I still have all the photos I have made in the past 8 years, good & bad, and of course all the texts and photos I posted on SNS are gone. I kept only a few of the texts. Technically this would be a trip report, it's just not a recent one.
So I was browsing here the other day when I thought I might dig through my old photos of hikes I've done and redo them here. Since it's been so hot here I haven't been out much. I don't have any of the text from those posts so I'll just put down some of my recollections. Red Rocks is where I started my free range hiking back in the mid 1980's.
The park is a conservation area maintained by the BLM and is a favorite of locals and a destination for visitors staying at the hotels. Some of the resorts have staff to do excursions or they may hire a local outfitter for anything the customers might want. Hiking, mountain biking, birding or for the extremists hang gliding and rock climbing. This area is known world-wide for some of it's rock climbing routes. The area west and south of this canyon has some 1st class technical climbs.
This canyon has beginner routes for rock climbers a few intermediate ones, but generally is a favorite spot for weekend picnickers and hikers. It's very busy, which is why I no longer do any planned naked hiking there. These pictures are from 2007 & 2008. From the parking lot to the spring is about 1.8 miles and another half mile up to the cabin. The elevation at the parking area is about 4600 ft. and the cabin is at about 5700 ft.
Decades ago this was just a spot in the mountains where people from town would go to get away from the heat. A local archery club had a few buildings here and would come out for weekend retreats. You can see the old foundations where the cabins were. The BLM tore the buildings down to keep people from squatting out there. In photo #2 the dam you see there is about 4 ft. high and was for the use of the archery club. The pipes and other infrastructure they built has also been removed. The BLM left the dam in place as it was a habitat for the animals that live in springs.
It was a cooler and quieter place back then and even later when I started hiking there. With it's designation several years ago as a national recreation area, money and development has poured in and it's no longer quiet or remote. Housing developments are now within 3 miles of the hike where these pictures were taken. When I 1st came here it was a 12-15 mile drive from the edge of town, which was sparsely populated then.
There is a fork where road splits to the west and the trail to the spring branches to the east just west of the gap in the mountains. About halfway between there and the spring is where I was hiking once and was spotted naked hiking for the 1st time. I was walking along and just happened to turn around and there, about 50 yds. behind me, was a man intently studying the mountains to the north. I should have just forged ahead, but as that was the 1st time I had ever been seen, I panicked and stepped off the path and put my clothes back on.
Had I been thinking clearly I would have seen that if he had been bothered by my lack of attire he most likely would have turned around and left. The fact that he had seen me and was pretending he hadn't was a clue I only later thought of. Now, I would have acted like nothing was odd about what I was doing.
The trail runs past the spring and begins the climb up to the miner's cabin. It's not far, about a 500 ft. climb over a half mile, but you can get a good aerobic workout. Since it's a bit of a hard climb there aren't many casual hikers wandering past. So not many people use the trail, and as a result it's overgrown in spots. It's a good hike for during the week when the traffic is lower.
Spend time relaxing, eat a snack, then head back down. Other than the mines, there's not much there beyond the ruins.
#1 - The trail looking west just west of the spring.
This is east of the archery site and above the section where I was spotted by the hiker.
#2 - The pool behind the dam.
Not recommended for drinking. The BLM asks that no one swims in it as it will upset the chemistry in the water. People with all sorts of skin treatments from insect repellant, deodorants, colognes et al will wash off into the water in addition to the natural bacteria on the body. It's a small pool with a low water flow so contaminates do not dissipate.
#3 - A convenient place to sit by the spring.
My head had just been engulfed by a swarm of gnats at the exact instant this photo was taken. A very strange event luckily captured in a photo.
#4 - The trail as it heads up the canyon.
The stream is on the left. There's enough water to generate a nice cool environment in this small canyon. A very pleasant escape even in the summer. The temperature out here is 5-10 degrees cooler than in town.
#6 - Farther up by the stream.
#7 - Walking toward the cabin.
Not your conventional looking cabin.
#7-#11 - The miner's cabin.
There are all sorts of stories about anything abandoned here in the desert. You can make up whatever you want and it will be just as valid as anything else you've read. I haven't been up to the mine yet. Most of the time they are simply just a hole in the ground. It's not the things themselves that are interesting, it's the history. I don't know what they were looking for. Most likely gold or silver. The cabin may have also been used by cattle rustlers and/or thieves as a hideout.
Some sites with write-ups about this trail can be seen
here,
here, and
here.
Image #1 - Proximity to the city.
The yellow highway seen just above the letter "L" in Las Vegas is right about where the far west edge of town was when I moved here. And back then it was mostly scattered homes and zoned as ranch estates. Very little in the way of conveniences or development of any kind, anywhere.
Image #2 - Trail from parking to cabin
The Mountains to the east of the trail are called the "White Rock Mountains". There are hiking trails all over the area.
Image #3 - Archery site and spring
The Spring disappears back underground shortly after leaving the canyon. Hence the location of the dam. It resurfaces farther down near the parking lot.
Images #4-6
Close-up images of the sites.
In the last image at the cabin there is a green area up to the right. The spring comes out somewhere above that area.
As I said, I haven't been there to do a naked hike for a couple years and I miss that. If I did do one now it would be a very short one and I would be extra careful. The views in the other sites I go to are nice but out here they seem better. Maybe that's because this was where I started my hikes and I went there for so many years.
As I organize more pictures, I may post a few more.
Duane
