Cave Canyon / Three Amigos / Overlook / The Muffins - 11/7/19

View Back through Cave Canyon Entrance

Las Vegas Cairn Overlook

Hiking past the Muffins

Climbing into Cave Canyon

The North Blue Diamond Hill is the result of pressure coming from the east in the form of the Bird Spring Thrust. Thus, we have a hill whose high points are at the top of the cliffs on the east side with slope moving toward the west. Within the North Blue Diamond Hill, three major canyons cut the slope flowing from east to west (Skull, Cave, and Echo). These canyons and the fingers between and outside lie within the Red Rock Canyon NCA. The limestone that caps this ridge are from the Kaibab Formation.

"Because of the westward tilt of these strata, one encounters successively younger rocks to the west. For example, the rocks in the vicinity of the gypsum mine are Permian (290 to 248 millions years old); the Aztec Sandstone exposed in the escarpment to the west beyond the gap is Jurassic, at least 100 million years younger."
*Geologic Tours in the Las Vegas Area (Expanded Edition with GPS Coordinates), Nevada Bureau of Mines and Geology Special Publication 16, University of Nevada, Reno, Mackay School of Earth Sciences, 2008, Bear Printing, Sparks, NV;    page 23.

The 3rd Class Dry Fall

This information explains why the Blue Diamond Hill is so full of Pre-Cambrian sea bed fossils. Small shells, sponges and other small creatures have left impressions in the hardened muck.

Cave Canyon

I find new fossils every time I hike the canyons and fingers on the Hill. They are usually right under my feet or eye level on a rock. They are our window into the ancient past.

Hiking in Cave Canyon

Arriving near Fork

With daylight savings time four days past, thirteen hikers arrived at the Cowboy Trails Trailhead on SR 159 at an early hour. Happily, the sun had come up over the North Blue Diamond Hill and we were warm. There were still a lot of parking spaces in the dirt lot when we set off toward the newly reno-ed Upper Corral and chop house. We dropped down behind the building and started up into the canyon. Cave Canyon is the canyon that forks to the left. There is a steep trail on the right side of the canyon that tops off at a small cave alcove covered with graffiti. (Always there.) Then the trail dips over the wash and climbs up to the first 3rd class obstacle; a dry fall that hasn't changed in all the 12 years I have been hiking here. One by one, the group settled on their lefts and rights and climbed up with helping hands when needed. It is a fun climb and we had spotters on the bottom and top.

Climbing Last Dry Fall

After this initial "test," we scrambled our way up through the wash. It is a good workout. The canyon is much the same as it always is year in and year out except for one particular place where a large boulder sits in the middle of the wash.

At the Boneshaker Sign

I guess the past year had given so much rain that the brush covered over the usual routes. We followed the suggestion of previous hikers and climbed up the wall on the right side and sidled around the mess. Fun!!

Three Amigos Trail above Mystery Woman Canyon

Three Amigos Trail

Our scramble continued up to the canyon fork. We took the Left Fork and the wash became more brushy. Nevertheless, the landmarks were there and we made it up to the second of the 3rd class scrambles. Well, there is a choice here. There is a 2nd class, a 2.5 class, and a 3rd class scramble as seen in the third photo above. Your choice! Following that, there is just a little bit of wash remaining before you T into the SARS Trail. We turned left and hiked up to the Boneshaker sign. A more direct route to the overlook would be to take the Radio Tower Trail that runs straight up the hill. We dropped just 30-40 feet over the other side of the ridge and connected with the more wiggly trail called the Three Amigos Trail. It runs up along the rim of Mystery Woman Canyon. When this trail started giving us choices near the top of the hill, we bushwhacked straight up to the peak of the terrain and found our Cairn Overlook break spot; a high point of the North Blue Diamond Hill.

Cairn Overlook

Views from this high point are of the entire valley of Las Vegas! It was a somewhat hazy day today but the unobstructed view was still there. We sat for a friendly break.

Rim Trail

After our respite, we connected with the trail below us called the Rim Trail. This trail runs above the cliffs of Blue Diamond Hill that were created by the aforementioned Bird Spring Thrust.

Original Las Vegas Overlook

Mules & Riders

We were now hiking toward the Calico Hills in the distance so the main front view was very colorful! This picturesque trail led us down to the original Las Vegas Overlook as seen in the photo above. When we turned to continue down the hill, we saw five mule and riders "coming over the pass!" We hurried to get to the bottom of the hill before meeting the train. We stepped aside and joked with them as they passed. Good time! We, then, finished climbing the hill and connected with the second trail to the right, a vague connection. This is the Muffins Trail that circles around the higher Muffins ridge. Just a nice rest before tackling the descent. As we descended to the huge Muffin rocks, we saw a small group of younger hikers that were relaxing on one of the boulders. Our stay was short with "Hi, how are you?," a couple of photos and a water pause. Next, the big dive down the scenic Muffins Trail that is nicknamed "Bomb Voyage" by the large Las Vegas mountain biking community.

Arriving at the Muffins

Our diagonal descent down the side of the steep hill went smoothly and decently rapid. Care must be taken on several parts of the trail due to slippery scree or large rock steps.

Leaving the Muffins

The group stayed together talking the whole way. No surprises. And, finally, we were connecting with the Skull Canyon Trail. This trail finished the descent down to cross the mouth of the large neighboring canyon.

Descending the Muffins Trail

View from Muffins Trail

Between here and the corral, we moved along rapidly with most of our remaining strength. The horses and mules in the corral were mostly bunched together under the canopy of shade provided! Seriously, it wasn't that hot! Anyway, we moved on to pass by Jackson, the adopted wild burro who appeared so small in his enclosure after seeing the horses and mules in their corral. He was silently watching us. (Sometimes he is quite vocal!) What a beautiful day! Great workout and scenic hike!

7.5 miles; 1400 feet elevation gain; 4.25 hours; average moving speed 1.7 mph

Crossing the bottom of Skull Canyon

Joshua Trees line the Trail to the Corral

Almost back to the Trailhead