Daytrip - Tufa Beds at the TUSK

Click to Enlarge

On 03/28/2018, Bob Croke, Cindy Pace and myself had a guided hike of the proposed hiking trails of the tufa beds inside the Las Vegas Fossil Beds National Monument. Our hike was provided by Sandy Croteau, VP/On-Site Chairman of POTS. We hiked about 3.4 miles. As we hiked along our guide provide information about many of the plants that we encountered; a geologist provided information about the creation of the topography and the surrounding mountains. Click here to see pictures and a description of this hike ... Tufa Bed Trails (TUSK) - Trip Notes for 03/28/2018.

Daytrip - Bellagio's Conservatory & Botanical Gardens

Click to Enlarge

Today our friend Jim Herring, Connie and I visited the Bellagio's new spring exhibit. Titled Japanese Spring, this exhibit was designed by Ed Libby and Bellagio’s Horticulture team Its display channels Japanese culture, utilizing a variety of beautiful symbolic elements to honor the dawning of a new season. One of the most treasured elements is also one of the most celebrated in Japan: the spring blooms of cherry blossoms, which are absolutly beautiful. This Japanese-inspired display contains more than 65,000 fragrant flowers and botanical materials. For a description and more pictures, click here for a link to the page ... Bellagio's Conservatory & Botanical Garden.

Daytrip - Visit to Gold Butte National Monument

Click to Enlarge

On 03/14/2018, Harvey Smith and I took Bob Croke and Jim Herring to four sites that neither of them had ever been do in Gold Butte; Devil's Throat, Mud Wash Petroglyphs, Kirt's Grotto and Little Finland. We spent almost the entire day roaming more than 40 miles riding Harvey's ranger and quads around Gold Butts desert dirt roads and washes. Click here for pictures and a description of this trip ... Visit to Gold Butte National Monument - Trip Notes for 03/14/2018. 

2017 Year in Review

Well I finally got around to doing my annual "Year in Review" page. Each year I review all of the pictures taken over the past 12 months and try to cull what I feel are some of the better pictures and place them into a single post. Here is a link to the page for 2017 ... 2017 Year in Review.

Daytrip - China Ranch/Date Farm

Click to Enlarge

On 02/28/2018, Bob Croke, Harvey Smith, Ron Ziance and I came out to the China Date Ranch for a day of hiking and some fresh baked date bread. Once we reached the ranch, because Ron had never been here before, we decided to re-hike two areas that the rest of us had hiked on previous visits; the Slot Canyon Trail and a portion of the Ranch View Trail. For detailed descriptions for each of these hikes, pictures, and hiking descriptions, click the following link for more ... China Ranch/Date Farm - Trip Notes for 02/28/2018.

Western Redbud (Cercis occidentals)

{Click on an image to enlarge, then use the back button to return to this page}
This page last updated on 04/08/2018

(Fig. 01)

Picture Notes:  There were two of these trees on the trail to the Calico Tank in the Red Rock Canyon National Conservation Area. As best I can ascertain it was a Redbud (Cercis). Unfortunately it was till a little early in the spring and they were only just beginning to bud. Click here for information about this hike ... Calico Tank Hike (RRCNCA).
                                     
Description: Redbud (Cercis), is a genus containing 20 taxa overall. Redbud trees are native to warm temperate regions. They can grow as small deciduous trees or large shrubs, depending on their environment. The species of Redbud can be characterized by simple, rounded to heart shaped leaves and pinkish red flowers. These are borne in the early spring on bare leafless shoots. Full-grown Western redbud typically stay below 10 feet tall. It is most often grown as a small, multi-trunked tree. The silvery-gray branches contrast beautifully with pink flowers in spring and purple seed pods in summer. These distinct markers create the illusion of having a twice-blooming plant. On their own in late winter, branches provide a pleasing silver silhouette. One of the first signs of spring is Western redbud’s tiny, pink, sweet-pea-shaped flowers. They cling to bare twigs and branches for several weeks before leaves come on. Leaves are rounded heart shapes, delicate at first and leathery as the season continues. They offer attractive color. Young leaf tips are fresh apple green, but darken to deep green with blue undertones as they mature. In autumn, foliage changes again to golden yellow then rust red before they fall. It ranges from California east to Utah primarily in the foothill regions. The tree often forms multi trunked colonies that are covered in bright pink flowers in early spring (February thru March). White-flowered variants are in cultivation. It buds only once a year.

Calico Tanks (RRCNCA) - Trip notes for 04/04/2018

{Click on an image to enlarge, then use the back button to return to this page}
This page last updated on 04/08/2018

(Fig. 01)

(Fig. 02)

(Fig. 02A) Click to Enlarge

Description: The official start of the trailhead for this hike is the northern end of the Sandstone Quarry parking (refer to the map in (Fig. 02). To get a frame of reference as to where this area is located within the park, refer to the yellow boxed area on the map in (Fig. 02A). The elevation at the trailhead is 4,367 feet and rises to 4,752 feet at the saddle at the end, an elevation gain of 385 feet during the 1.21 mile length of this hike. This hike provides a great introduction to the diverse vegetation and rocks found throughout the Red Rock Canyon area. After passing the quarry area (Fig. 03), the trail crosses a wash and heads upstream before leaving the wash and turning up a major side a major side canyon on the right, heading southeast. Click here for pictures and description of the quarry ... Sandstone Quarry Overlook & Trails. The lower part is wide and sandy and offers some great views of Turtlehead Peak to the north (Fig. 01 above). Higher up the canyon narrows and you end up following use-trails that run along red and white sandstone slickrock where the route is not always obvious. After climbing for what seems like quite some time, this fairly strenuous, yet relatively short hike, leads to a large natural depression (a "tinaja" or "tank") (Fig. 04) just below the Calico Hills ridge. When there is sufficient precipitation, the tank provides a critical water source for various birds and wildlife such as bighorn sheep. When there is enough water, you can find sedges, needlegrass, and cattails growing along the tank' margins. After passing the tinaja along its southern side, you have to scramble up some sandstone rocks to reach the saddle that provides an expansive view down the cliffs to the east and great views out over Calico Basin and the Las Vegas Valley.

(Fig. 05)

(Fig. 06)

04/04/2018 Trip Notes: Today Jim Herring and I decided to hike the Calico Tank hike. Even though the day started out overcast, it was in the 80's and quite comfortable. Near the beginning of this trail before leaving the main wash, there is an agave roasting pit on the left side of the wash. Click here for pictures and to read more ... Ref - Agave Roasting Pits. As we continued to hike along the lower portion of the trail I began to realize that we were about two weeks early as far as finding anything in  bloom. Some trees and plant life were just barely beginning to bloom (Fig. 05). Click here to read more about this Western Redbud ... Western Redbud (Cercis occidentals). On the way up we encountered two areas that contained pockets of standing water that I had not encountered on my previous trip in 2013 (Figs. 06 & 07). The higher we climbed, the more bouldering we encountered (Figs. 08 & 09). We were somewhat disappointed when we reached the tinaja that there wasn't more water in it (Fig. 10). (Notes con't below)

(Fig. 05)

(Fig. 06)

(Fig. 07)

(Fig. 08)

(Fig. 09)

(Fig. 10)

Notes Continued: Once you reach the tinaja and climb up the rock-filled trail that follows, you reach a ridgeline that presents a variety of great views overlooking Calico Basin (Fig. 11) and Red Rock Canyon (Fig. 12). Where Jim was taking pictures from in (Fig. 11), he is on the far left in the picture in (Fig. 12). The picture in (Fig. 13), taken by Jim, shows me in the center of the picture of the ledge I climbed up onto. The view I had from here is in picture (Fig. 12). Naturally, as we began the return hike back down the canyon, the skies cleared (Fig. 14 & 15). Pictures of the trees in (Figs. 16 thru 18) can be enlarged by clicking on the individual pictures. The closeup in picture 18 looks like the head of a bird to me. The last two are pictures we took of each other. The plant in (Fig. 20) that Jim is taking a picture of is an Agave. For more pictures and to read more about this plant go to ... Agave utahensis.
                                       

(Fig. 11)

(Fig. 12)

(Fig. 13)

(Fig. 14)

(Fig. 15)

(Fig. 16)

(Fig. 17)

(Fig. 18)

(Fig. 19)

(Fig. 20)

Back to my previous page ... Calico Tanks (RRCNCA)

.

Agave utahensis

{Click on an image to enlarge, then use the back button to return to this page}
This page last updated on 04/08/2018

(Fig. 01)

Picture Notes: The pictures shown here (Figs. 01 & 02) were taken while hiking the Calico Tank hike in Red Rock Canyon National Conservation Area. Read about this hike here ... Calico Tank Trail (RRNCA).

Description: Also known as the Century Plant, the agave family includes over 200 species. Agave utahensis is a species of agave known by the common name Utah agave. Varieties of the species include the Nevada agave and Kaibab agave. Agave utahensis is one of the more common agaves of the Southwest, ranging from the low elevation Mojave Desert of California and Nevada eastwards to the North Rim of Grand Canyon at elevations between 3000 and 7500 feet. A relatively small agave, the plant forms a dense but compact globular rosette of blue-green sharp-spiked dagger-shaped leaves, usually solitary but sometimes sprouting from the root system into small clusters, but it may produce a bloom stalk that rises 15 feet above the rosette. Leaves have a maximum length of 20 inches and range between half and nearly 2 inches in width. The upper surfaces are fairly flat, becoming slightly concave towards the tip, while the undersides are gently convex. The greyish teeth merge with the toughened edge towards the tip, leading to the stout apical spine. The raceme inflorescence is very tall, reaching a maximum of 4 m (12 ft). It is generally yellow or yellow-green with bulbous yellow flowers. The fruits are capsules 1 to 3 centimeters long and containing black seed. It can tolerate not only the heat of a desert summer, but also the below zero Fahrenheit temperatures of a southern Great Basin winter.

The agave was an important food source of the Indians in the Southwestern U.S. The pit was covered over with soil and and the crowns were roasted for two days. As part of a complex ritual, the center of the crowns would be eaten and some stored for later use.  The native Americans also ate the cooked agave leaves like artichokes or sometimes they boiled the leaves down to make a syrup. The plant was often used for food and fiber by local Native American peoples such as the Havasupai. Among the Navajo, the plant is used to make blankets.
                                           

(Fig. 02)