Waterfall Canyon (also, Calico Basin) - 12/4/10

Thirty- two hikers set off for Waterfall Canyon this morning underneath the heavily overcast skies of Red Rock Canyon NCA. A later hike to Calico Basin occurred with an unknown number of attendees. The hike to Calico Basin promised to be a tour of the Calico Basin / Red Springs area for a distance of around three miles with minimal elevation gain.

The Waterfall Canyon hike began from Willow Springs Picnic Area which is located on a spur road leading off of the Red Rock Canyon Scenic Loop. The first 1.65 miles of the hike follows Rocky Gap Road which is an unmaintained dirt road that goes over the Red Rock Summit Pass and down to Lovell Canyon. It is also a dirt road that one does not want to tackle unless you have a 4WD vehicle with very high clearance. A jeep might do the trick.

The cloudy skies opened up to blue skies for only the first thirty minutes; just long enough for all of us to warm up and remove our outer layer of clothing. After that, the blue was not seen again. The dirt road section of the hike went quickly for some and a little slower for others. We re-gathered the group at the junction of the road and the canyon trail then turned to the right and headed up the small stream which was iced over for the first tenth of a mile.

Carefully negotiating the ice and snow frozen over the water, we crossed the stream several times while following the trail up the canyon. Soon, the ice and snow were only found in patches among the rocks and banks. This is when the beautiful waterfalls backed by orange and red rock made their appearance. Waterfall after waterfall made it clear why this canyon was so named.

Grass and thistle grew where there was no rock and the thistle was dried and prickly as we hiked through. This blogger learned quickly to avoid these buggers whenever possible! The grass covered the ground next to the water and it was often a guessing game as to whether a step into the grass would result in wet ankles.


Scrambling over sharp and smooth limestone began immediately upon entering Waterfall Canyon. However, part of the 500 foot climb in elevation inside the canyon included trails up the steep hillsides. The trails were necessary for the hiker to skirt areas of the stream where the rock banks were just too steep to negotiate through. Sometimes the trails and the scrambling were a combined and somewhat treacherous effort.

When we reached the largest waterfall of thirty feet (seen in last photo), the coordinator made a concerted effort to communi- cate that the scrambling would only get more challenging at that point. Twenty-eight hikers still took on the adventure and up we scrambled. The going got tough and the tough got going. Three more sets of waterfalls were achieved and we decided to take our break.

We sat on the cold rock at the top of a large waterfall and ate snacks or talked or talked and ate snacks. Eventually, we had to stand up again and begin our descent. "Slowly" was the key word for this part of the hike. "It's not a sin to sit and slide," the hike coordinator suggested. Are you kidding? "'Sit and slide' is my middle name," a few of us called out!

The hike down Waterfall Canyon is definitely half the fun of this hike into the La Madre Wilderness Area. First, none of the scrambles up were the same as the scrambles down. Things just seem very different in the other direction. Second, finding the trail which criss-crosses the stream many times is a challenge within itself. Most of the thirty hikers were spread almost from one end of Waterfall Canyon to another during this portion of the hike.

All too soon, we reached Rocky Gap Road and waited for the others to catch up. We counted the participants then were released to sail down the road and back to the cars. The 4.5 mile hike with almost 1000 feet of elevation gain on an overcast day in Las Vegas was a good workout with beautiful scenery and great company.





This map of the hike shows today's hike in red and alternate routes in blue.

Calico Hills / Gateway Canyon Loop - 12/2/10

Today's hike for the Around the Bend Friends was Calico Hills Loop or Calico / Gateway Loop or what about an 8.4 mile extravaganza of calico colored rock. It begins at the Red Springs Picnic Area in Calico Basin where seventeen hikers gathered for the trek around the Calico Hills, around Red Cap, through Lower Gateway Canyon and back across Calico Basin.

The hike began by climbing the steep hill behind the boardwalk. (That'll wake you up!) Then we dipped down to the wash and climbed another steep hill. (Just in case you still weren't awake.) At this point, we were in the area of the scenic loop and were soon to join the Grand Circle Trail below the Calico I overlook. Reaching the overlook, we took a small break and headed down into the wash that runs along the Calico Hills. Today, we stayed on the scenic loop side of the wash and headed toward Calico II overlook.


We passed Calico II and stopped for a moment at the petroglyphs on a large boulder next to the Grand Circle Trail. These petroglyphs were most likely made by the early Paiute native Americans around a thousand years ago. Continuing up between the scenic loop and the Calico Hills, we reached the Sandstone Quarry area and took a small break while taking advantage of the bathroom located here.

We left the Grand Circle Trail at this point and took the Calico Tanks Trail until we hit the Red Cap wash which leads off to the left. We climbed through the small slot canyon in this area and hiked along the base of Red Cap. At the end of this section, we climbed up on the large rock outcropping to take our lunch break while taking in the beautiful view of the Ash Canyon Overlook and beyond.


Our break was pleasantly long and we relaxed in the cool sun. There was little wind and we had already shed layers of clothing early on. From here, we hiked down past Ash Canyon to Gateway Canyon on the trail between the base of Turtlehead Peak and Krafft Mountain. This trail deposited us directly into the beginning of Lower Gateway Canyon where water runs wild during storms and extraordinary snow melt. However, ... today it was dry with the exception of a few small puddles.

The canyon was still limestone for around a third of a mile. After that the limestone turned to white and yellow striped sandstone. This turned into yellow sandstone decorated with red spots. As the canyon began twisting and turning the yellow sandstone turned into red and white striped sandstone presenting a candy cane appearance.


Gateway Canyon isn't only looks and no smarts. It is a beautiful canyon but it is also somewhat challenging. There are several interesting obstacles presented to the hiker as he or she descends through the candy cane maze. To the right, you can see a photo which was taken at the top of one of these obstacles which brought the hiker down in elevation of about twenty feet. Soon after this obstacle, there is another one which drops another twelve feet. This one is only possible to descend when there is no water in the pool area below it. Sometimes, there is up to seven or eight feet of water in this particular pool. A trail which leads around to the left helps the hiker avoid getting wet.

As you can also see in the photo, the leaves on the trees in the canyon have changed. The sparse yellow leaves are beautiful against the red walls.


We accomp- lished the Gateway Canyon portion of the hike and made a right turn back into Calico Basin which is a huge area of homes and trails at the base of Krafft Mountain and the Calico Hills. Taking a small side excursion, we made a photo stop at the top of the forty foot dry waterfall where the water would flow out of Gateway Canyon. See the photo at the bottom of the entry. Carol was brave to pose for this picture!

Passing several "mattress people" (okay, rock climbers with crash pads), we hiked quickly along the maze of flat trails back toward Red Springs. We did the 8.4 miles in 4.5 hours. That's pretty darn quick. But, hopefully, one of our hikers was able to make her job interview and get a job. That's not easy to do in Las Vegas at this point in time.



This elevation chart represents a slight variation in route between Calico I and Calico II overlooks from today's hike.

This GPS map represents a slight variation in route between Calico I and Calico II overlooks from today's hike.

Arnight Knoll Loop (also, Grapevine Springs) - 11/27/10

Eleven hikers gathered for the 8:30am hike on the Arnight Knoll Loop. The hike to Grapevine Springs had approxi- mately fifteen participants for the 8am hike. Although both hikes lead along the base of the Red Rock escarpment, the Grapevine Springs are located on the southern end in Cottonwood Valley and the Arnight Knoll Loop begins out of the Oak Creek Trailhead parking lot which is at mile marker 12 on the Red Rock Scenic Loop.

We hiked out the Arnight Trail through the desert. The washes we crossed were decorated with different colored small boulders. The backlighting of the sun made the forest of cholla appear like a morning dream. The temperature was quite cold but the mix of sun and no wind had us shedding layers of clothing within about thirty minutes into the hike.

Picking up a spur trail to the left which headed straight into the mouth of Juniper Canyon, we cut off a small portion of the traditional route for the hike as seen on the map below.

We quickly picked up the Knoll Trail and began our trek back across the desert but, this time, closer to the base of the escarpment. After our break among the boulders, we continued to the Oak Creek Trail. Here, we made a decision to continue across and dip down to the Oak Creek area adding an extra loopty-loo exploration to the traditional route. We found our way back up to Oak Creek Trail and continued back to the parking lot for a 3.25 mile hike.




Above, you see today's hike indicated by the blue line and the traditional route of the Arnight Knoll Loop hike indicated by the red line.

This is one route for the Grapevine Springs hike which may or may not have been used for today's hike.

Holiday Wishes

To update the recent hikes: Thursday's hike to Brownstone Canyon was a successful journey to the pictographs and around Turtlehead. Saturday's hikes were cancelled due to inclement weather. Happy Turkey Day!!!

Blue Diamond Bike Trails (also, Ash Canyon Overlook) - 11/13/10

The Blue Diamond Bike Trails utilize part of the Old Spanish Trail. This marker (below) is found on a small hill up to the west side of the trail on the stretch from Blue Diamond to Highway 160. Wikipedia has this to say in its introduction of the old trade route.


"The Old Spanish Trail is a historical trade route which connected the northern New Mexico settlements near or in Santa Fe, New Mexico with that of Los Angeles, California and southern California. Approximately 1,200 mi (1,900 km) long, it ran through areas of high mountains, arid deserts, and deep canyons. It is considered one of the most arduous of all trade routes ever established in the United States. Explored, in part, by Spanish explorers as early as 1776, the Trail saw extensive use by pack trains from about 1830 until the mid-1850s."



Wikipedia continues, "The name of the trail comes from the publication of John C. Frémont’s Report of his 1844 journey for the U.S. Topographical Corps. guided by Kit Carson from California to New Mexico. The name acknowledges the fact that parts of the trail had been known to the Spanish since the seventeenth century. Frémont's report named a trail that had already been in use for about 15 years. The trail is significant to New Mexico history, because it established an arduous but usable trade route with California."


Today, twenty- six hikers only did a tiny portion of the Old Spanish Trail which amounted to about half a mile! The rest of the hike winded its way around, up and over the hills between the little town of Blue Diamond and Highway 160. The Red Rock Canyon NCA escarpment and Cottonwood Valley were in view for most of the hike. (So was one of either Highway 160 or 159 able to be seen.)


After twisting and turning with the bike trail as we climbed the most prominent hill, we stopped on a grouping of boulders (seen below) to take our break and have a snack. Our view of the escarpment to the west is seen above. We could also see part of the Las Vegas Strip over the gypsum mine to the northeast. To the left, there is a photo of the blogger and photographer. Everyone is always saying she needs to put pictures of herself on the website. Well, here it is!


Leaving our perch on the boulders, we began our hike back down to Blue Diamond. We circled around to descend through a long canyon. There are two choices of return trails. One leads down the left or north side of the canyon and one leads down the right or south side of the canyon. Today, we chose the south side which is nice because it follows under the cliffs and is in shadow for part of the way.

We looked and looked for the herd of burros that live in this area of Red Rock Canyon NCA. Many times, they have been spotted from this particular trail. However, today, we didn't find any burros ... only the second part of our group of hikers as seen in the photo to the left.


The photo above shows Blue Diamond as seen from the descending portion of the trail. The hike was approximately 5.3 miles in length and lasted 2.5 hours. The weather was perfect even though the hike began on the slightly chilly side.




This is the GPS map which shows the trails which are used for a Blue Diamond Bike Trails hike. Today, most of us returned from snack rock on the trail which leads below the cliffs (option #2) then crossed straight to the parking lot on the alternate route.


Above are the GPS waypoint map and elevation chart for the Ash Canyon Overlook hike. I heard a rumor that the hike today was going beyond the traditional route. Therefore, this map and chart may not reflect the exact route taken today.