Friday

Daytrip - Floyd Lamb State Park

05/28/2015 - Today the rock-hounds from Henderson’s Heritage Park Senior Facility headed to Floyd Lamb State Park at Tule Springs for their year-end picnic and cookout. Originally, I had intended on taking a hike into the newly established Tule Springs Fossil Beds National Monument, located behind the park, but ran short on time and never made it. Click this link to read about this new national park. Click here for info and pictures taken on today's visit to the park ... Floyd Lamb Park - Trip Notes for 05/28/2015. Here is a link to my original page on Floyd Lamb Park ... Floyd Lamb Park at Tule Springs.

Sunday

Daytrip – Mary Jane Falls and Big Falls Hikes

EP-P111059505/14/2015 – Today the rock-hounds from Henderson’s Heritage Park Senior Facility headed to Mt. Charleston to hike the Mary Jane Falls trail. Because I had hiked this trail a couple of times in the past, I decided to go to Big Falls, an offshoot hike from the Mary Jane Falls trail. Here is a link to the hike I made today … Big Falls Hike at Mt. Charleston, as well as a link to my previous visits to Mary Jane Falls … Mary Jane Falls Hike at Mt. Charleston. The view in the picture to the left, taken just a few feet from Big Falls, shows Mary Jane Falls (dark vertical line) on the distant mountain cliff in the center of the picture. (Click to enlarge)

Saturday

Desert Bighorn Sheep at Valley of Fire

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04/23/2015 Trip Notes: After returning from a hike to the Fire Wave via the Kaolin Wash back to Mouse’s Tank Road on the northern end of Rainbow Vista we encountered three bighorn sheep that were grazing just a few hundred feet off the road. Even though there were at least 10 of us that got off the van to take pictures, they hung around just long enough for me to capture these shots (Figs. 01-03) before they scampered (Fig. 04) off into the rock cliffs.
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Daytrip to Nipton California in Search of the Lucy Gray Mine

EP2-P1110363Today’s daytrip took us to Nipton in search of the Lucy Gray Mine. Shortly after arriving we heard a train approaching from the north (Las Vegas) heading south. I grabbed my camera and began taking photos. Click here for pictures and info on the Union Pacific Railroad … The Union Pacific Railroad Crossing at Nipton, California. After unloading the Rhino, we crossed the road and began heading north, following the Union Pacific rail bed. During the course of the next four miles we encountered three instances of desert tortoises crossing the road. Click here for more information and pictures … Desert Tortoise Finding Near Nipton, California. When we reached the railroad signal station, we turned east, passing through an open gate and over a cattle guard. The trail then heads in a northeast direction up an alluvial fan into the hills to the mouth of a large gully, and eventually the old Luch Gray mining camp and the Lucy Gray Mine. Click here for pictures and information about the mine … Lucy Gray Mine. During this process I also put together a page on the Ivanpah solar electric energy plant located just west of Nipton. Click here for pictures and information on this facility … The Ivanpah Solar Electric Generating Plant.

Desert Tortoise Finding near Nipton, California

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04/29/2015 Trip Notes: While on a daytrip to the Lucy Gray Mine, northeast of Nipton, California, Harvey and I came across three instances of Desert Tortoise crossing the road. In all the hiking we have done over the past several years, this is the first time we have come across a live Desert Tortoise in their natural environment. To see three of them in the same day was just amazing. Even though I am aware that tortoises come out of brumation, a semi-hibernation state, in March or April as the weather warms up, I was surprised to find three of them within a two mile distance. The first one we came across (Figs. 01 & 02) was a little shy and we had all we could do to coax it to stick its head out once he became aware of our presence. Our second sighting (Figs. 03 & 04) was a little more active, and actually continued to scramble across the road and into the shade of a creosote bush. One thing I noticed was that all three had loose dirt on the top of their shells. Because it was quite breezy, I determined that they had only recently climbed out of their burrows, else the loose sand on their backs would have been blown away by the wind. Though I didn’t notice until I got back and started editing the day’s pictures, the third tortoise (Fig. 05 & 06) had a unique man-made marking on the rear of its shell. It was only recently I learned, during construction of the nearby Ivanpah Solar Electric Generating System  located just a few miles west of this location, that they spent more than $30 million on tortoise protection measures, eventually finding and relocating more than 170 tortoises. My guess is that they may have “marked” the tortoise that they relocated back into the desert for future observation purposes, and if so, this could be one of them and why we found so many in this area. For more info on this endanger species check out my page ... Desert Tortoise (Gopherus agassizii).
                             
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Click here to return to the [Lucy Gray Mine Page]

Lucy Gray Mine - Sunset Mine District

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This page last updated on 12/05/2018
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(Fig. 01)
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Directions: From searchlight take 164 west to Nipton (about 20 miles),by road and trail northwest then east to sunset. There is a way to get to the Lucy Grey mine from Primm, Nevada by going around the dry lake bed and following the railroad tracks, however, the best way to get there is from the Nipton side which though further, is much faster. After about four miles of driving north along the paved road, called the Nipton Desert Road, that parallels the railroad bed that runs through the town of Nipton, you come to a railroad signal station. From here head east, passing through an open gated area and driving over a cattle guard (Fig. 02). The trail then heads in a northeast direction up an alluvial fan into the hills to the mouth of a large gully. The trek is mostly easy with one or two small sections that will require you to pay a little more attention.  Continuing up the wash trail another 1/4 mile you will come upon a large, old yellow dump truck marking the road that leads up the mountain to the mine site.
Note-1: Be aware, the Lucy Gray Mine is located just north of the  Nevada border, but if you approach from the Nipton side, you will briefly pass through California.  Being along the border, this is an area we've seen regularly patrolled.  I only mention that because I know many of you travel armed and California requires that firearms in a vehicle be unloaded and locked/cased.  Violations will, at a minimum, have your firearm(s) confiscated and likely end in arrest.
Note-2: It should be noted that, depending upon the site location, there are two different spellings for this mine – Lucy Grey and Lucy Gray. As of yet, I haven’t been able to determine which is the correct spelling.
                
04/29/2015 Trip Notes: Just after we arrived we heard a train coming from the north (Vegas) heading south. I grabbed my camera and began taking photos. Click here for pictures and info on the Union Pacific Railroad … The Union Pacific Railroad Crossing at Nipton. After unloading the Rhino, we crossed the road and began heading north, following the Union Pacific rail bed. The view of the Lucy Gray Mountains in (Fig. 01) was taken shortly after leaving Nipton. While driving up this road we passed an old cattle holding/loading corel (Fig.03). During the course of the next four miles we encountered three instances of desert tortoises crossing the road (Fig. 04). Click here for more information and pictures … Desert Tortoise Finding Near Nipton, California. When we reached the railroad signal station, we turned east, passing through an open gate and over a cattle guard. The trail then heads in a northeast direction up an alluvial fan into the hills to the mouth of a large gully (Fig 05).

Once you reach the gully and head into the hills, there are so many wash-like trails that the actual the trail becomes hard to follow. We ended up taking a wrong trail and had to eventually cross over a rough alluvial area to get back on the right trail (Fig. 06). The most difficult part of this trail is finding the route correct route that leads up to the mine and town site. If you are on the correct route, you will come to the small Lucy Grey Mine camp first (Fig. 07). This site is nothing more than an old cabin that looks like it had several extensions added on over time. The cabin is in surprisingly good shape and there are still plenty of relics inside, including tools, furniture and a refrigerator still containing some of its original contents as seen in the collage in (Fig. 08). Scroll down for more pictures and info on the mine itself.
                                    
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Lucy Grey Mine 1a
(Fig. 10 & 11)
Lucy Grey Mine 2aMine Description: The Lucy Grey mine (Fig. 09) is located in Clark County Nevada, near the head of a basin that drains the west slope of the Lucy Grey Range, west of the McCullough Range. It is at an elevation of approximately 3,948 feet (Latitude: 35.54944 Longitude: -115.27556). Although there are several prospects within a mile south and west of the Lucy Grey, none ever attained an advanced state of development or production. It has been written that the mine consisted of nine unpatented claims. There are several shafts, including a 300 foot vertical shaft with levels at 80 feet, 200 feet and 250 feet, that by 1929 aggregated about 1,100 feet in length (Figs. 10 & 11) (1). At the time of production, it was equipped with a small on site cyanide plant. The Lucy Grey mine was started in either 1905 or 1913 and founded by T.L. Bright. Part of the Sunset or Lyons mining district, the location appears have been operating into the 1960s. The Lucy Grey appears to have produced Gold, Copper, Lead, Silver and Zinc. It has been noted that production since 1905 produced an estimated $50,000, mainly from gold. The grade of the mined ore fluctuated. Forty tons from 1913 to 1916 yielded $68 in gold and $9.70 in silver – ag per ton. In addition to the normal “danger – keep out” signs, this area is posted as radioactive, but it is an unofficial warning. Thorium and Uranium were mined in the area, but many miles away.  Neither were listed as even a tertiary ore at this mine.  It's possible that the mine interior contains elevated levels of radon, which is common for hard rock mining in this area, but would not be harmful from the ventilated surface. The mine was definitely a gold mine but some have come to mistake it as a uranium mine due to the unofficial radiation warning sign. Sadly, the Lucy Gray has been sealed by backfilling, foam, and bat bars. Sometime between January, 2010 and October, 2011 the mine openings were covered with heavy gauge steel grates and much damage was done to the main structure at the mine site itself.
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04/29/2015 Trip Notes (con’t): Continuing up the wash trail another 1/4 mile you will come upon a large, old yellow dump truck (Fig. 12) marking the beginning of the road that leads up the mountain to the main mine site. The road is mostly washed out and very steep, but well worth the hike up to the mine. We tried to drive up, however it proved to be so rocky, steep and washed out that we had to stop about a third of the way and hike the remainder (Figs. 13 & 14). Though most of its structures are in varying states of decay, there is still one near the top of the road that is still standing (Fig. 09). Hiking around this area will reveal several adits, shafts and air vents. I hiked up the mountain behind this structure and found several more openings, all covered with steel “bat gates” as seen in the collage in (Fig. 15). From the truck at the bottom of the road, to where I hiked up behind the mine structure, there is a 340 foot elevation gain. The mine's upper most shaft tops out at an elevation of nearly 4,300 feet. After hiking back down to the rhino we determined that there was no place wide enough to turn around safely, and ended up backing down the whole way (Fig. 16). Because there were several places where we had to carefully “rearrange” rocks to keep from sliding over the edge, this too us nearly an hour. On the ride back to Niption I did manage to capture a few wildflower pictures (Figs. 17-19).
                                   
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References:
(1) Geology and Mineral Resources of the Ivanpah Quadrangle ..., Issues 275-279 by Donnel Foster Hewett


For additional pages on mines around the Goodsprings Mining District also visit the following ... 

Note: Every attempt is made to provide accurate information, but occasionally depictions are inaccurate by error of mapping, navigation or cataloging. The information on this site is provided without any warranty, express or implied, and is for informational and historical purposes only.

Friday

Floyd Lamb Park - Trip Notes for 05/28/2015

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This page last updated on 02/15/2018
(Fig. 01)
05/28/2015 Trip Notes: Today the rock-hounds from the Henderson Senior Facility had its year-end picnic and cookout at the Floyd Lamb Park at Tule Springs. Originally, I had intended on taking a hike into the newly established Tule Springs Fossil Beds National Monument, located behind the park, but ran short on time and never made it. Click this link to read about this new national park. Nearly everyone brought something great to the feast. Unfortunately, I was so busy partaking/eating all the great offerings, that I forgot to take any pictures. So after the group left, I decided to take a quick walk around the park to see what I could capture. I was amazed at how many people there were fishing. One large family group must have had a thousand dollars worth of fishing gear. In all the years of visiting here, I have never seen so many Canada Geese (Fig. 02). There were literally hundreds of them. An adult Canada Goose may eat as much as four lbs of grass and other forage daily - leading to about two lbs of goose poop daily! It was just everywhere. Then of course there were the ever colorful peacocks. As I began by capturing pictures, I found several that made great black & white images. Click this link for some peacock pictures taken on previous visits to the park ... Indian Blue Peafowl (Pavo cristatus),. I also captured pictures of several flowering bushes, Notice the bumble bee on the bottom picture in the collage in (Fig. 05). While walking around taking in the views offered by the park's four lakes (Figs. 06 & 07), I spotted a rather large turtle that was sunning himself on one of the lake's shorelines (Fig. 08). I even spotted one goose that was sitting on a nest keeping her eggs warm (Fig. 09). The last shot is a picture of Connie reading her book (Fig. 10) while she waited for me to come back from my picture taking expedition.

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Mt. Charleston Wilderness Area - Summary Page

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This page last updated on 03/05/2019
(Fig. 01)

Destination: Mt. Charleston Wilderness Area and the Mt Charleston Loop
Distance from Point of Origin: 34 miles to the beginning of SR-156 (Lee Canyon Rd), then about another 18 miles to the Bristlecone Trail near the end. From here to the Mt Charleston Village and back to US-95 is about another 23 miles.
Estimated (One Way) Travel Time: 1.5 hours.
Directions: From the Stratosphere Casino head northeast on Las Vegas Blvd about 3 miles and turn left onto US-93/95, keeping on the left for 95 North towards Reno. Following US-95 North towards the Mt. Charleston area, drive 34 miles, past the turn to Mt. Charleston (SR-157 Kyle Canyon Rd.), and continue on the freeway about 15 more miles until you come to SR-156 (Lee Canyon Rd). Turn west (left) onto SR-156 (Lee Canyon Rd). Continue the scenic loop by backtracking to SR-158 (Deer Creek Rd) and heading south. The highway soon crosses a pass at 8400 feet, the highest point of the drive. A few miles below the pass, SR-158 ends at the junction with SR-157 (Kyle Canyon Rd). Turn right to head to Mt Charleston Village at the top of the mountain. Head back down the mountain on SR-157 to US-95 to return to Las Vegas.

General Description: This route was designated as a Nevada State Scenic Byway in 1998. Travel along this 41-plus mile byway will take you past the thick sagebrush of the desert floor, into rugged mountains containing a mixture of trees including Joshua, Piñon, Ponderosa Pine, Juniper, White Fir and some beautiful Bristlecone Pine, the oldest living tree on the planet. Lee Canyon Road is the northern access to the Las Vegas Ski and Snowboard Resort and the tallest point in southern Nevada. 
Special Attraction or Points of Interest: There are so many beautiful areas and viewpoints along this stretch of roads that it is nearly impossible to pick out any single one as being special. Probably the one spot providing the largest panoramic view is Desert Viewpoint on SR-158. Two more popular stops, both requiring some hiking to reach, are Robber’s Roost Cave and Mary Jane Falls. (view the list of most popular hikes below) Golden eagles, owls, hawks, foxes, deer and wild horses occasionally can be spotted in the spectacular scenery. Mt. Charleston also hosts at least 25 species of animals and plants that cannot be found be found anywhere else in the world. Perhaps you’ll be lucky enough to see a Mt. Charleston Blue Butterfly. 
Primary Activity: Hiking.
Secondary Activities: Photographing, Birding and Rock-hounding.

Elevation: Once you turn off US-95 onto SR-156 towards Lee Canyon at around 2,831 feet, you will begin a climb that will end at over 10,000 feet when you reach the Mt. Charleston Village. The elevation of the Bristlecone Trail is 8,908 feet. The Desert Viewpoint is around 8,250 feet. Robbers Roost Trailhead is 8,017 feet and the Mt. Charleston Village is 10,426 feet.
Best Time To Visit: Though these elevations are on average, 20-degrees cooler than Las Vegas and available for visitation and hiking year round, the best time to make hikes would be from June to October, with the cooler months of the spring and fall being the most favorable. The winter months bring enough snow to close most of the hiking trails.
Difficulty: Easy to Difficult. It depends upon the area and trail chosen. Many are well marked and cleared, though some, especially in the early spring months, may be covered with downed trees. Obviously the further in and higher up you transverse, the more difficult it will become. 
Facilities: For the most part there are no facilities except those that can be found at the Mt. Charleston viewpoint and the village at the top.
Estimated Round-trip Time: Depending upon hiking and one should plan to spend the entire day.
                       
(Fig. 02)
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Physical Description of the Area: The 57,442 acre Mt. Charleston Wilderness Area located inside the boundaries of the 316,000 acre Spring Mountains National Recreation Area (see Fig. 02). North to south, four peaks, Willow, Bonanza, Charleston and Griffith are all located inside the Mt. Charleston Wilderness Area. At 11,918 feet, Mount Charleston is the highest peak and the fourth highest in the entire state of Nevada. As you can see from (Fig. 03), there are some 40 miles of trails located within the Mount Charleston Wilderness Area, all of which can be accessed from the Spring Mountains National Recreation Area, commonly referred to by locals as Mount Charleston. Referring to the map in (Fig. 02), the boundary of the Spring Mountains National Recreation area stretches nearly 60 miles from Mount Sterling and Wheeler Peak in the north to Potosi Mountain in the south. Officially a part of the Humboldt-Toiyabe National Forest (see Footnote (#1), bottom), SMNR and the Mt Charleston Wilderness Area is home to the bristlecone pine (Pinus longavea), which are some of the world's longest-living plants--the oldest are thousands of years old. The east and south are bordered by the Red Rock Canyon National Conservation Area (Fig. 02).

Page Update Notes: It seems like I am always going back and redesigning previous pages based upon new findings, hikes, etc. Because more recent visits and the newly built Spring Mountains Visitor Gateway center (Fig. 04), I decided to re-title this page to the Mount Charleston Wilderness Area - Summary Page. I then added the trail map in (Fig. 03) above to show the locations for most of the trails in the area, including five new trails behind the visitor center. The visitor center is located at the red dot on the map in (Fig. 02). I then added below more "Trip Notes" for additional recent visits and hikes to the area. Keep referring back to (Fig. 03) as you review the 17 hikes listed below.



09/30/2017 Trip Notes Today Jim Herring, Connie and I made a daytrip of driving around the 57,442 acre Mt. Charleston Wilderness AreaThe purpose of our trip was to locate and photograph some Quaking Aspen (Populus tremuloides) trees and have a barbecue picnic lunch. Due to recent drops in temperatures, we guessed that it was about time for the broad trembling leaves of these white-barked deciduous trees to be turning. As you will see from the pictures in this post, we guessed the right time. Click here to view this post ...Mt. Charleston's Quaking Aspens.


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10/01/2015 Trip Notes: Today Blake Smith and I headed to Mt Charleston for some “cooler” hiking. When we got there it was only 48 degrees. We decided to drive back to the Resort at Mt Charleston for breakfast before starting hiking. The first place we landed was at Deer Spring Creek Picnic Area, one of the stops along Deer Spring Road. By the time we got there it was beautiful in the mid-60’s. Here is a link to the page on this hike … Deer Creek Picnic Area. After hiking this area we went on to Long Lee Meadow near the upper end of Lee Canyon Road. My the time we go there the temperatures were in the 70's, much warmer than I first stop earlier in the morning. Click this link to see pictures from this area ... Long Lee Meadows

                                       
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05/14/2015 Trip Notes: At the end of our hike on today’s visit, we stopped at the newly built Spring Mountains Visitor Gateway center (Fig. 05) for lunch. With its location, it is truly a “gateway” to the Spring Mountains Recreation Area. We were all amazed at how much work has been put into this place. It includes landscaped parking lots, an education building that can be rented out for events, two small amphitheaters, an 800 square foot educational building, picnic shelters for family cookouts, a “meadows” area for kids to play; and a “solitude node” for serene contemplation, plus hiking, biking and horseback riding trails. Click here for more pictures and details … Spring Mountains Visitor Gateway.
                              
05/14/2015 Trip Notes: On today’s visit I hiked the Big Falls trail, an offshoot of the Mary Jane Falls Trail. Unfortunately, due to the lack of snow this winter, and the fact that it was just a little too late in the season, we were unable to experience any water coming over the falls.
Big Falls Hike: 7,817 feet to 8,689 feet; 2.8 miles round trip
                            
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04/03/2014 Trip Notes: – As you can see from (Fig. 06) above, we were confronted with a minor road work delay as they were still repairing some of last falls' erosion's along the lower elevations of Kyle Canyon road. As you can see, the mountain range was blanketed with a recent snow fall. Our first stop was at the Mt. Charleston Lodge and restaurant nestled in the middle of Kyle Canyon's Humboldt Toiyabe National Forest at an elevation of 7,717 feet. The Lodge has 26 log cabins (Fig. 07) and features a large restaurant with an open fireplace in the center of the 200-capacity room with a 20-foot loft ceiling. With a lounge on one end, windows surround three sides of the room. Each cabin and the restaurant, offer outstanding views (Fig. 08) of Mt. Charleston and the surrounding mountains. Unfortunately, because it was still very early in the season, several hiking locations, including Cathedral Rock were still closed. From here we drove down to the Fletcher Canyon Trail (see link below). While the majority of the group hiked this trail, Linda and I hiked along the campground (Figs. 09 & 10) opposite the trailhead. Next we stopped at the newly renovated Desert View Overlook. Not only did this renovation work create a much improved parking area, it extended the previous paved trail by 1,500 feet, offering two additional lookout points. Click the link belows to see updates to this page. 
Fletcher Canyon Trail: 6,940 feet to 7,790 feet; 3.6 miles round trip
Desert View Overlook:  8,200 feet; 0.7 miles round trip
                                   
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10/08/2013 Trip Notes: Harvey Smith and I decided to go back to this location and hike to Mummy Spring and "Raintree", the oldest Bristlecone Pine in the Spring Mountains. Click here for pictures and a description of this hike ... Raintree & Mummy Spring.



10/03/2013 Trip Notes:As many government facilities were closed due to the "Government Shutdown", we were unable to enter the Desert National Wildlife Range for today's scheduled hike. Knowing that we could still hike some of Mount Charleston's trails, we decided to head up Kyle Canyon Road. Though several areas were closed due to last July's wildfires, including Cathedral Rock, as well as the public bathrooms and visitor center due to the "shutdown", we were still able to find several places to hike. Click these links for pictures and information on the three places we hiked on today's visit to the area: Fletcher Canyon Trail, Robbers' Roost Cave Trail and a portion of the North Loop Trail.
Fletcher Canyon Trail: 6,940 feet to 7,790 feet; 3.6 miles round trip
Robber's Roost Trail: 7,870'-8,050'; 1/2 mile round trip loop trail
North Loop Trail to Mt. Charleston: 8,440'-11,918'; 10.8 mile one-way trail
                     


09/20/2012 Trip Notes: Again, I visited this area with the rock-hounds from the Henderson Heritage Park's Senior Facility. There were so many new hikers we ended up with a larger 24-passenger van. Half the group hiked the Bristlecone Trail and the other half hiked the Robber's Roost Trail and the lower end of the Bristlecone trail. 
Bristlecone Trail: 8,470'-9,380'; 5.2 miles round trip
Robber's Roost Trail: 7,870'-8,050'; 1/2 mile round trip loop trail
                           

07/16/2012 Trip Notes: Harvey Smith and I spent several days camping, hiking and 4-wheeling in the Mt. Charleston Recreation Area. Click here to view pictures of our camping area ... Kyle Canyon Campground. Here are the links to the hikes we took on this trip.
Mary Jane Falls Trail: 7,843' to 8,727'; 3.2 miles round trip
Cathedral Rock Trail: 7,600' to 8,600'; 3 miles round trip
Kyle Canyon Slots Hike: 5,568' to 5,787'; 1 mile round trip
                                 

09/19/2011 Trip Notes:  My wife Connie and I made a took a drive around the Mt. Charleston Scenic Loop, ending up at The Resort at Mt. Charleston for dinner and an overnight stay.  Click here to view pictures and read about our stay ... The Resort at Mt. Charleston.
                           
                                                    

09/08/2011 Trip Notes: Again, I traveled with the rock hounds from the Heritage Park Senior Facility for our second visit to the Mt. Charleston Loop area this year. This time we actually got to hike some of the trails that were closed due to snow during our visit last April. Because this area is best known for its vast number of hiking trails, I've decided to shorten the length of this page by creating a separate page for each of our stops; by hike. Click the trail titles below to view pictures from today's hikes. 
                                           
Bristlecone Trail: 8,470'-9,380'; 5.2 miles round trip
Desert View Overlook:  8,200 feet; 0.3 miles round trip
Deer Creek Picnic Area.: 8,307 feet to 8,450 feet; 3 miles round trip
Fletcher Canyon Trail: 6,940 feet to 7,790 feet; 3.6 miles round trip
Little Falls Trail: 8,223 feet to 8,923 feet; 1.5 miles round trip
                                            
                                                    

04/07/2011 Trip Notes: I hiked at several stops along the Mt. Charleston Loop on a daytrip with the rock-hounds from the Heritage Park Senior Facility. We began the day on the northern portion (route 156) that goes through Lee Canyon and up to the Las Vegas Ski Resort. Though we were privy to numerous scenic views, many of the trails at the higher elevations that we had planned on hiking were still closed due to this winter’s heavy snowfalls. This area is filled with dozens of famous hiking trails. Due to snow conditions, we were somewhat limited on this visit and only attempted a couple; the Bristlecone Trail, Robber’s Roost Trail and the walk out to Desert Viewpoint. Some additional popular hiking trails in this area that I hope to try in the future are:

Bonanza Trail: 7,500'-10,280'; Bonanza Peak - 4 miles 1-way, Lee Canyon - 13.6 miles 1-way
Griffith Peak Trail: 8,400'-10,500'; 10 miles round trip
Mummy Springs Trail: 9,790'-9,890'; 0.3 miles 1-way from junction with North Loop Trail
North & South Loop Trail: 7,640'-11,918'; N. Loop - 9.6 miles 1-way, S. Loop - 6.6 miles 1-way
Sawmill Loop Trail: 7,410'-7,490'; 1.3 miles round trip
Trail Canyon Trail: 7,820'-9,330'; 1.9 miles 1-way

For more info on each individual hike, go to http://www.sangres.com/nevada/national-forests/humboldt-toiyabe/trails/index.htm and scroll to the bottom of the page.
                                         
Mt Charleston Map[10] As you can see from the map on the left, the Mt. Charleston Loop is a 41 plus mile paved drive, encompassing routes 156, 158 and 157, that leads up into the high elevations of the Spring Mountains and Toiyabe National Forest northwest of Las Vegas and includes both the Las Vegas Ski Resort and the Mt. Charleston Village.

Our first stop was the Bristle Cone Trail. The upper trailhead is located at the end of Lee Canyon Road past the ski area at the end of route 156.  At this point, a fenced trail runs up the little ridge above the paved road towards the ski area  (Fig. 11). The fence was built along the start of the upper trailhead in 2007 for the purpose of protecting rare plants and the rare butterfly species that live on the plants. The first group of trees on the right side of the trail includes two large Bristlecone Pines.  At the top of the ridge the trail turns more to the west and starts up a canyon through a mixed forest consisting mostly of Ponderosa Pine, White Fir, and Quaking Aspen. Because the hard-packed snow was to the top of the fence rails in many places, most of the group only hiked a few hundred yards before being forced to return back to our van.
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E-P1040415 Stitch
(Fig. 12)
We continued our drive by returning to Nevada Highway 158 and heading south. This highway continues to gain elevation and offers a number of excellent views of the valley far below. The highway soon crosses a pass at 8400 feet called Desert Viewpoint, the highest point of the drive, offering the viewscape above (Fig. 12). The people in the collage below (Fig. 13) were some of today's hiking group from the Heritage Park Senior Center
                                
E-P1040425E-P1040422E-P1040424
 (Fig. 13)

E-P1040456 Stitch
(Fig. 14)
A few miles below the pass, Nevada Highway SR-158 ends at the junction with Nevada Highway SR-156. From here we turned right and headed up to the Mt. Charleston Village, located at an elevation of 10,426 feet at the top of the mountain in Kyle Canyon's Humboldt Toiyabe National Forest. Surrounded by Juniper, Mountain Mahogany, Aspen, and Ponderosa pine trees, nature is all around you. The picture above (Fig. 14) was taken at the summit looking down into Kyle Canyon.



Play a Slide Show
Clicking the picture-link below will open OneDrive in a new window and a folder containing 86 pictures taken on various trips to the the Mt. Charleston Wilderness Area. To view the show, click on the first picture in the folder and you will get the following menu bar:


Clicking the "Play slide show" will play a fullscreen window of the slide show.
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Note: Every attempt is made to provide accurate information, but occasionally depictions are inaccurate by error of mapping, navigation or cataloging. The information on this site is provided without any warranty, express or implied, and is for informational and historical purposes only.