasant trail with small amounts of bare rock to contend with. Although we have, in the past, seen many bighorns on this trail, all we saw today were hoof prints. The trail contoured in and out of the washes and small canyons then ended with a junction area on the dirt road.

Skyline View from Skyline Trail (2015)

The other end of the East Leg starts here but we took the road on down a bit to junction with the West Leg Trail at a tall sign post as seen in a photo below.

Small Break on the Skyline Trail

 The hike was moving along speedily again as we dealt with the ins and outs of the West Leg Trail.

Well put! (2015)

West Leg Trail

It wasn't until we reached the Mother Connect that we left the West Leg. We turned right on the Mother Trail and hiked a beautiful area over to the POW Trail junction. From here, the gentle POW Trail took us all the way down to the cars. Today's hike was a great aerobic workout for the strong hikers attending. Bootleg Canyon is a fun place to discover!

8 miles; 1550 feet elevation gain; 4 hours

This way, please.

Mother Trail

POW Trail