Blue Diamond Bike Trails - 10/5/13

Sandstone Outcropping Above Trail

Trail with Escarpment Rising Behind

 There were seven of us hiking today on the 8am adventure. The scheduled hike to the Calico Tanks could not be done due to the government park closure so we substituted the Blue Diamond Bike Trails whose trailhead is located just behind the Blue Diamond, Nevada community. It is within the Red Rock Canyon NCA bounds but is not gated nor developed. We saw many hikers, bikers and climbers parked along Highway 159 in various places as we drove over to the trailhead and noted the park rangers sitting at the gates only. They did not seem interested in those who parked outside the gates.

Spanish Trail Marker (1829 to 1850)

Part of Trail Nearest Hwy 160

 The Blue Diamond Bike Trails hike is a 5 mile loop that circles around the hills behind Blue Diamond where you can see Highway 160, then turns north to start a circuitous route up into the hills. The views of Mt. Potosi, Cottonwood Valley and the escarpment are majestic and there were many autumn yellow flowers that have sprouted in the washes since the rains ended. At last, after 3 miles of gentle climbing, we reached the high point ridge.

View from Trail Across Cottonwood Valley

Taking Our Break at the Sandstone Outcrop

 Not far down from the ridge, there is a singular sandstone rock outcropping where we took our break. We climbed up to the top of the rocks and contemplated the view. Afterwards, we began our descent into the canyon below. There are two routes; a south side route and a north side route. Today, we took the north side route and completed the loop with the greatest circumference on the map below . Our 5 miles gained around 1200 feet in total elevation.

Hiking Down one of the Slippery Bike Paths

Crossing the Wash

Elevation with Descent on North Side of Canyon

Elevation with Descent on South Side of Canyon

Blue Diamond Bike Trails System

Bonanza Trail - 10/1/13

McFarland Peak from Northern Approach

Mt. Charleston from Bonanza Trail

 The Bonanza Trail serves as a "feather in the cap" of anyone who accomplishes it. It is located in the Spring Mountains NRA and is usually hiked as a point-to-point hike. The southern trailhead is found mid-way around the Bristlecone Loop which begins at the end of Lee Canyon Hwy. The northern end is found at the end of a high-clearance dirt road that heads to the mountains from Cold Creek, Nevada. Two groups of hikers begin at respective trailheads and exchange car keys somewhere in the middle of the hike. Tuesday's coordinator was Brian D. and he offered these words about the hike.

Trail Lined with Bristlecones

 “A total of eleven folks hiked the Bonanza trail, also known as the Spring Mountain Divide trail Tuesday.  Seven went from S-N in about 10+ hours and four from N-S in 8+ hours.  In either direction the distance is just less than 15 miles, but going S-N has a gross gain of about 3500 ft while going N-S has about 1200 ft more.  The weather was perfect, but the trail was a bit obscure in a couple of places because of rain washouts and lack of use. 

The Key Exchange Party

We all lost the trail at least once.  I was glad I had a track on my GPS from 2008.  Anyone doing the hike in the future would do well to take a GPS and get a track to use when needed.  Hunting for the trail up steep, loose dirt isn’t too much fun.  As usual, it’s the second climb that comes after 7-8 miles that is the killer…in either direction.  The opinion of at least a few of yesterday’s hikers is that it is harder than Charleston Peak.  I last did it 5 years ago, and it might be another 5 years before I do it again!” ~ Brian

Bonanza Peak from Southern Approach

 The photos with hikers in them used in this blog were taken by Jan M. who was part of the south to north gang of eight. The landscape photos are leftovers from when Kay did the hike in 2012. Congratulations to the twelve hikers for this year and, in the future, we hope that we don't keep getting lost at the same place ... southern slope of Bonanza Peak. (There were also a lot of downed trees crossing the trail.)

Window in the Cliff from Switchbacks

Northern Trailhead

Elevation from North to South

Elevation from South to North

Elevation from North to South

South End of Bonanza Trail

Middle of Bonanza Trail

North End of Bonanza Trail

Dragon Canyon Loop - 10/3/13

View of Red Cap at Top of Dragon Canyon

Entrance to Dragon Canyon

 After a lot of email chatter yesterday, we surmised that our hike to Dragon Canyon in the Red Rock Canyon NCA was within legal bounds during this time of government closure. Therefore, a strong number of eighteen hikers showed up and parked in the dirt parking lot deep within the Calico Basin where there was not a locked gate nor developed park area. Our hike would not take us into the scenic loop acreage and we stayed beyond sight of it as well.

Climbing Dragon Canyon

Colorful Sandstone in Dragon Canyon

The long line of hikers followed one of the many trails that headed over to Ash Meadows and up to the entrance of Dragon Canyon, a canyon that runs parallel on the right to Ash Canyon on Dragon Peak (aka New Peak). This is a beautiful canyon with colorful sandstone and is an easier climb than the Ash Canyon scrambling. There is a trail but many of the hikers found it easier to climb up the sandstone slabs on the left side of the wash. After a decent work out while we sniffed the sweet scent of something blooming, we found ourselves at the flat sandstone area where there is a trail that continues down into Ash Canyon.

Choice of Sandstone Slab or Trail

View of Calico Basin from near the Top of Dragon Canyon

After making sure that we were all out of Dragon Canyon, we merged into Ash Canyon. Many of the hikers stayed high here and avoided the slippery exposed route of the trail but the trail was negotiable and we merged with each other at a point a little further up the canyon. Some of the hikers decided to continue their scrambling in the wash and others took the trail route up to the Ash Canyon Overlook. We gathered on the red sandstone next to Rattlesnake Trail and had our "coffee break." (It was still too early for "lunch!")

Climbing Out of Ash Canyon

Junctioning with Rattlesnake Trail

After the break, we dropped down to the Rattlesnake Trail and followed it down to Gateway Canyon. The wash was minimally washed out at the top. When we reached Gateway Canyon, we waited until everyone was together again. Our hike in the canyon gravel was short and we turned to the right when we reached the trail that led up to the Krafft Mountain Saddle.

Starting Down Gateway Canyon

Hiking the Gravel in Gateway Canyon

The yellow flowers were very pretty on this slope going up. At the saddle, we continued down the other side on a descent of 5 Stop Hill. Not too far from the bottom of the hill, we reached our cars which were parked and not ticketed in the Calico Basin dirt parking lot ... along with the addition of several others. There is a rumor that if you park on the road outside of Red Springs, you may be ticketed. (Who knows?) Today's hike was a little less than 4 miles with 1100 feet of elevation gain. It lasted only 3 hours including breaks.

Colors Near Krafft Mtn Saddle

Some Kind of Large Centipede with Horn on Back