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The Sandstone Bluffs with Fall Color near Blue Diamond
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Cuteness
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Fall Color at Wheeler Camp
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Connecting with Landmine Loop
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It was ladies' day at Red Rock Canyon NCA for our small AtBF pod. We found that the warmest locale for a beautiful hike would be the hills behind Blue Diamond. We parked our cars at the Wheeler Camp/Springs Trailhead on SR-159 between the old Oliver Ranch and the entrance to Blue Diamond and started out across the wash and up the hill in front of us. (Reminder: Always close the gates behind you to preserve the bird sanctuary from the hungry burros!) This trail will connect to the Landmine Loop. Here, you must keep an eye out for bikers. They love this trail and, even though we have found that the bikers are usually very courteous, we tend to surprise each other! The Landmine Loop circles around through the old Oliver Ranch junk dump that includes an old car lying on its side at the base of a hill.
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Following Landmine Loop
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The car, again, has graffiti scratched into it. Kids! So far, no burros. But we knew they were there. (Ahem!) Anyway, we hiked along a fence before we made our next turn.
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Junctioning with Sidewinder Trail
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At the red dirt, we turned left onto a trail that headed into a canyon in the side of the hills. The trail crossed over to start a climb up the right side of the hills.
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Watchful Eyes Above
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| Sidewinder Trail Ascent |
Still no burros. Another left turn near the top of the initial climb put us on the Sidewinder Trail. As we began putting in our dues on the climb, Ralyn and Rita spotted burro ears above. We were under the watchful eyes of a mother burro and her baby. She moved on then we moved on. We circled around until we could see that same red dirt canyon far below. The same burros sheltered at the bottom. The trail began its sidewinding and we saw the next red dirt canyon. Near the bottom, we saw a large group of burros (mostly gray) starting to climb the hill. They saw us and detoured their route.
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Sidewinder Trail
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We watched as the group made their way up the side of the hill leaving a mother and beautiful light colored baby at the back of the group. She hugged her baby then decided to follow the group.
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We counted thirteen in all!
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It was a steep route that they had chosen so the baby was a little slow. Mother made sure her charge was making it okay. Finally, we moved on at our non-dawdling pace.
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Ladies Day
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View from cliffs at Blue Diamond Cactus Garden
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We followed the trail climbing up and into the Blue Diamond Cactus Garden; aka The Crags. Needing the warmth of the sun, we hiked through to the cliffs on the other side for our break. What a bee-utiful day!! There was slight snow dusting on a few of the escarpment peaks but it was quickly melting. The most impressive display of snow was on Griffith Peak. It was completely white but we couldn't see much of it from our vantage point. Mt. Potosi was, perhaps the most dusted in our area. We were dressed for the cold and there was very little wind so we were quite comfortable.
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Blue Diamond Cactus Garden
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Next, we dropped down the other side of the garden and connected with the Hurl Backdoor Trail that runs along the tertiary ridge all the way over to the main trails behind Blue Diamond. A left turn onto the main Hurl Trail took us past the large sandstone outcrop where we sometimes take our break for a different hike.
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Break at Cactus Garden
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Then, we hiked around the ridge above a canyon on our right and started dropping down. This canyon has a trail on the right side and a trail on the left side. We chose the left side then found a very faint trail turning to the left just before we crossed the wash at the bottom.
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Hurl Backdoor Trail
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Descent from Ridge
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This sidewinder trail is rarely used and we were surprised to come across another hiker. He told us that his name was Larry, lived in Blue Diamond, and had made this vague trail out of an old burro trail. We thanked him and promised we wouldn't be too explicit about its whereabouts. Although ... just sayin' ... it is a great route to hike from one side of Blue Diamond to the other without having to go through the small town of Blue Diamond where they seem to frown on visitors. It seems like they would want this trail to become known. That said, it is definitely not a good route for bicycles. Hikers only. Another fun burro day! They look so cute from afar! (Be kind to Blue Diamond! They only want decent hikers and bikers in their vulnerable backyard!)
Stats: 7 miles; 1150' gain; 3.75 hours
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