Ash Meadows

Friday, we were leaving Death Valley.  We woke up to another gorgeous sunset.

It was our last morning so we enjoyed the view before having breakfast at the hotel.

Then we checked out and headed back to Nevada.  Our first stop was in Ash Meadows National Wildlife Refuge at the visitor center.  After talking to the friendly staff, we planned out a couple hikes in the refuge.  First, we hiked the Crystal Springs Boardwalk that started from behind the Visitor Center.

The trail followed a boardwalk through the surprisingly lush area to the Crystal Springs Creek.  The warm spring water was steamy in the chilly morning air.

The boardwalk continued to Crystal Springs, the source of the water.

The spring produces about 2,800 gallons per minute of water at a constant 87ºF and was a beautiful turquoise blue color.

The boardwalk then looped back around to the visitor center.  Our next stop was at the Point of Rocks trailhead, about 10 minutes away.  The short trail led out to another spring and we saw some velvet ash growing, the refuge's namesake.

There was a small bridge across the creek in the boardwalk.

Just past here, we came to Kings Pool, another beautiful blue spring-fed pool.

There were a lot of little Amargosa pupfish in the pool.  These little fish are endemic to the springs here in Ash Meadows.

The far end of the loop came to an amphitheater with nice views of the desert.

We spotted a little cactus, maybe a cholla, along the hike back.

Finishing up the hike, we were successful in finding the rare pupfish.

From here, we started making our way back to Las Vegas.  We made a detour into Spring Mountains National Recreation Area to again try to get a waterfall in Nevada.  Being a weekday, we could drive into Kyle Canyon.  The Echo Trailhead was blocked by snow sow we parked along the road and hiked back to the trailhead.  Little Falls Trail was very snowy, but we had nice views of the mountains.

After passing the connector trail, the trail got steep as we headed into the small canyon.

Near the top, the canyon got very closed in.

Soon we made it to Little Falls at the end of the canyon.

It was too cold and snowy for and water flow but was really pretty.

And kind of ironic that our waterfall in Nevada was frozen.

On the hike back, we took the connector trail back to the road.  There was a great view of Cathedral Rock.

From here, we drove back to Las Vegas and checked into the M Resort.  It's off the strip, so parking is free, but similar to the casinos on the strip.  There was a beautiful sunset from the hotel, our last one in the desert.

We had dinner at the casino and got ready to head home the next day.

Robber's Roost

Saturday, we headed to the desert for a week in Death Valley.  We flew to Las Vegas, arriving around 930.  At Enterprise, we got upgraded to a 4Runner with 4WD and high clearance, which would prove helpful for our adventures.  We stopped at a grocery store in Las Vegas to get water, gatorade and snacks and got tacos for lunch.  Then we headed to Spring Mountains National Recreation Area.  Being a Saturday with good snow, it was very crowded.  We planned to hike to Mary Jane Falls but the road into Kyle Canyon was blocked by police and we had to go up Deer Creek Road.  After a ways, we pulled off where we could to check out the snow.

Then we went a little further to the Robber's Roost Trailhead and managed to get a parking space.  There were lots of people here, but most were just playing in the snow.  We crossed the street and started hiking steeply up Robber's Roost Trail in the thick snow.

The trail is short and soon we made it to the top, where it wasn't possible to go further.

It was really scenic up here and we had gotten away from the mad crowds that were just a quarter-mile down the mountain.  Snow in southern Nevada is apparently irresistable.

The views were really nice so we hung out for a bit before heading down.

The cave is near the top.  According to legend, bandits robbed travelers on the Mormon Trail between the Utah and California and stashed their stolen goods in the caves here.

We slowly headed back down the mountain in the snow.

The forest here was full of pine and juniper trees and it was hard to believe we were less than an hour from Las Vegas.

We took a short detour then followed the trail back down to the road.

From here, we drove to the visitor center where there was plenty of parking.  We just did a short walk around here to admire the views.

The snow on the mountains was really beautiful.

We saw some cool caves up on the cliffs.

After some pictures, we headed back.

From here, we drove back down Kyle Canyon passing through Red Rock Canyon National Conservation Area.  We stopped at one point along the road for some views of some cool rock outcrops along the highway.

There were a lot of Joshua trees along the road.

We walked around to check out the cool rocks and then took off.

Back to US-95, we went north and passed by a collision between a vehicle and a small airplane, but fortunately no serious injuries.  And it was the other side of the road so didn't affect traffic for us.  Shortly before reaching Beatty, the sun was beginning to set and the sky lit up with beautiful colors.  We had to pull off.

Continuing on to Beatty, we checked into the Death Valley Inn.  As we got to our room, there were some "locals" trimming the palm trees.

For dinner, we went to Smokin' J's and got some barbecue, then went to bed after a long day.