ANOTHER GREAT RIDE…RIVER MOUNTAIN TRAIL

Saturday, April 21 – Paul has been riding many of the bike trails here in the Boulder City Area. One he has found exceptionally nice is the River Mountain Loop Trail. Planning for the River Mountains Trail began back in 1996.

It is a paved trail, 35 miles long, around the River Mountains. There are many trail heads where you can park the car and enter the trail. Remember, this trail system is in the mountains around the Boulder City, City of Henderson, Lake Mead, and Hoover Dam areas.

Formed by fiery lava erupting from small volcanoes nearly 5 million years ago, the River Mountains have been chiseled by water down cutting its way to the Colorado River.

Being a “flatlander,” Paul is not use to riding in the mountains, and it's taking some conditioning to get use to the many hills.

He goes out twice a day, for about an hour each time riding.....remember his Dear Marsha is in Ohio visiting family. Poor guy! He's getting use to some of the trails but there is one he will NEVER try. That's the 5-mile up the hill (7+percent grade) from the Hoover Dam to Boulder City. That would definitely be a killer!!!

Looking towards Railroad Pass.

He's also using the time, home alone, to get some maintenance chores done around the motor home. Of course, he's doing double duty, working outside and doing daily house work chores.....a man's work is never done!

A note from Marsha on Paul's above paragraph…BOOOOOO HOOOOOO!

Marsha took this picture of the Las Vegas Strip from her plane.

Looks like such a big area on the ground, but so small from the air.

Thanks for stopping by. Hope to see y'all back real soon. Have a great day.

 

 

 

 

 

 

GREAT BIKING/HIKNG TRAILS IN BOULDER CITY

Thursday, April 18 - Paul rode his bike on the Historic Railroad Tunnel bike path this afternoon.

A look from above at one of the entrances to a tunnel.

You park near the Lake Mead Visitor's Center where the 35-mile River Mountain Loop Trail splits off toward the Hoover Dam. This is one of two most difficult sections of track to construct.

The gravel trail passes through five tunnels carved through the mountain. The first tunnel is about a mile down the trail and then passes through the other four within the next mile. All tunnels are approximately 300 ft. in length, and 25 ft. in diameter. The tunnels were oversized to fit penstock sections and large equipment being transported to Hoover Dam.

These are old railroad tunnels that were dug through the mountain prior to construction of the Hoover Dam so gravel, concrete, and parts for the electrical generators could be delivered to the construction site.

Being a former railroad bed, Paul assumed the trail would be fairly level. Like most of the roads and trails in the Boulder City area, this trail has some challenging hills. They get the lungs and heart working overtime.

This unique and historical trail is a must for hikers and bike riders while in the area. It takes about an hour to ride from the Lake Mead Visitor's Center to the Hoover Dam area. Don't miss it if you visit the area!

Paul dropped Marsha off at the airport at 8:30. She is taking the red eye to Canton, Ohio with a layover in Atlanta. She is going to be one tired girl. She will lose three hours once she reaches Ohio. Maybe a little nap is in her future.

Thanks for stopping by. Hope to see y'all back real soon. Have a great day!

TOWERING RED CLIFFS…RED ROCK CANYON

Tuesday, April 17 – After our visit to Hoover Dam, we then headed to the other side of Las Vegas to drive the beautiful Red Rock Canyon.

The Canyon is located in the Mojave Desert. 

The area is 195,819 acres and is visited by more than one million people each year. A National Conservation Area allows free admission with the Golden Age Pass otherwise it costs $7 per vehicle.

It is a 13-mile one way drive through the Canyon. The drive circles the canyon floor at the foot of the Rainbow and La Madre Mountains.

View of the drive.

There is a beautiful visitors center with plenty of displays and learning opportunities about the living desert. There are indoor and outdoor displays. One could spend several hours here, but we came for the drive through the canyon, so only stayed briefly.

The area is full of hiking trails. Over 19 trails ranging from Easy to Strenuous. There are even mountain climbing opportunities for those looking for that type of excitement. Unfortunately, Marsha's back pain has moved to her hip and hiking was out of the question for this trip. Maybe, next week!

Tons of opportunity to do some serious rock climbing.

If you are looking for awesome scenery and fabulous hiking trails, do not miss Red Rock Canyon. Beauty all around!

Not far from Red Rock is Nevada's Mt. Charleston, 11,916 feet. We were really surprised to see snow on the top. We were told that the week before we arrived there was a big rain storm in Vegas and the Mountain got about six inches of snow.

Marsha is flying home this evening on the "red eye" out of Las Vegas. She will be in Ohio visiting our daughter, Kelly, her dad, family and friends for 8 days. Since we won't be back in Ohio until probably early fall, she wants to see our daughter and her dad.

Thanks for stopping by. Hope to see y'all back real soon. Have a great day!