The late winter (January and February) and Spring of 2004 were both relatively wet, so there was an abundance of wildflowers out. So we took a number of day trips to likely places to find them.
We went to the far end of the Las Vegas Wash Wetlands Park. At this point, you leave Lakeshore Drive for a 1 mile trail down into the wash. You end up in the area where they are trying to set up weirs to slow down the erosion caused by the rapid flow of the water. The slowdown will be a slow process since there is an increasing amount of water put back into the wash as the population grows. Of course, the dogs had to get into the running water. THey had a ball.
We went to Keyhole and Nelson Canyons (near Eldorado Canyon) with the dogs. They got a chance to romp in the wild while I spotted and photographed a lot of wildflowers. Keyhole Canyon is prolific with wildflowers, even in dry years. There are plenty of phacelias and members of the cryptantha and related families. There is also a stand of desert willow. And, in the narrower aspect of the canyon, the granite remains cool, even in hot weather. Eldorado canyon has a lot of cactus--particularly beavertail and barrel cactus. It is harder to find wildflowers in Nelson Canyon.
Willow Beach, along Lake Mohave, was another combine dog walk and wildflower search. The%he wildflowers were great. And, early in the year, (middle spring), the weather was cool enough to enjoy the river at a relatively low elevation. There were plenty of wildflowers to see. But the height of this trip was the wildlife. We encountered a burro that both wanted to be fed and to object to the presence of our dogs. A loud battle ensued. The burrow tried to charge the dogs. But every time he tried, the dogs split off from each other. Like a tag team in wrestling, one would lure the burro into chasing it while the other would get around behind it and nip at its heels. Even though our dogs are city dogs, they seemed to be smart enough to keep clear of any possibility of being kicked by the burro. After about 10 minutes of this, it developed into a true Mexican standoff. The 3 animals were in a triangle position, none of them willing to yield ground. We didn't intervene because we were too busy laughing at the whole thing. It was all sound and fury, signifying nothing. Finally, we called the dogs back to the Pathfinder and got them into it. That left the burro looking for a handout, but we had finished lunch before its arrival and had nothing left to give it.
One way to beat the heat in the Las Vegas summer is to get above it. You can go to Mount Charleston, along with thousands of others. Or you can go to the Desert National Wildlife Refuge. You might see someone else on the roads or trails there--or you might not. The main north-south (dirt) road goes from the Corn Creek visitor center all the way to the Pahranagat Lakes in Lincoln County. There are a number of roads east into the mountains from that main road. We took the Hidden Forest road, which ends at the Hidden Forest trail. This trail goes about 5.6 miles to a cabin and spring. You can go farther if you want to. We have never gone as far as the cabin. We usually go about 3 miles and turn around.
The trailhead is at about 5800 feet elevation. We usually turn around at about 7.000 feet elevation. The trail is very rocky--the canyon consists of scree sized gravel with sharp edges. The rocks hold a lot of heat and have sharp edges. The heat is why we encountered this Western diamondback rattlesnake sunning itself on the trail. Luckily, Maggie spotted the snake before the dogs did. After I got it's picture, she threw rocks at it from a safe distance until it decided that discretion was is best course of action. It ceded us the trail and, after a few hundred yards, I released the hounds to play. We had equipped our dogs with leather booties to protect them from the rocks. One of the 2 groups we encountered on the trail had not and when we passed them on their return, the man was carrying his 70 pound dog. Its paws were bloodied from its early romp on the rocks. The booties prevented that outcome for us. We went up the trail for about 3 miles, constantly gaining altitude but loosing heat. At our apex, we stopped to admire the pinyon and juniper forest and then returned.
We made another quick day trip to try to find the Mount Stirling Wilderness area. It had been recently designated as a wilderness area. It is north of Las Vegas and high enough to be out of the heat. It was another dog bootie trip. Our biggest problem was that there is a plethora of roads going into the Spring Mountains there and we did not know which one to take. Instead of just picking one, we decided that the dogs have had enough bouncing around in the car and we just let them out for a run in the high desert. We had made it into the low foothills, which were much cooler than the temperature in the valley below.
The dogs were skeptical about the booties at first, but eventually decided that they were OK. In the end, they seemed to like the sound
that they made as they ran. But what they eventually liked the most was running full speed and then stopping. They liked the skid at the
end. We will eventually get back here to find the wilderness area and explore it when we do.>
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