Ken's Photo Gallery

Thursday

Cougar Ridge Trail Road Fossils – Near Mummy Mountain

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(Fig.01)

Picture Notes: On 10/01/2015, I made a trip with my friend Blake Smith to hike the Deer Creek Picnic Spring trail off NV-158 (Deer Creek Rd) near the steep flanks of Mummy Mountain in the Mount Charleston Wilderness Area. While hiking along Cougar Ridge Trail road at 3,520 feet elevation, we found a large boulder under a large tree on the side of the road (Fig. 01). Close inspection revealed that it was full of seabed fossils (Figs. 02 & 03). The last time I had a find like this was hiking around top of Mount Potosi … Mount Potosi Fossils.

(Fig. 02)

(Fig. 03)

Click her to return to the [Index for Category - Fossils & Pseudofossils

Red Mountain Lookout at Bootleg Canyon - Summary Page

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(Fig. 01)

(Fig. 02)

Directions: There are two ways to start this trail; either hiking 2-3/4 miles up the River Mountain Trail from Boulder City along US-93 or driving up the backside of Bootleg Canyon (on the dirt Bootleg Canyon Road) to a parking area at the top and then hiking a 1/2 mile trail to the summit. To drive up, (heading into Boulder City on highway 93) turn left onto Yucca Street. From Yucca Street, turn right onto Industrial Road and then left onto Canyon Road, which leads to a parking area about .5 miles from the Red Mountain Overlook. To hike up, go to the stoplight near downtown, left turn on Highway 93 and continue eastbound on Highway 93 for 0.7 miles. Watch for a “River Mountain” trailhead sign on the left and turn left onto a short access road that leads to a parking lot.

Description of the Red Mountain Trail: From the top of the saddle at the end of the River Mountain Trail, the trail runs west and up the hillside, then switchbacks back to the south and climbs onto the north end of the drive-up to the parking area (Fig. 01) and top right of (Fig. 02). From the parking area, hike south for about 0.28 miles. The trail gains the summit ridge before leading down to the top of the zip-line, lower center of (Fig. 02). The actual summit is off to the west, but it is occupied by a communication facilities and is closed to the public (Fig. 03). Read more about this at the bottom of this page. The trail leads southeast past the top of the zip-lines (Fig. 04) to Red Mountain Overlook, which serves as the summit. This trail adds about another .5 miles from the saddle plus an additional 400 feet in elevation gain. This entire trail and the overlook provides grand views out over Boulder City and lands to the east and south across Nevada and Arizona.

(Fig. 03)

12/29/2015 Trip Notes: This was actually my third hike to the overlook. Click here for more pictures and information on this hike ... Black Mt. & Red Mt. Trails at Bootleg Canyon.

05/07/2015 Trip Notes: After reaching the parking area (Fig. 01), we decided to hike up the Red Mountain Trail. We stopped about halfway up and had lunch with a view overlooking Las Vegas (Fig. 04). When we reached the zip line (Fig. 05), I got a picture of Jim with Boulder City in the background (Fig. 06). The view in (Fig. 07) is looking northeast towards the summit of the Black Mountain Trail. The view in (Fig. 08) is looking east towards Boulder City. It was just after taking Jim's picture that a gust of wind nearly knocked us both over, blowing off Jim's glasses that had been lodged in his shirt. Unfortunately, he didn't realize it until we were more than halfway back down the River Mountain trail. When we got back to the trailhead, we drove up the Bootleg Canyon Road to the upper parking area (Fig. 02) and re-hiked this portion of the trail again looking for his glasses. Miraculously, he found them at a spot where the wind gust had nearly blown us over when we were there the first time. When we got back to the car I realized that you could actually see the bypass bridge that lies just west of the dam. The shot in (Fig. 09) was taken with my lens zoomed all the way out. By the end of the day we had quite a workout. All total we hiked nearly 6 miles with total elevation gains of more than 1400 feet.

(Fig. 04)

(Fig. 05)

(Fig. 06)

(Fig. 07)

(Fig. 08)

(Fig. 09)

VORTAC navaid and microwave facility: This former radar site is a present-day VORTAC facility (Fig. 10) sitting where the former Boulder City (Nevada) gap-filler radar annex (SM-163A / Z-163A) once was. During the late 1950s another area of progress was the development and deployment of AN/FPS-14 and AN/FPS-18 gap-filler radars. Having a range of around sixty-five miles, these radars were placed in areas where it was thought enemy aircraft could fly low to avoid detection by the longer-range radars of the permanent and mobile radar networks. Gap-filler radar deployment peaked in December 1960 at 131 sites throughout the continental United States.

The acronym VORTAC stands for VHF Omni-directional Range/Tactical Aircraft Control. VOR is an acronym for Very high frequency Omni Range. The TAC stands for TACAN, a military designation for it's distance information on a VOR signal. In a nutshell, VHF Omni Directional Radio Range (VOR) is a type of short-range radio navigation system for aircraft, enabling aircraft with a receiving unit to determine their position and stay on course by receiving radio signals transmitted by a network of fixed ground radio beacons. A VORTAC is a navigational aid for aircraft pilots consisting of a co-located VHF omnidirectional range (VOR) beacon and a tactical air navigation system (TACAN) beacon. Both types of beacons provide pilots azimuth information, but the VOR system is generally used by civil aircraft and the TACAN system by military aircraft. However, the TACAN distance measuring equipment is also used for civil purposes because it is built to civil specifications. Most VOR installations in the United States are VORTACs. Various types of air navigation aids are in use today, each serving a special purpose. These aids have varied owners and operators, namely: the (FAA) and military services. It is because of this facility that many locals call the mountain, "Radar Mountain."

(Fig. 10)

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.

Return to [Bootleg Canyon Summary Page]

Black-tailed Jackrabbit at Ash Meadows

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Picture Notes: On 10/29/2015 to the Ash Meadow National Wildlife Range, the only real sign of wildlife was a Black-tailed Jackrabbit, even though I was unable to capture a picture. Other than a few birds, a variety of waterfowl on the Crystal Reservoir, and the occasional small desert lizard, this jackrabbit was the only other sign of wildlife we spotted all day. I didn’t even see any desert chipmunks. I was wondering if last weeks heavy rain and floods was the reason wildlife was so scare on this visit.

Description: The Black-tailed Jackrabbit (Lepus californicus), commonly known as the American Desert Hare, is native to the western United States and Mexico. Its ears have a black patch at the tip and are nearly as long as the hind foot. The top of the tail has a black stripe that extends onto its rump, The under-parts are usually clear; upper-parts have a dark buff, heavily sprinkled with blackish hair. It can reach a length of about 2 feet and weight between 3 to 6 pounds. It is the third largest North American hare, after the antelope jackrabbit and the white-tailed jackrabbit. The black-tailed jackrabbits occupy mostly mixed shrub-grassland terrains. They typically bread in the spring, but depending upon location may continue all year round in warm climates. Their young are borne fully furred with eyes open. Because they are well camouflaged and mobile within minutes of birth, the females do not protect or even stay with the young except during nursing. Average litter size is around four, but may be as low as two and as high as seven in warm regions. They grow rather rapidly and reach adult size in about 7 or 8 months. The black-tailed jackrabbit does not migrate or hibernate during winter and uses the same habitat of between .5 and 1.5 square miles year-round. Its diet is composed of various shrubs and small trees during fall and winter months and grasses and forbs in spring and early summer. The natural enemies of rabbits include the larger birds of prey and such carnivores as coyotes, foxes, bobcats, badgers, and weasels. When molested it depends on speed and its keen senses of hearing and sight to elude its enemies.

Daytrip – Long Lee Meadows

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This page last updated on 10/02/2017

(Fig. 01)

(Fig. 02)

Directions: From US 95 northwest of Las Vegas, take SR 156 southwest for 18 miles into Lee Canyon about 2 miles before the end of the road. You can't miss it. Long Lee Meadows is on the right. You can park along the side of the road here.

10/01/2015 Trip Notes: Lee Canyon is one of the major canyons on the east side of Mount Charleston, and the Lee Canyon Road (156) provides easy access to a number of hiking and birding sites. Though this meadow may not be a daytrip destination by itself, it makes for a nice morning hike. At elevation 8,450 elevation, Long Lee Meadow is in the Yellow Pine Forest zone, an can provide easy hiking and good birding when there aren't too many people picnicking. The meadow is divided into two areas, Lower Meadow (Fig. 03) and Upper Meadow (Figs. 01 & 04). We parked at the southeast end of Lower Lee Meadow and hiked up the meadow following the tree line to what is known as the Upper Lee Meadow. At the upper end we hiked up to the Lower Bristlecone Trail and hike down dirt road to Lee Canyon Road and then looped back the opposite along the road to the Lower Lee Meadow. Refer to the yellow line on (Fig. 02) marking our route. I was surprised at how dry and parched the area seemed to be and was actually hoping to see more plants & vegetation, such as that found in (Fig. 05). In summary, the beautiful day provided some nice vistas (Fig. 06) and made for a fitting ending to our morning hikes.