The first trip we took in our new 4-wheel drive, a Nissan Pathfinder(49k), was a drive to Pahrump, over the Spring Mountain range. This trip takes us up to almost 9,000 feet. The drive takes you through the Cold and Willow creek areas, both of which have campgrounds.
We stopped at willow creek for a picnic lunch, where Susan climbed the rocks(53k) to the top of the hill. The campgrounds were in flat, wooded areas around the creeks. The vallwy widened as we headed for Wheeler Pass. Along the way, we passed one band of the Spring Mountain wild horse herd (71k).
Wheeler pass was quite windy and cool, by Las Vegas standards. You could see east into the north end of the Las Vegas valley and west into the Pahrump valley. The drive into Pahrump was through a tree lined road - at first Ponderosa pines and then Pinyon pines and Utah juniper. Finally, at lower levels, we tracked through the normal Southern Nevada desert scrub of Joshua trees and creosote bush.
As is typical of mountain ranges in the Great Basin, the westward ascent was much steeper than the more gradual descent. The only place where four wheel drive was really needed was in the last two miles of climbing where the road turned into a rocky, rutted and narrow path. There are rumors that the Forest Service will close the road to the pass from the east.
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